Professor of Sociology & Social Policy and Vice-Chancellor of The Open University. Views my own. For direct comms please use vice-chancellor
@open
.ac.uk.
V honoured to be next Vice-Chancellor of
@OpenUniversity
; a social movement as much as a place of higher learning! Thank you
#marykellett
for wonderful leadership over past year. V sad to say goodbye to
@MiddlesexUni
in Oct,where incredible staff&students have been an inspiration
A level/BTEC results need not ruin lives.
@OpenUniversity
we are open access. We say try a free course
@OUFreeLearning
, do a diagnostic assessment or take a free or v low fee access module. Then decide if HE is for you. Our students select us, we don’t select them.
Oh dear
@BBCNews
interviewing folk in
#MiltonKeynes
about
#RishiSunakPM
observes MK is an ambitious place looking to become a university city. I know news can be slow to arrive but that ambition was met 52 years ago: MK is home to the largest university in the UK
@OpenUniversity
At
@OpenUniversity
we lead the way producing talent for the world's tech giants, along with Oxford and Cambridge. Not bad given we don't select students by what they achieved in the past but invite you to study with us based on your ambition for the future
Some fact-checking
@BBCNews
please.
#MiltonKeynes
is not UK’s largest urban area without a university but the urban area with the largest uni in the UK
@OpenUniversity
! We grew up with MK, both incredible achievements of design and purpose.
The killing of
#GeorgeFloyd
under a white police officer’s knee diminishes me as a white person. It hardens my resolve
@OpenUniversity
for us all to work even harder to end race inequality, prevent discrimination & embrace the positive power of diversity
#BlackLivesMattter
This announcement is the culmination of many years of work with the
@oubucu
. Nearly 5,000 of our Associate Lecturers are moving onto new terms & conditions, giving them enhanced job security. A huge thanks to everyone who has helped us reach this point.
Several paragraphs about 400 students at a small Cambridge college but no mention of 160,000 students
@OpenUniversity
! An article that’s supposed to be about the future of HE. I note writer went to Oxford University. Any implicit bias training?
Reading hundreds of tweets today from
@OpenUniversity
students celebrating
#OUResults
. Many humbling stories like this. With the support of our incredible staff, our students show what hard work & determination can achieve even when the odds are stacked against you.
Incredible how
@OpenUniversity
is everywhere. I’m staying in a hotel in Edinburgh while working
@OUScotland
and a guy working here says he’s an
#OU
graduate & loved it - changed his life. Retired now, he works part-time to keep busy and meets … the OU’s Vice-Chancellor!
To scoop two
@GdnUniversities
Awards in 2020 and be a runner up for the third is great news for
@OpenUniversity
in what has been the most testing of years for many of us.
This week we welcome Prof Marcia Wilson
@marciaw1404
to
@OpenUniversity
as our new Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, starting a new chapter in the OU’s mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas & Jennie Lee’s vision that we are a university for everyone.
Our incredible
@OpenUniversity
is 51 today, a university that knows no borders, says to be human is to ‘Learn and Live’, that’s open to people, places, methods & ideas, sends instruments to comets because we just want to know, that’s produced the most CEOs of any UK university.
It was
#OnThisDay
in 1969 that we were first awarded our Royal Charter by Her Majesty the Queen. We mark this date annually with our Charter Day celebrations, even at times like these...
Want more OU history? Work your way through ‘H’ of the
#OUphabet
:
On behalf of
@OpenUniversity
, I wish to extend our deepest sympathies to the Royal Family. Her Majesty will be remembered as a figure of huge historical significance and one who has guided the country through the best and worst of times. (1/4)
I’m in week four at the
@OpenUniversity
, it’s a wonderful job, I’m thoroughly enjoying it and I feel incredibly privileged to be in this role.
#OU50FirstDays
My amazing colleagues
@OpenUniversity
have achieved THREE shortlistings in
#GuardianUniversityAwards
- research impact,staff experience & widening access. A great university that welcomes everyone to the life-changing experience of higher education
I am married to the most amazing person
@robertabwMP
who today ends nearly 15 years of selfless and dedicated service to the people of Durham and the country. I’ve seen it first hand, and we lose such good people from politics at our peril.
Today is my last day as MP for City of Durham and representing it in Parliament has been the greatest privilege of my life. I want to thank all my constituents, staff and Labour party members for their fantastic support over the years - I will share my final speech tomorrow.
‘Why are you wasting your time studying?’ Do share this powerful video by Stephen Akpabio-Klementowski from
@OpenUniversity
and
@bbcideas
on how higher education has changed an offender’s life, who will now change others.
