Editing Open University (section)

== Students ==
In the 2021–22 academic year, there were 208,308 enrolled students.<ref name="renamed100"/>

===Demographics===
[[File:Open University MMB 10 Walton Hall.jpg|thumb|The Open University's Milton Keynes campus]]

In 2019/20, 99,834 students were from England, 14,903 were from Scotland, 6,668 from Wales, 3,667 from Northern Ireland and 4,900 from the [[European Union]], with others elsewhere. 60% of undergraduates were female, with 53% of those taking postgraduate modules being male.<ref name="Facts and Figures 2015">{{Cite web |title=Facts and Figures 2015–16 |url=http://www.open.ac.uk/about/main/sites/www.open.ac.uk.about.main/files/files/uk_fact_figures_1516_pdf(1).pdf |access-date=23 October 2017}}</ref>

According to ''The Guardian'', a cross-sector fall in the number of part-time students was accelerated in 2012 when tuition fees rose and there was limited financial support for part-time students. The Open University saw a 30% drop in part-time students between 2010–11 and 2015–16.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fazackerley |first=Anna |date=2 May 2017 |title=Part-time student numbers collapse by 56% in five years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/may/02/part-time-student-numbers-collapse-universities |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Enrollment numbers show a tremendous difference from 2009–2010 to 2016–2017.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Rebuilding British higher education's most unusual institution |language=en |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2018/09/15/rebuilding-british-higher-educations-most-unusual-institution |access-date=2018-09-19}}</ref>

While most of those studying are [[mature student]]s, an increasingly large proportion of new undergraduates are aged between 17 and 25, to the extent that in 2010/11 the OU had more students in this age range than any other UK university.<!--OU 32,000 in 2010-11, Manchester 2nd at 28,690 in 2009-10 --><ref name="studentsMay11">[http://www8.open.ac.uk/choose/18to24/meet-the-students Meet the students | 18 to 24], Open University, accessed 2011-05-06</ref><ref>[http://www.hesa.ac.uk/dox/dataTables/studentsAndQualifiers/download/institution0910.xls?v=1.0 Students in Higher Education Institutions: Table 1 – All students by HE institution, level of study, mode of study and domicile 2009/10] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927030416/http://www.hesa.ac.uk/dox/dataTables/studentsAndQualifiers/download/institution0910.xls?v=1.0 |date=27 September 2011 }} [[Higher Education Statistics Agency]], accessed 2011-05-06</ref> In the 2003–2004 [[academic year]] around 20% of new undergraduates were under 25,<ref name="bbcAug05">{{Cite news |date=2 August 2005 |title=OU sees rise in younger students |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4738859.stm |access-date=2006-10-08}}</ref> up from 12.5% in 1996–1997<ref name="bbcAug05" /> (the year before [[top-up fees]] were announced). In 2010 approximately 55% of those under 25 were also in full-time employment.<ref name="aug2010stats" /> In 2010, 29,000 undergraduates were in this age range.<ref name="aug2010stats">[http://www3.open.ac.uk/media/fullstory.aspx?id=19449 New generation of part-time learners focus on career progression: 1 in 4 of new OU students is under 25 – 55% work full-time] Open University, published 2011-08-11, accessed 2011-05-06</ref> By 2011, 32,000 undergraduates were under 25 years old,<ref name="studentsMay11" /> representing around 25% of new students.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/jan/03/open-university-students-younger |title=Open University may be in its 40s – but students are getting younger | work = The Guardian | date = 3 January 2011 |access-date= 6 May 2011}}</ref>  The majority of students in the 2015–16 academic year were aged between 25 and 34 years old, with the [[median]] age of new undergraduates being 28.<ref name="Facts and Figures 2015" />

As of 2014, the OU's youngest graduate was a fifteen-year-old boy from Wales who gained a BSc with First Class Honours in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |date=2015-04-10 |title=15-year-old Charlie gets OU degree |url=http://www.open.ac.uk/wales/news/15-year-old-charlie-gets-ou-degree |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150608124417/http://www.open.ac.uk/wales/news/15-year-old-charlie-gets-ou-degree |archive-date=2015-06-08 |publisher=The Open University}}</ref>

The OU works with some schools to introduce [[Advanced Level (UK)|A-Level]] students to OU study and in 2009–10 3% of undergraduates were under 18 years old. {{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}

=== Courses ===
Unlike other universities, where students register for a programme, OU students register separately for individual modules (which may be 30 or 60 [[Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme|CATS]] credits (and formerly available in 10, 15, or 20 credits), equivalent to 15 or 30 [[European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System|ECTS]] credits). These modules may then be linked to degree programmes.

