The Open University

General Election means new life outside politics for some, says OU academic

8 June 2017

The General Election will almost certainly mean the loss of a parliamentary seat for many MPs, some of whom might only have been in the role for two years since 2015. Dr Jane Roberts, Research Fellow in Public Leadership at The Open University Business School, considers the situation now facing them, drawing on her extensive […]

How to settle social care funding once and for all

5 June 2017

Branding it a “dementia tax” was inspired – opponents of the Conservative Party’s election manifesto railed against its fundamentally unfair proposals for dealing with the social care costs of increasing numbers of old people with dementia. Theresa May’s U-turn took less than a long weekend. But there is still massive unfairness in the provision of […]

Centenary Sir Arthur Clarke Awards Ceremony_Stars

OU shortlisted for two awards for its contribution to international space science

1 June 2017

This week, academics from the Faculty of STEM are celebrating Space Science at the OU by supporting the UK Space Conference 2017. In addition, they are eagerly awaiting the Centenary Sir Arthur Clarke Awards Ceremony, for which the OU has been shortlisted for two categories. Space Achievement – Academic Study/Research The Centre for Electronic Imaging […]

Fact Check: do the police spend over a million hours a year fighting cannabis?

27 May 2017

According to the authoritative Crime Survey for England and Wales, 6.5% of 16 to 59-year-olds use cannabis. But fewer people are using cannabis than in 1996, when information first became available. While much of the debate surrounding cannabis use has focused on the extent of potential harm to users, recently demands for a change in […]

Antidote to crime dramas hits TV this week – The Met: Policing London

23 May 2017

Across London, twenty four hours a day, the Metropolitan (Met) Police is dealing with the demands and dilemmas of policing a city of eight and a half million people. Following on from the highly successful first series, a second series of The Met: Policing London, which begins on BBC One, 9pm on 24 May, lifts the […]

Series charts the “final countdown” in Crossrail journey

22 May 2017

More than 10,000 engineers and construction workers are racing to complete Crossrail, London’s new Underground and the biggest engineering project in Europe, in time for the first trains to start running. Over two years, the BBC has had exclusive access to this incredible construction project and, in partnership with The Open University, the series returns […]

Documentary shares uplifting stories of those with terminal illness

17 May 2017

A Time to Live, a BBC/OU co-production brings to the screen the remarkable and revealing stories of 12 people living with a terminal illness. The documentary explores the different ways the 12 people, aged from their 20s to their 60s, approach their impending death and the impact on those close to them. Through personal stories, […]

Becoming a “learning organisation” is crucial to apprenticeship success

11 May 2017

A new study from the OU has found that a staggering 45% of apprentices struggle to find time to study indicating that employers need to do more to embed learning within their businesses to ensure that apprentices have the support they need to succeed. The report In Focus: The Work-based Learning Dividend, authored by independent […]

OU celebrates ten years of life-changing learning partnership in Wales

11 May 2017

Widening access to education is what the OU is all about. In Wales, the OU is celebrating ten years of a partnership with Wales Trades Union Congress (TUC) Cymru, which has supported over 1,500 learners since its launch in 2007. The tenth anniversary of the partnership was celebrated with an event at the Senedd in Cardiff […]

Why Emmanuel Macron is bad news for Britain’s finance industry

10 May 2017

The election of the globalist and EU-champion, Emmanuel Macron, to the French presidency poses a threat to the UK’s financial sector and its economy more broadly. A potted history of the sector shows how important its outward-looking nature has been to its success. This could just as easily be undone, if the British government embarks […]

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