“Trying to teach complex molecular biology techniques is much harder over Zoom” says UK Education Secretary
@GavinWilliamson
, which is why
@OpenUniversity
we teach science using award-winning technology like our
@OpenSTEMLabs
Our relationship with
@MoneySavingExp
and
@MartinSLewis
is based on a shared commitment and passion to inform and educate people to help change their lives for the better. Our free online learning platform is the ideal home for MSE’s Academy of Money.
Every year
@OpenUniversity
co-produces some 25 TV & radio programmes with the BBC and they’re awesome. Just to make the point one picked up a
#BAFTA
last week for Best Live Event -
#BluePlanetLive
made with our colleagues in
@OU_STEM
Celebrating the open degree
@OpenUniversity
- study what you need, what inspires you, and achieve a degree. Surely impressive that a student designs their study path rather than has it designed for them.
Watching
@Nigel_Farage
interview with
@afneil
tonight. He says skills shortages caused by cutting immigration can be solved by stopping students studying social sciences. Does he know that the unemployment rate among soc sci grads is the same as STEM subjects, and both are v low?
This incredible scheme generously funded by
@OpenUniversity
alumni and foundations is making degrees in England free for carers. Would be great to have
@Helen_Whately
&
@MattHancock
support this initiative.
The thoughts of everyone
@OpenUniversity
are with friends and family of Betty Boothroyd. Her contribution to British life, OU and every one of our alumni who had the honour to have their degree conferred by her on them, will not be forgotten.
#OUfamily
First grandchild just arrived, on Easter Day! Baby boy. Born in New Zealand to a mum (Maeve) with British and Irish (and EU) citizenship. Already a citizen of the world!
The Open University had a £2.77bn impact on the UK economy in 2018-19.
Read our landmark report by
@LE_Education
, published today in celebration of
#LifelongLearningWeek
Today is the day! We're delighted to present this landmark report on adult education and lifelong learning.
100 years on from the 1919 report, it's time that adult education is once again regarded as a permanent national necessity
#AdultEducation100
Part-time Higher Education is of immense economic value. Now is the time to reverse the costly unintended consequence of the 2012 funding changes in England.
Read my essay Lifelong Learning: Time to Fix the Problem:
Well, that’s my EU citizenship gone but not for my wife and daughter who, born in another part of the UK - Northern Ireland - have been able to choose to stay EU citizens.
She was the first female Professor of Physics, at the
@OpenUniversity
and is a hugely inspiring astronomer. Absolute pleasure to host Jocelyn Bell Burnell tomorrow as part of our 50th anniversary series of talks.
#OU50FirstDays
@OU_STEM
Many congrats to Abigail Kos who achieved A*A*A in her A Levels. Abigail is choosing to study
@OpenUniversity
, traditionally a university for older students but now an increasingly popular choice for school and college leavers.
Interesting article on remote learning and the importance of widening participation. Former Universities Minister
@CSkidmoreUK
calls out
@OpenUniversity
as a leader in the integrated learning space, referencing our wonderful
@OpenSTEMLabs
.
It never has been, but choosing the OU means choosing 51 years of experience and expertise, and probably the best designed, most professionally supported and widest choice of digitally rendered courses in the world. Much of it is free too
@OUFreeLearning
@TimJBlackman
@OpenUniversity
DL is not the sole preserve of the OU anymore, you can study with many of the top universities online only. I'm 3 years into a 6 year degree in Ancient History and Archaeology with
@uniofleicester
. Edinburgh, Nottingham, Birmingham, Birbeck, Liverpool (to name a few) offer DL.
A really fitting accolade for the home of the UK’s largest university
@OpenUniversity
! We have grown up together with the new city and its motto ‘By Knowledge, Design and Understanding’.
YES MK! We are so proud that Milton Keynes is being made a city as part of HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Thank you to everyone who supported the bid.
#LoveMK
Incredible book. 45% of students in 1920s
@durham_uni
extra-mural classes were manual labourers, 33% colliers. Classics were very popular, especially Roman history.
Was prompted by radio discussion to read ‘E Hall/H Stead ‘A People’s History of Classics’ covering Greco-Roman Antiquity & origins of class. So surprised to find frontispiece is a Durham Miners Banner depicting links between Roman workers and miners.
@DurhamMiners
- just amazing!
‘The Open University launched its OpenSTEM Labs in 2015, providing students with remote access to laboratories and observatories via remotely-operated robotic instruments ... experts noted that no other UK university has comparable provision’.
We’ve a unique approach to higher education
@OpenUniversity
. We don’t select who’s to be educated. Everyone should be able to be if that’s their ambition. So we ask enquirers to self-assess and then point them to what they need to succeed.
Congratulations
@OpenUniversity
Prof Mark Brandon
@icey_mark
awarded his MBE yesterday for services to polar science. Mark’s work has brought polar science and the need for action on the climate emergency to audiences of millions through the OU’s partnership with the BBC.
