Collaborations

Looking for a more effective, innovative style of training? We can work with you to inspire and motivate your staff by developing them in the context of the workplace – transforming their understanding and skills and improving their practice and performance right from the start.

Our partners come from the public and independent sector – ranging from NHS Trusts, Local Authorities and Councils to small independent voluntary organisations and major national charities. They all share a need to develop staff flexibly and cost-effectively to improve services, and many stay with us year after year as they reap the rewards of an OU education. Benefits include:

• high quality professional development without sending staff off-site for training
• the ability to offer consistent, relevant training to any number of staff, from small groups to an entire workforce, based locally or widely distributed
• a positive impact on recruitment and retention.

I’ve worked with a lot of universities and the OU is the best, most responsive one I’ve ever experienced … The Open University is an excellent way for people to learn while working. It’s flexible, the course materials are really good and the support is fantastic. We have found many benefits of working with the OU to students and our other staff and I would certainly recommend it.

Gillian Ashworth
Clinical Placement Facilitator, Northampton NHS Trust

We recognise that reorganisation and budget cuts pose major challenges for employers – more and more is expected of staff as leaders; and support workers are doing more to deliver services. Our partnerships encompass learning and development across the whole workforce – we offer:

• openness and accessibility – working with us puts qualifications within reach of people who never thought they could study at this level
• world-class learning resources – developed by leading academics and practitioners which take into account the views of service users and carers, and underpinned by expert research and scholarship
• flexible study arrangements designed to fit with work and family commitments, with no need to take time away from the workplace.