Message from Acting Vice-Chancellor: Update from The Open University about our curriculum review

Posted on: 15th May, 2018

I wanted to update you on the Curriculum Review process we are undergoing; to clarify the next steps and to reassure you of our continuing commitment to supporting a wide array of subjects and minimising any impact on your study.

Reviewing courses and qualifications is common practice for universities but there has not been a full-scale review at the OU for some time.

We want to offer a curriculum that will meet the needs of students and employers, both now and in the future. By reviewing our curriculum, we can remove some less popular qualifications and modules, which will allow us to introduce new courses in the future.

I would like to reassure you that we will continue to offer a broad curriculum across all four faculty areas – Arts & Social Sciences (FASS), Wellbeing, Education, and Language Studies (WELS), Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and Business & Law (FBL).

We will be making final decisions in May and June, and if approved, we expect the numbers of students affected to be small.

For additional information about the curriculum review please visit: http://www2.open.ac.uk/students/communications/2018-05-11-statement-on-curriculum-review.

I want to personally reassure you that whenever we withdraw or change our qualifications, students are informed in good time before they become effective. You can read a summary of our arrangements for ‘teach-out’ in the questions and answers below, and a link to our current Academic Regulations that explain this in more detail.

I will provide another update to you after our governance committees have met.

Best wishes

Mary Kellett
Acting Vice-Chancellor