The Open University

“I took my refugee status as an opportunity” – Shabnam’s inspiring story

20 March 2019

“I took my refugee status as an opportunity, not a disadvantage,” says Shabnam Nasimi, 28, who was just eight years old when her parents, fearful of the wrath of the Taliban, abandoned their belongings and made the perilous journey across Europe. The family settled in the UK and her father Dr. Nooralhaq Nasimi, went on […]

The Open University Business School gains EOCCS certification for FutureLearn courses

22 January 2019

A suite of eight Business and Finance Fundamentals courses on FutureLearn has been awarded the EOCCS Certification. The massive online open courses (MOOCs) were produced in conjunction with The Open University Business School. Customer engagement Effective communication Effective networking Project management Managing the household balance sheet Financial planning and budgeting Investment theory and practice Financial services after the […]

Civil marriage and religious vows – new study calls for flexibility

4 December 2018

With the law currently forbidding the use of religious elements in civil marriage, Dr Stephanie Pywell, Senior Lecturer at The Open University and Professor Rebecca Probert, Professor of Law at The University of Exeter have worked closely with registrars to call for a reform to allow more flexibility. Working with registrars Stephanie and Rebecca’s research is […]

Open University free law clinic highly commended at pro bono legal awards

31 October 2018

The Open Justice Centre’s Law Clinic, which offers free online legal advice led by OU students supervised by qualified solicitors, was highly commended in the LawWorks Annual Pro Bono Awards. They received their award in the ‘Best new pro bono activity’ category at the award ceremony at the Law Society in London on Monday 3 […]

Police in hi-visibility jackets policing crowd control at a UK event

Baseline Survey Report published: Implementing the Transformation of Police Learning and Development:

17 August 2018

The ‘Implementing the Transformation of Police Training, Learning and Development’ Project released their Baseline Survey Report this week. The project is led by the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), working in collaboration with The Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning. 32 police forces in England and Wales contributed to the […]

The Prosecutors: new series throws light on Crown Prosecution Service

25 July 2018

The second series of The Prosecutors, co-produced by The Open University and Gold Star Productions for the BBC, begins on Thursday 2 August at 9pm on BBC Two, with the second episode following a week later. This series uncovers more about our Criminal Justice System’s workings, following the prosecutors tackling an organised criminal gang who […]

Why the unlawful use of personal data matters

4 April 2018

Data, and its misuse, has become commonplace in the media headlines recently. Anne Wesemann, Lecturer in Law at The Open University Business School takes a look at one recent data privacy storm, and explains the implications on democracy of the unlawful use of personal data. A complex data storm “The Cambridge Analytica whistleblowing storm is […]

I befriend women detained at Yarl’s Wood: their life in immigration limbo is excruciating

12 March 2018

“Why am I still here?” This is the question I’m most frequently asked by detained women who I’ve befriended at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire. The centre is mainly for women, but also holds families with children over 18-years-old and has a short-term holding facility for men. For nearly two years, I’ve been […]

OU celebrates 20 years of teaching law

7 March 2018

The Open University (OU) is this year marking the 20th anniversary of welcoming its first ever in-take of law students. On the 7th February 1998, 861 students started the first ever Open University law course – W200 Understanding Law – which was delivered through a partnership with the College of Law. It was the first […]

Why a blockchain startup called Govcoin wants to ‘disrupt’ the UK’s welfare state

27 November 2017

The UK chancellor’s recent Budget reminded us that systemic problems continue to plague the government’s delayed roll-out of universal credit – a single monthly welfare payment that will replace six separate benefits. Philip Hammond also spoke of the UK government’s commitment to innovation, with the chancellor calling for a new tech startup to be founded […]

OU News

Category: Law