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
Shot of a young child's arm holding on to an elderly person's hand by the little finger. The older arm wears a brown leather watch with a gold buckle. The background is distorted greenery,

Welcome to the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies

WELS news

A parent and child hold hands through blue metal bars.

New Children’s Research Centre report launched at Houses of Parliament

Not enough is being done across the UK to support parents, children and young people experiencing family imprisonment according to new research by The Open University’s Children’s Research Centre and Worcestershire charity YSS. 

25th July 2023
Elderly couple holding hands and walking outside

Two new courses on caring and supporting older people with learning disabilities

The Open University has launched two new courses exploring the support and care of older people with learning disabilities.  

25th July 2023
A group of people outside the OU's Walton Hall: left to right: Oli Biard, Dr Eric Addae-Kyeremeh (Head of School ECYS), Dr Beatrice Inyangala, Andrew Law, Hellen Wamittah (Kenya Ministry of Education), Leo Liu (OU Business Development Unit)

Kenya Ministry of Education visits to discuss developing their digital education provision

The Principal Secretary in charge of higher education at the Ministry of Education in Kenya was recently welcomed to the OU’s Milton Keynes campus by colleagues from the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport (ECYS), the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) and the OU’s Business Development Unit. The aim of her visit was to develop understanding of the OU’s successful supported distance learning model and explore elements that could be applicable in delivering quality higher education at scale in Kenya.

19th July 2023
Hand of a caregiver supporting an elderly patient while walking

'Grab and Go' Guide for palliative and end of life care launched

Researchers at the OU have created a grab and go guide to support providers of palliative and end of life care services. The guide centres around the Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care: a national framework for local action, a framework which presents an overarching vision, six ambitions and eight foundations to help local health and social care leaders build accessible, responsive, effective, and personal care at the end of life.

19th July 2023
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