Open University Tutor awarded OBE for services to Education

Posted on 16 June 2025 • University news

OU Tutor Dr Diane Swift has been awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in the King’s 2025 birthday honours list, for her services to education.

Diane teaches and authors materials for the Primary Education modules and has been involved in the development of the apprenticeships for Teaching Assistants which she has shared through the OU’s Teacher Education Reference Group.

On finding out she had been honoured, Diane said:

“I was so very touched, humbled and somewhat overwhelmed to receive a letter from the Cabinet Office informing me that I had been recommended for an OBE for services to education.

It is such a privilege to serve alongside others who promote educational opportunity for social justice – something that so many colleagues at The Open University hold dear.

This is perhaps a very welcome moment to amplify our collective endeavours to be relentlessly ambitious for the positive difference that an informed education can make to all our lives.

The award will, I hope, help to illuminate work that I so enjoy contributing to, in particular the aspirations of the primary education teams at the University, as well as teacher education within Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

Alongside others, I will continue to seek more opportunities for apprenticeships to be used to support previously underserved colleagues within the education sector.

My family have been so very patient, tolerant and supportive of my educational involvements, and we are looking forward to celebrating together in our local pub, and by raising a glass, albeit it across different time zones, as our youngest son and my brother are in New Zealand.”

Klaus-Dieter Rossade, Executive Dean of the faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Languages Studies (WELS) said:

“Congratulations to Diane on this well-deserved honour. The impact she has had throughout her career supporting the education and professional development of teachers and teaching assistants in Staffordshire is truly impressive. Diane is a shining example of how our Associate Lecturers enable us and our students to benefit from such experience, dedication to excellence and educational opportunity.”

Diane is a trustee for The Creative Learning Partnership Trust in Staffordshire and has worked for the OU since 2022, having been attracted by the university’s social justice mission to make higher education open to all.