The Open University is an expert in flexible higher education that fits around your working life.
We don’t make you choose between a degree and a salary – more than 76% of our students are in full or part time work, while 86% FTSE 100 companies have funded staff on OU courses.
Employers including IBM, The Metropolitan Police, Unilever and many more recognise the value for money we provide, while students appreciate the range of affordable routes we offer. As a result, we are the largest academic institution in the UK, with nearly 180,000 current undergraduates, postgraduates and students on validated programmes - plus almost 1.8 million who have studied with us since our foundation in 1969.
When you join the OU, you gain a vast international network of support from university staff, alumni and fellow students (including more than 15,000 overseas) with a truly global reach. Wherever you are based, we offer flexible study with structure and support and we have been rated in the top ten UK universities for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey since its foundation in 2005.
Our commitment to distance learning and access to education enables us to cater for the widest range of students - not only those who are in paid work but also the retired, those returning to education, registered carers, single parents and more disabled people than any other UK-based university.
Flexible, affordable, respected and connected. Don’t take our word for it: Listen to what our students say at www.youtube.com/user/OUlife or click on the ‘Recommendations’ tab at the top of this page.
For almost 150 years, we’ve been at the forefront of global workforce skills development, partnering with people and organisations to foster life-changing learning and growth.
We’re the global skills partner of choice, driven by a deep-rooted commitment to skills development, serving learners and employers worldwide.
Our comprehensive solutions – from industry-leading qualifications, assessments and awards to strategic workforce planning, hands-on technical training and leadership development – equip learners and organisations to thrive in an ever-evolving landscape.
We believe in a world where everyone can succeed through skills, because we understand the life-changing link between skills, social mobility and success
City & Guilds Training, ILM and The Oxford Group are all part of City & Guilds.
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is a statutory levy board, funded by farmers, growers and others in the supply chain to help the industry succeed in a rapidly changing world. We want to create a world-class food and farming industry, inspired by and competing with the best.
Our purpose is to make our agriculture and horticulture industries more competitive and sustainable through factual, evidence-based advice, information and activity:
• We manage extensive research and development programmes which are delivering scientifically robust and commercially useful outcomes for our levy payers
• We undertake efficient farm-level knowledge transfer programmes based on evidence, both from third-party science and our own R&D, aimed at improving efficiency, productivity and sustainability
• We provide unbiased, high-quality market information that helps business decision making and improves supply chain transparency
• We carry out export market development work and also domestic marketing activity to inspire and inform consumers in order to assist the economic viability of sectors which require this
• We raise awareness of food and where it comes from among school children and we help ensure the agriculture and horticulture industries are able to develop and attract workers with the skills they need
• We also ensure that proper account is taken of Government priorities for agriculture and the agri-food industry, where appropriate.