The Open University was founded by the Labour government under Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson was a strong … See more

The majority of staff are part-time associate lecturers and, as of the 2021–22 academic year, almost 5,000 work for the OU. There are also 1,427 (mostly full-time) salaried academic employees (central academics based at W… See more

The OU uses a variety of methods for teaching, including written and audio materials, the Internet, disc-based software and television programmes on DVD. Course-based television broadcasts by the BBC, … See more

In the 2021–22 academic year, there were 208,308 enrolled students.
In 2019/20, 99,834 students were from England, 14,903 were from Scotland, 6,668 from Wales, 3,667 from Northern Ireland and 4,900 f… See more

• Jocelyn Bell Burnell led the physics department at the OU for 10 years.
• Robin Wilson is an emeritus professor in the Department of Mathematics.
• Colin Pillinger was a founding member of the Planetary and Space … See more