Overview
The Open University (OU) is a public distance learning and research university, and the biggest university in the UK for undergraduate education. The majority of the OU’s undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off-campus; many of its courses (both undergraduate and postgraduate) can also be studied anywhere in the world. There are also a number of full-time postgraduate research students based on the 48-hectare university campus. The university awards undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as non-degree qualifications such as diplomas and certificates or continuing education units.
It is the largest academic institution in the United Kingdom (and one of the largest in Europe) by student number, and qualifies as one of the world’s largest universities. Out of 132 universities and colleges, the OU was ranked 43rd (second quartile) in the Times Higher Education Table of Excellence in 2008, between the University of Reading and University of the Arts London; it was rated highly in Design, Art History, English, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Computer Science, Development Studies, Social Policy and Social Work and Sociology. It was ranked 36th in the country and 498th in the world by the Center for World University Rankings in 2018.
The Open University is also one of only three United Kingdom higher education institutions to gain accreditation in the United States of America by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The BSc (Honours) Computing and IT course is accredited by BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT and quality assured by the European Quality Assurance Network for Informatics Education (EQANIE).
168,215 Students
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Learning
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Courses Available
- Accounting, Business, Management and Marketing
- Architecture, Building, Planning and Design
- Biology and Biomedical Sciences
- Computer Science and Information Technology
- Engineering
- Foreign Studies (Language, Literature and Linguistics)
- Health Professions
- Humanities and Social Sciences
- Law and Legal Studies
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Natural Sciences
- Recreation, Sports and Fitness Studies
- Theology
- Visual and Performing Arts
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