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Welcome to the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies

Organised as three Schools, the Faculty works across a range of disciplines including Education, Childhood and Youth, Health and Social Care, Youth Work, Social Work, Languages and Applied Linguistics, Nursing, and Sport and Fitness. We take an innovative approach to teaching and learning, developing collaborative partnerships with employers and other institutions, and engaging in cutting-edge, action-oriented and internationally recognised research.

Find out more about our Faculty

Schools

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Study with us

The Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies offers 17 undergraduate and five postgraduate degrees as well as a wide range of certificates and diplomas, across nine subject areas in the fields of health and social care, education, sport and fitness, and languages and applied linguistics. We also offer short courses in languages and international culture, and apprenticeships in the key areas of nursing, advanced clinical practice, and social work. Our qualifications are developed by practice-based experts, including teachers and health care professionals, and informed by our internationally recognised and award-winning research.

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Our research

The key focus of our research is enabling communities to realise their potential, lead healthy, fulfilling lives, create inclusive societies, and thrive in the context of global change and uncertainty. Driven by the OU’s social mission, and inspired by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, our research covers the span of life from the cradle to the grave. A key characteristic of our research is its interdisciplinary and practice-based approach. We harness the expertise and insight of our diverse research specialisms to help support change and impact policy, not just across the Four Nations, but also further afield in our global development work

Research in WELS
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Welcome to the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies

WELS news

Graphic card: Photograph of Dr Deborah Steele alongside the text "Meet the Tutors - Dr Deborah Steele, School of Health, Wellbeing & Social Care

Meet the Tutors: Deborah Steele – “I know what it’s like to juggle study and life”

Dr Deborah Steele is impressive. Not only is she a tutor (we call them Associate Lecturers at the OU) in nursing and healthcare, but she is also the first in her family to get a degree, which like many of our students, she did whilst working two part-time jobs and raising four children alone. Here’s how... 

30th March 2023
Collage of four bakes created by WELS postgraduate researchers for the OU's Bake Your Research competition over the years (2018-2021).

Where are they now? PhD bakers catch-up

Each year, OU PhD students have the chance to make a cake that represents their studies for the annual Graduate School ‘Bake Your Research’ competition. We caught up with previous contestants from the Faculty of WELS to see where they are now.

29th March 2023
Portrait of Dr Jennifer Agbaire and Dr Sharif Haider

Two CSGD projects proposals are accepted on the Open Societal Challenges programme

Two exciting new project proposals by members of the Centre for the Study of Global Development have been accepted by the Open Societal Challenges (OSC) programme, an OU initiative bringing together the university’s academic community to develop inclusive research that will drive positive societal change. 

28th March 2023
A photograph of a Social Worker smiling and showing their ID badge to a person at a front door.

World Social Work Day 2023: How to tackle diversity in social work courses

Paulette Johnson, WELS Academic Lead for Access, Participation and Success, is a qualified Social Worker. In this article for World Social Work Day, she shares how the OU's social work curriculum is tackling equality, diversity and inclusion. 

21st March 2023
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