Exhibition: The OU Story

The 1980s also saw the expansion of the OU overseas.

From the beginning the OU had students studying abroad, including merchant seamen and those in the armed forces. By the early 80s there was a desire to expand provision outside the UK. In 1982 a project offered five courses to British nationals in Brussels, this was expanded to non-British nationals in 1983. By the end of the 1980s the OU had 700 registered students in Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg and was planning further expansion.

In 1980 a collaborative arrangement was signed with the British Council, the body funded by government to provide cultural and educational services overseas. Throughout the 1980s, members of staff undertook numerous consultancy assignments abroad, at the request of and funded by The British Council and Overseas Development Administration. In 1989 the government of Hong Kong established an Open University Learning Institute using OU course materials. During the decade the OU also helped to set up open universities in other countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

In the clip on this page Vice Chancellor John Horlock talks about overseas visitors to the OU during a graduate press conference in 1983.