The Open University

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Happy 10th birthday OpenLearn

31 October 2016

This year, the OU’s free learning portal OpenLearn celebrates its 10th anniversary, hot on the heels of welcoming its 40 millionth visitors. We explore OpenLearn’s continuing success and take a look at the changing popularity of courses. In 2006 The Open University was the first UK university to make course materials freely available online in […]

The real reason clowns scare us

28 October 2016

This Halloween may be the scariest in a long time. Facing the usual huge crowds of zombies, witches and vampires, deep down, many of us most fear running into one of the “killer clowns” that have been spotted in creepy places across the world. I barely noticed it at first, even though I actually study […]

Today’s immigration laws have teeth, and their bite is toxic for people seeking asylum

26 October 2016

As a dock city, Liverpool has served as a gateway to the sugar trade, slavery and global transport for hundreds of years. It has long been a city of immigrants from Ireland, India and Pakistan to Somalia, Ethiopia and Jamaica. It boasts the oldest Chinese community in Europe, and the largest Chinese arch outside of […]

Students offered additional learning support following OU operational difficulties

24 October 2016

The Open University has announced to its student body that it is putting in place additional learning support to help them through their studies following the operational difficulties of a new policy and system designed to increase access to tutorials. The introduction of the new tutorial delivery policy has been accompanied by a number of […]

Standing L-R: John D'Arcy, Nation Director of The Open University, John Addy, Assistant Director, Professor Kevin Hetherington, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Heather Laird, Assistant Director, Simon Gregg, Student Services Manager Front Row: L-R Tim Wheeler, Doctor of the University and Catherine Bell CBE, Master of the University.

Singer Tim Wheeler joins 277 students for degree ceremony in Belfast

24 October 2016

Singer, songwriter and Alzheimer’s campaigner Tim Wheeler was honoured by The Open University (OU) with the award of Doctor of the University at a ceremony in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall on Friday 21 October. Mr Wheeler had his award conferred alongside 277 graduating students – from all walks of life, of all ages and backgrounds and […]

OU-led study will focus on ‘urgent’ need to assess impact of outreach to adult learners in HE

20 October 2016

The Open University (OU) is to lead a new research project to determine the best ways universities are reaching out to mature learners, particularly those in under-represented groups. The six-month project, commissioned by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) will address a critical gap in Widening Participation policy: sector understanding of outreach aimed, not at […]

Schiaparelli lander above the surface of Mars

What missing lander means for Europe’s quest to find life on Mars

20 October 2016

Researchers at the European Space Operations’ Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, had another one of those nervous days – waiting to hear first from a probe designed to land on Mars’ surface, and then from the probe’s orbiting mother ship. By the end of the day, the flight engineers and mission scientists were half satisfied – […]

University honours for actress Helen Griffin and campaigner Shahien Taj

19 October 2016

Two leading figures in Welsh culture and society have received honorary degrees from The Open University. Actress and comedian Helen Griffin, and charity leader and campaigner Shahien Taj, were honoured with the degree of Doctor of The Open University at a ceremony in Cardiff on Friday (14 October). The honorary graduates collected their doctorates alongside […]

glasses and book on background bookcase close up. Thinkstock

Meet the OU’s youngest ever law graduate

18 October 2016

Completing her degree at the age of just 18, Zahra Alidina is The Open University’s youngest ever law graduate. Zahra left school at the age of 13 to pursue law related subjects at GCSE and A-Level through home education. Completing her A-Levels at just 15, she found it difficult to get into traditional universities because […]

Dr Manish Patel in the OU's Hypervelocity Impact Lab.

Man on a mission: How OU academic launched a career in space

15 October 2016

Dr Manish Patel was inspired by space at a young age; venturing out in the middle of the night stargazing with his dad and his telescope. He studied an MPhys in Physics and Space Science at the University of Kent, more out of interest than as a career. After that, in what he describes as “a […]

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