The Open University

The university that calls itself “The Open University” suggests that all other universities are closed. And this is true, because they are closed to everyone who does not have the time, the opportunity or the qualifications to study there. For these people, who missed the chance of going to a conventional university, “The Open University” was set up in 1967.

Most of its students work at home or in full-time jobs and can study only in their free time. They need to study about ten hours a week. As the university is truly “open”, there are no formal entry requirements (none of the usual “A” Level examinations are asked for), and students are accepted on a “first come, first served” basis. This is one of the more revolutionary aspects of the university.

Its students are therefore of all ages and come from very different backgrounds. Some, such as teachers, want to improve their qualifications. Other, like retired people or mothers whose families have grown up, are at the O.U. because they now have time to do something they have always wanted to do.

Returning to “school” is difficult for most students, for they have forgotten – or never knew – how to study, to write essays, and to prepare for exams. In addition to all the reading and writing assignments, students have got a lot of watching and listening to do, for there are weekly O.U. lectures broadcast on BBC television and radio.

To keep people from just giving up or collapsing under all of this work, each student gets the help and support of his own tutor/counselor, who he meets regularly and can telephone in any crisis or difficulty. At the meeting, students get to know other students on the course and join with them into “self-help” groups. These groups meet in each other’s homes to discuss the texts and assignments; here too they find support and stimulation.

As an “Open University” student, the nearest you get to ordinary university life is at the summer schools, which you must attend in the first year. You spend a week at a college or university, taking courses, having discussions, and working hard in an exciting atmosphere. They discover that they have begun to master the skills and discipline of university study.

By the time the exams come in October, you feel much more confident and optimistic about your return to student life. Your final mark is based on the exam and the written assignments done during the year. If you pass – and most people do – you have gone one credit towards the six that you need for a degree. At the usual rate of a course a year, it will take you six (or eight) years to get your degree.