Systems thinking in practice

What can you study with the OU?

As an early pioneer of the subject, our qualifications in systems thinking in practice have broken new ground in how to teach systems ideas, and have been studied by more than 30,000 people.

We offer the following qualifications:

• Postgraduate Certificate in Systems Thinking in Practice
• Postgraduate Diploma in Systems Thinking in Practice
• MSc in Systems Thinking in Practice

Request a prospectus

Why study systems thinking in practice?

Our portfolio of Systems Thinking in Practice qualifications provides students with:

• The ability to engage with complex and problematic situations and change them systemically or holistically.
• An alternative approach to solving 21st century management challenges.
• Solutions and techniques which apply to a diverse range of job roles, organisation types, industry sectors and public and voluntary sector services.
• The possibility to tailor content to individual and professional needs so that new skills can be applied straight away.
• A practice-focused qualification that equips you to find out "what to do when you don't know what to do".

There are four books which accompany your studies. These books were edited and co-authored by highly respected OU academics, with significant contributions in some of the books from internationally recognised experts in systems thinking. The books were co-published by The Open University with Springer. Find out more here.

You can find out more about studying systems thinking through our free learning materials on OpenLearn as well as on the resources page of the Applied Systems Thinking in Practice (ASTiP) group at the OU.