England

Please tell us where you live so that we can provide you with the most relevant information as you use this website.
If you are at a BFPO address please choose the country or region in which you would ordinarily be resident.
Accessibility statement
An image to illustrate The Open University's postgraduate how will I study page.
If you’ve studied with us before, you’ll likely be very familiar with our module materials, websites, tutor support and tutorials. For anyone new to the OU, learn more about how you’ll study your postgraduate qualification and what you’ll need to succeed.
We offer supported distance learning – that means, we’ll provide you with all the resources you need to study, alongside the support you need to be successful.
About two weeks before your official module start date, you’ll gain access to your module website.
On there, you’ll have access to:
Your study planner will have most of your module’s key dates already, but you may have to wait a little longer for any residential school or exam dates. Don’t worry though, we’ll make sure you have these in plenty of time.
If your module has printed module materials, you’ll also be sent these before your module starts.
Your study will either be entirely online, or a combination of online and printed module materials and practice-based learning.
If you have additional requirements, we offer alternative format materials. We’ll ask you to let us know before you start your first module.
Your module website will be broken down into study weeks. Each week you’ll have a mixture of reading, videos/recordings and interactive activities to go through. Some modules also offer the opportunity to engage with remotely operated experiments. Wherever you can get an internet connection, you’ll be able to study.
Module-specific tutors will support you throughout your studies. We cover off how your tutor supports you and how you’ll be assessed on our Tutors and assessment page.
To be successful in your postgraduate studies, you’ll generally need to be able to:
Not all of these skills will be appropriate to the subject area you’re looking to study. That said, an undergraduate degree (or equivalent level) or professional experience in a related area, is excellent preparation.
Of course, being a student at the OU means you’ll have access to a wealth of resources outside just your module materials.
We offer specialist support in the form of our Student Computing Helpdesk and career planning services. You’ll even be able to use our career services for another three years after you stop studying with us.
You’ll have your own StudentHome page, which you log into through the OU website. On there, you can:
Our online library will give you worldwide access to trusted, quality online resources, selected by subject specialists, to support your study.
1 minute 39 seconds
See how our module websites work.
The OU study materials are great. The online materials, interfaces, lectures and online TMA submissions of the modern day OU are fantastic.
Level info