During the 2009–10 academic year [[social studies]] was the most popular study area (with 16,381 full-time equivalent students), followed by [[biological and physical sciences]] (12,357) and [[history|historical]] and [[philosophy|philosophical]] studies (8,686); student numbers even on smaller undergraduate programmes, such as [[creative arts]] and [[design]]<ref name="facts0910">{{Cite web |date=2011-05-06 |title=Facts & Figures 2009/2010 |url=http://www.open.ac.uk/about/documents/about-facts-figures-0910.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112163052/http://www.open.ac.uk/about/documents/about-facts-figures-0910.pdf |archive-date=2015-01-12 |access-date=2018-07-31}}</ref> are still significant (2,528) as are postgraduate registrations on programmes such as [[mass communications]] and [[documentation]] (123 full-time equivalent students).

The most popular module during 2009–10 was ''DD101 An introduction to the social sciences'' (7,512 students), followed by ''AA100 The Arts Past and Present'', ''B120 An Introduction to Business Studies'', ''K101 An Introduction to Health and Social Care'' and ''Y163 Starting with Psychology''.<ref name="facts0910" />

[[File:Cintra House, Hills Road, Cambridge.jpg|thumb|right|Cintra House, Cambridge, the university's former base in the East of England]]

=== Fees and financial assistance ===
17,634 students received financial assistance for their studies in 2015–16.<ref name="Facts and Figures 2015" /> The typical cost for United Kingdom-based students of a Bachelor's [[honours degree]] at the OU was between £3,780 and £5,130 in 2009–10. [[Timeline of tuition fees in the United Kingdom|From September 2012 the Government reduced its funding for all students residing in England]] and fees went up to compensate. English students pay higher fees than those living in the rest of the United Kingdom. The average cost of one full-time year or 120 credits rose to £6,336 in 2021, bringing the cost of an average Bachelor's [[honours degree]] for an English student to £19,008. ([[European Union]] and international students pay more as the university does not receive government funding for them).<ref name="facts0910" />  The most important revenue stream to the Open University is now academic fees paid by the students, which totalled about £157 million in 2009–10 and £248 million in 2015–16.<ref name="facts0910" /><ref name="Facts and Figures 2015" />

=== Qualifications awarded ===
The university enrolled fewer than 50,000 students in the 1970–71 academic year, but it quickly exceeded that number by 1974–75.<ref name="facts0910" /> By 1987–88 yearly enrolment had doubled to 100,000 students, passing 200,000 by 2001–02 and 250,000 in 2009–10.<ref name="facts0910" /> Numbers fell when the fee regime changed.

Cumulatively, by the end of 2009–10, the OU had educated more than 1.5 million students and awarded 819,564 qualifications after successful assessment.<ref name="facts0910" />

In addition, the Open University provides certification for qualifications at [[Ruskin College]] in Oxford and [[Richmond, The American International University in London|Richmond, the American International University in London]], a private liberal arts institution. (Until 2008, it provided the same service for the [[University of the Highlands and Islands]] in Scotland).

=== Open University Students Association ===
The Open University Students Association is the [[Students' Union]] for Open University students and is a registered charity wholly funded by the Open University (OU). The Association is governed by a Board of Trustees, made up of internal student and external members, and a Student Leadership Team who are elected on a bi-yearly basis. The current team run from 2022 to 2024. Each student registered with the OU automatically becomes part of the Students Association unless they elect to formally opt out. It offers opportunities to meet up, volunteer, find information and access services to support learning along with a range of student clubs and societies typical of those found in other UK Universities.

The current President is Natalie Baker and Deputy President is Andrew Wilson.