The Open University

The Open University in top 10 for course quality in Uni Compare rankings

9 June 2025

Senior leaders and staff at The Open University (OU) are celebrating after the institution jumped up 26 places into sixth position in Uni Compare’s leaderboard for course quality. Additionally, the OU, which has been providing distance learning for more than 50 years, has retained third place position in the rankings for the employability of its […]

Five Books to read if you like apocalyptic fiction

9 June 2025

With the release of the movie 28 Years later this month, you may find yourself craving apocalyptic and dystopian fiction. Here are some suggestions from The Open University’s Jennie Owen, Lecturer in Creative Writing. These page-turners include pandemics, monsters and environmental collapse, and are guaranteed to have you both horrified and gripped. 1. Parable of […]

Empowering dyslexic learners for a brighter future all round

6 June 2025

Unleashing the power of dyslexic pupils is behind new evidence-based training hosted by OpenLearn Create in partnership with global charity Made By Dyslexia. A free one-hour training package is aimed at teaching staff and parents, and covers topics from advice and hints to top tips for supporting dyslexic learning to help pupils shine. OpenLearn Create […]

Rethinking our national and international issues

4 June 2025

If you’ve ever wondered how a major emerging national or international issue might play out through alternative solutions by decisionmakers, then check out The Open University/BBC radio series Rethink on BBC Radio 4. The OU’s Professor of Politics and International Studies Simon Usherwood was the consultant to programme makers for this third series that looks […]

Ukraine’s air strikes on Russian air fields “strategically important”: academic opinion

4 June 2025

As Russia has been left counting the cost of multiple Ukrainian drone strikes on its air fields over the weekend, Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Studies at The Open University, focuses on three key factors in this latest stage of the war. The first key point is that these were the […]

OU researcher helps to reveal origin of exoplanet WASP-121b

2 June 2025

Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) investigated by a team including an academic from the OU, have provided new clues about how the exoplanet WASP-121b has formed. The insights, published today in Nature Astronomy, captured by the telescope stem from the detection of multiple key molecules: water vapour, carbon monoxide, silicon monoxide, and methane. […]

Listen to the new season of radio series, Rare Earth

30 May 2025

Today at midday (30 May) the OU/BBC radio series, Rare Earth, returns with a fifth series with environmental journalist Tom Heap and physicist Helen Czerski on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. Rare Earth is a weekly podcast and radio show which digs into the biggest issues facing our planet. Each week, hosts Tom and […]

Nigerian and Kenyan farmers can be first step to making rural mini grids more profitable and affordable

28 May 2025

In Nigeria and Kenya, many small to medium farms and rural grain-milling businesses are not connected to the national electricity grid. They still use petrol or diesel generators for power. Energy, agriculture and development researchers Temilade Sesan, Lucy Baker, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Geography at The Open University, and colleagues set out to discover how these […]

Young girl with long blonde hair throwing a mortar board in the air.

‘At the OU, I was able to get on with living my life’

28 May 2025

Jordan, a 26-year-old secondary school teacher from the Isle of Wight was able to land the job she always wanted with the help of The Open University (OU). Despite having to drop out of a campus university, she pivoted to online-supported learning with the OU and personalised her qualification to suit her lifestyle. “Like so […]

New series revels in the genius of Jane Austen

28 May 2025

If you love the feminine bonnets and bustles, handsome eligible young men and the haughty outrage of female chaperones in 18th century fiction then feast your eyes on the new docudrama Jane Austen, Rise of a Genius. The three-part Open University/BBC co-production, available on BBC iPlayer, coincides with the 250th year of Austen’s birth and […]

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