Business School earns Athena SWAN Bronze award status

OUBS has been granted a Bronze ‘departmental’ award following our recent Athena SWAN submission to Advance HE, the British professional membership scheme which promotes excellence in higher education.

Athena SWAN is an internationally recognised gender equality charter, acting as a catalyst for change and cultural transformation for staff and students. This was initially established to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the academic careers of women within STEM subjects but is now across all disciplines, professional and support staff and not just barriers that affect women. It also commits to considering the intersection of gender and other characteristics.

Cost of Living Crisis - greatest challenge for 40 years says academic

The Bank of England has raised interest rates, a recession is looming and cost-of-living issues are dominating the headlines.

Martin Upton is a Senior Lecturer in Finance with OUBS, who spent 17 years working in the financial services industry before moving into academia.

He is warning people against ill-judged decisions through the current crisis. 

Here are three useful resources to help with your own finances and much more...

The Midlife MOT

Midlife years are likely to be busy. That can make it difficult to look beyond day-to-day challenges and achievements. This course will help you take a long-term view of where you're headed and what you need to do to get there.

MSE Academy of Money 

The Open University joined forces with MoneySavingExpert (MSE) to produce this free course to give you the skills and knowledge to master your finances. 

Managing my money 

Gain the skills to manage your personal finances: managing budgets, debts, investments, property purchase, pensions and insurance.

With real incomes falling and personal debt at a record high, there has never been a better time to improve your personal financial skills – Managing my money aims to do just that.

BBC Partnerships and BAFTA nominations

The OU/BBC partnership has continued to adapt with the changing times and still inspires learning from a range of co-produced and award-winning content. 

This year has seen these excellent co-productions:

•  BBC Learning English – Leadership
• The Decade the Rich Won 
• The Bottom Line

OUBS academics have provided their insight and guidance to create some amazing programmes, consulting throughout the entire production process.

Money, Business and Law - The Open University | BBC Partnership

Two more microcredentials launched in Business Management series

The OU’s microcredential offering continues to gather pace with Business Management: People Management and Leadership and Business Management: Project Management launched in May 2022.

Designed by our world-class academics, in collaboration with leading industry partners, other short courses are available in Computing and Digital Technologies, Teacher Development and Inclusive Learning, and Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability.

Hosted on our co-owned social learning platform FutureLearn, microcredentials provide a flexible way to upskill quickly and develop specialist knowledge to get ahead. They take just 10-12 weeks to complete, and learners will develop skills they can apply immediately.

The return of the Student and Alumni Awards

The Open University Business and Law Schools enjoyed a double celebration for the achievements of our fantastic students and alumni.

The annual awards did not take place in 2020 due to the pandemic but returned in a mainly online ceremony to commend the exceptional achievements of high-calibre Business and Law (including Open Justice Centre) students and graduates from the previous two academic years.

They also honoured some of the Business School’s alumni who have made an outstanding contribution to an organisation or to society. These included this year’s winner David Monk, an NHS senior manager and Associate Medical Director for the St John Ambulance, and the 2020 recipient Maggie Miller, a successful businesswoman, Associate Lecturer and long-time former chair of the Business School’s International Advisory Board (IAB).

REF 2021 recognises 82% of OU research impact as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’

The OU’s commitment to research and societal impact was recognised in May this year with 82% of its research impact assessed to be ‘world-leading’ (4*) or ‘internationally excellent’ (3*) by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

These results are a welcome acknowledgement of the impact of OU researchers’ work in transforming lives, shaping policy and tackling critical challenges across the UK's four nations and worldwide. The UK funding councils-run exercise, the only formal evaluation of research quality in Higher Education Institutions in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, runs every six to seven years.