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Mission and Strategy The Open University’s mission is to be open to people, places, methods and ideas . Mission We promote educational opportunity and social justice by providing high-quality university education
Finances and Key Statistics In 2021/2022 the OU had 208,300 students. Total income was £554m, of which £423.1m from tuition fees and education contracts, £113.8m from funding body grants, and £14.6m from research grants and contracts.
Extending our reach We remain the largest university in the UK and one of the largest universities in Europe in terms of student numbers, the majority of whom are part- time and study at a distance. Enhancing our multiple media channels Our enduring relationship with the BBC continues to provide high caliber programming demonstrated by Blue Planet Live winning the 2020 BAFTA for ‘Best Live Event’. We won Public/Private Partnership of the year at the 2020 PIEoneer awards in recognition of our successful partnership with Uber. The paper co-authored by STEM PhD student, Madhu Madhavi, called ‘Coal in the twenty-first century: a climate of change and uncertainty’ was formally awarded the James Watt Medal by Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Publishing. The Language of Lying, commissioned by our OpenLearn team and produced by Hamlett Films, won the MEDEA Award 2020. In Ireland we received an ‘Excellence in Online Learning’ Award from Public Sector Magazine in Ireland. Two Guardian University Awards, for the Uber partnership widening access and outreach, and nQuire for research impact. Both initiatives reflect the remarkable ability that our channels and platforms have to reach people who want to learn and discover new knowledge. Use of our multiple media channels continues to grow. Total downloads from The Open University iTunes U service reached 73.4 million, video views of Open University content on YouTube reached 53 million, total Amazon kindle downloads for Open University books since 2013 reached 1.7 million and visits to the University’s open educational resource website, OpenLearn, reached 80.8 million.
The University receives funding from the Office for Students (OfS) in England, and the funding bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but its principal financial regulator for all the nations is fulfilled by OfS. The majority of its expenditure is on its staff and the infrastructure to support distance part-time education. The University has a strong balance sheet with substantial reserves. A programme of agreed strategic change driven cost-reduction measures will support delivery of the OU’s financial strategy for financial sustainability. The strength of the reserves has enabled the investment in strategic change to build for our future. Key Statistics The Open University has spent over 50 years inspiring learning and creating higher educational opportunities with no barriers to entry. We continue to demonstrate excellence in research and teaching and achieve enormous reach through use of open access educational resources and our partnership with the BBC. Growing our attractiveness to students We continue to increase the numbers of students directly studying with us and these students are studying at a higher intensity as shown by the increase in full-time equivalent students. Our students have voted us sixth overall in the 2022 National Student Survey Awards. We retained an overall satisfaction rate at 88% across the UK, with a rate of 90% in Scotland. We ranked first in Scotland and in Northern Ireland we were again first. Our excellent research informs our cutting-edge curriculum and is recognised by numerous external funding grants.
The seven enablers to reach our goals: • living our values , being inclusive, innovative and responsive in all we do. • supporting each other to do our best work. • continuously improving how we work and manage change. • employing secure and effective technologies with the best possible user experience. • using data and evidence in all our decision-making. • building on our uniqueness as a university for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. • stewarding our finances so that we can invest in our goals. 1 Channels are the platforms through which the University reaches learners, such as its virtual learning environment, our OpenLearn website, collaborations with employers and colleges, and broadcasting with the BBC. Learning opportunities are its various course products, from degrees and modules to apprenticeships and microcredentials, as well as different ways in which these can be studied, from higher and lower study intensity to blended or entirely online experiences.
to all who wish to realise their ambitions and fulfil their potential. Through academic research, pedagogic innovation and collaborative partnership we seek to be a world leader in the design, content and delivery of supported open learning. Most of our undergraduate courses have no formal entry requirements. We believe that the qualifications our students have when they leave are the only ones that matter. We are committed to promoting equal opportunities for all, and close monitoring makes sure that we live up to our ideals. Our Annual Reports provide a record of our work, events, projects and financial highlights year by year. Strategy Through the power of learning we aim to transform lives and communities, opening a world of possibilities for everyone. Our Strategy: Learn and Live (2022-2027) is built on five goals and seven enablers, showing how we will achieve our mission over the next five years. Our five goals: • greater reach , offering unrivalled choice, quality and flexibility to more people from all parts of society through a range of channels and learning opportunities, with the University’s core offer of qualifications and accredited learning at its centre 1 . • success for our students , supporting them to achieve their goals, whoever and wherever they are, with outcomes that are equitable and open up new opportunities in life and work. • societal impact locally and globally through research, enterprise and skills development that shape the future.. • equity , greater diversity at all levels, and inclusion in every aspect of how we work and what we achieve. • environmental and social sustainability .
More information More information on the OU’s Mission and Strategy can be found at https://www.open.ac.uk/about/ main/strategy
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