Yesterday was one of those days filled with new experiences. Grateful to all my brilliant colleagues who enabled me - and who often did all the hard stuff. Wishing everyone the best for '22.
Very good piece from
@BBCNews
giving insight into young people’s choices between campus degrees and degree apprenticeships. There is a third option - online
@OpenUniversity
Apprenticeship v university: What course to take? - BBC News
Just terrific today at
#OpenFest
to talk with school children about what the
@OpenUniversity
offers learners of all ages - our youngest student aged 13 and oldest 93! They were so engaged with everything we showed them, from moon rock to our fantastic TV productions with the BBC.
At a time of celebration about the long and dedicated service of our Head of State, timely to reflect that one of the biggest innovations in education during her reign is
@OpenUniversity
, created in 1969 by the Royal Prerogative.
An important, humbling thing about this faith is if you live near a Sikh temple you’ll never starve. Much more than that, you’ll eat well & eat alongside people from all walks of life, served by people from all walks of life. No humiliation of food banks or begging. Just giving.
Watching re-run of
@AndrewMarr9
History of Modern Britain
@BBCFOUR
on 1960s and 70s. Mostly pretty bleak. Pity he didn’t cover one of the highlights - creation of
@OpenUniversity
, at which 2 million people would go on to study.
Delighted
@OUFreeLearning
&
@FutureLearn
courses are meeting the country’s challenges on government platforms in all four UK Nations from today. A lot of people worried about jobs & families are going to find new skills, new inspiration & new opportunities with
@OpenUniversity
The Skills Toolkit is a new online platform giving access to free, high quality digital and numeracy courses to help people build up their skills and boost employability across the country 🌐⚡
👉
#StayHomeSaveLives
#TheSkillsToolkit
The OU is in a league of its own with the scale of social mobility. 2 million have learned with us & still counting. Continuation is poor indicator for part-time adult learners. Many step off for family, job or health reasons but step back later. Many only aim to complete modules
The OU has very good access stats and salary outcomes - continuation rates though are low but it would still come out at 36 due to the scale of opportunity it provides - it’s a great institution with a distinctive mission - I was fortunate enough to both study & work with them
Of course the OU is of MK! We’ve hundreds of students in MK, thousands of staff work & live in MK, kids in local schools, serving as school governors, volunteering in community. We support hundreds of local businesses. Sponsor business awards. Host a vaccination centre …
Wonderfully upbeat message from
#MiddlesexUniversity
celebrating its supportive, diverse and inclusive community. I’ll miss it. I start at another incredible university next week, the
#OpenUniversity
, a social movement of millions.
"Whoever you are, wherever you've come from, whatever you're worried about, we'll be here." Current students, staff and everyone else on
#TeamMDX
❤️Hello to new students joining us this week. Join in and make the most of what uni life has to offer you. It's going to be amazing ✨
Congratulations to our
@OUIreland
Director
@JohnMDArcy
collecting his OBE with
@DArcyJackie
today for services to education and the arts. Very proud of you John!
Very proud to be at St. James’s Palace tonight with
@OpenUniversity
colleagues to hear of the
@qaprizes
award for our OpenSTEM labs. A leading distance-learning initiative that has supported tens of thousands of people develop their STEM skills.
If like me you think some of the best BBC TV programmes are the ones co-produced with
@OpenUniversity
then get ready for
#Autumnwatch
starting Tuesday.
My BA Geog prepared me to be a seaman, community worker, PhD student, lecturer, local government officer, housing director, vice-chancellor, forecast the weather, read maps, use statistics, program a computer, manage a project and keep learning.
"Kids are expected to have six careers in their lifetime, [so] what is the point in spending three years learning how to do your first job? Are kids supposed to do six degrees in their lifetime too?"
@RDNS_TAI
@guardian
Great news Mark. And from this October
@OpenUniversity
we’re moving nearly 5,000 Associate Lecturer colleagues from fixed-term contracts to open-ended contracts, and investing £15m a year in more paid time for professional development and leave.
Beyond delighted to announce that I have recently accepted the offer of an open-ended academic post here at the
@OpenUniversity
! I will be continuing to work with the fantastic teams
@Astrobiology_OU
and
@OU_EEE
. Very thankful for the mentorship and guidance that has got me here!
We've won it twice before, but can we win it again? Essential TV viewing tonight as
@OpenUniversity
competes in the first round of University Challenge. Keeping fingers firmly crossed.
#OU50FirstDays
#OUstudents
I’m so proud of the
@OpenUniversity
Charter, which commits us ‘to promote the educational wellbeing of the community generally’.
@OUFreeLearning
is a very large part of how we do that thanks to our wonderful
#OpenLearn
team!
🎉 Today is OpenLearn's 15th birthday!
🎂 And there is (sorry, was) cake!
15 years of FREE learning from The
@OpenUniversity
1,000+ free courses
More than 98 million learners... and a big milestone we're about to celebrate too, to be revealed VERY soon!
Once you have registered for your course, 2 weeks before your course starts you are given access to a module website which provides all you need for your studies.
Check out this website to see how different facets of your study will work.
Great piece, but for record OU is investing £10m p.a. to decasualise our 4,000 Associate Lecturers & we’ll soon be biggest we’ve ever been by FTE student nos. Big issue is English policy doesn’t support lower intensity study, so more students are full time
Congrats to
#BBC
for 100 years of broadcasting today; over 50 years in partnership with
@OpenUniversity
The Open University on BBC TV, Radio and Digital | BBC Partnership
So pleased to see the inspirational work of
@OpenUniversity
colleagues across our four Nations recognised with this amazing award for a 50th anniversary campaign that was simply stunning. Thank you!
Our
#CIPREXCEL
Education Campaign Winner successfully positioned themselves as a leader, drove revenue, and achieved outcomes for all stakeholders - uniting a network of staff, students and alumni.
Congrats goes to
@OpenUniversity
for ‘Celebrating 50 years of education
#OU50
’!
So proud of our staff & students for
@OpenUniversity
shortlistings in
#THEAwards
incl University of the Year again! It was a v tough year. We created thousands of new study places to meet demand, shot up student satisfaction rankings & managed over 2million visits
@OUFreeLearning
Times Higher Education Awards 2021 shortlist announced – 78 institutions and teams are in the running across 20 categories, with the nominees selected from a record of nearly 600 entries. See who’s in the frame
#THEAwards
Not much beats the atmosphere at an
@OpenUniversity
degree ceremony. Wishing everyone graduating in Milton Keynes today a day to remember – congratulations.
#OU50FirstDays
#OUfamily
Education is about your success but it’s also about how to help others. If we want a better world, it’s what we do for others that will make a difference.
Great atmosphere at
@OpenUniversity
@OUCymru
degree ceremony today.
#OUfamily
#OU50FirstDays
Eye-opening visit to
#TheOpenUniversity
’s online science and engineering labs
@OpenSTEMLabs
. Transforming access to thousands of students working from home but still able to operate instruments, program robots, join fieldwork, run experiments - amazing!
Open University Senior Lecturer in Law Francine Ryan shortlisted for the prestigious Oxford University Press Law Teacher of the Year. Good luck Francine!
@OpenUniversity
@OU_OpenJustice
Law Teacher of the Year Award - Oxford University Press
Now that’s an
#OUfamily
– an incredible achievement for
@OpenUniversity
graduate and foster carer Judith Harper MBE who has inspired her two daughters to study with us too.
#OU50FirstDays
Catching up with
#UniversityChallenge
on
@BBCiPlayer
to see how
@OUstudents
team are doing. Treated to Ellie (nursing), Mark (open degree), Ann (art & architectural history) & James (English lit) romp to another win, this time against UEA. ‘A phenomenal team’ indeed
@amolrajan
There’s something for everyone
@OpenUniversity
, from degrees & certificates to short courses, science & tech to arts & business. Whether our research (literally) on Mars or that we’ve graduated more CEOs than any other university, we’re full of surprises. Here’s our new campaign.
At a time when flexible, open education has never been more important, we’re looking firmly to the future, opening up new possibilities for students, employers and society.
#TheFutureIsOpen
Higher education is free
@OpenUniversity
- check out
@OUFreeLearning
for incredible range of courses and resources, and join 5 million visitors so far this year!
Very sad to say goodbye today with friends & colleagues to Kathryn Baldwin my wonderful business manager
@OpenUniversity
. She’s off back to Australia with Richard and Charlie, and we all wish them the very best
#OUfamily
Which universities are the most successful at collaborating to achieve the
@UN
#SDGs
? Browse our
#THEglobalimpact
table on 'partnerships for the goals'
The clouds parted just as I arrived so I was able to see the transit of Mercury as it passed in front of the sun earlier today.
Thrilled to have my first astronomical encounter here at the
@OpenUniversity
#OU50FirstDays
#MercuryTransit
Thank you Cath for all you’re doing for our students. We’re working hard to give our students the tuition, support & reassurance they deserve, while looking after our dedicated staff who, like our students, are juggling work, child care and sadly sometimes illness & bereavement.
Our President,
@NotoriousCath
shares a message on the work she has been involved in with
@OpenUniversity
on student queries and issues during Covid-19. Read the full statement on our website here:
Because if it’s done by raising higher rate taxes (where two-thirds of taxpayers are graduates) & corporation tax (one of lowest rates in OECD), then graduates, society & companies pay in proportion to benefit. Simple, fair & cost-effective compared to bureaucratic loan system.