OU in Ireland

The Open University in Ireland (OUiI) supports people across Northern Ireland and Ireland to develop their knowledge, acquire new skills and achieve life-changing qualifications

Who we are, what we do

An award-winning university

In Northern Ireland we came top for Overall Student Satisfaction for the twentieth consecutive year in the 2024 National Student Survey. The university was voted top three for Employability in 2025 (Unicompare) and named the Daily Mail University of the Year in 2025. We received a Gold Rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework 2023 and are proud to be one of two universities in NI with a triple accredited business school.

OU research ranks in the top third of UK universities according to the Research Excellence Framework and we are a trusted partner of many leading organisations for teaching and research including the BBC, NASA, and the United Nations.

Our students

In 2023/24 we helped over 4,700 students in Northern Ireland and 778 in Ireland study around their professional or personal life at a pace and level that worked for them. Students are supported by 54 staff who operate from our Belfast office and we have over 251 Associate Lecturers working across the island of Ireland.

We are proud to have students in every county in Ireland and have seen recent increases in students studying with us from a wide spread of council areas including Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon; Derry City and Strabane; Causeway Coast and Glens; and Fermanagh and Omagh.

Flexible learning

We offer high-quality distance learning to students with a range of learning goals and provide upskilling and reskilling opportunities for staff through employers. Our students range in age from 17 to their 70s and beyond with an average age of 29 in NI and 31 in Ireland for undergraduate students.

Flexible study is core to our offer with 77% of our students in NI and 64% in Ireland, working either full-time or part-time in 2023/24.

Open to everyone

We are committed to widening access to higher education building on our founding principle of being open to everyone, regardless of age, income, geography and background. In 2023/24 20% of our undergraduates in Northern Ireland declared a disability, 24% came from the most deprived areas (IMD 1&2) and 73% had no previous HE qualifications reflecting our commitment to making HE accessible to everyone.

We are a Higher Education provider for the Northern Ireland Prison Service and the Irish Prison Service. Around 160 students in secure environments study with us each year and we are proud to say we have students in every prison on the island of Ireland.

As part of the UK’s only four nations university, we are funded to teach students resident in Northern Ireland by the Department for the Economy. The Part-time Fee Grant is available to students who have a household income of less than £25,000 gross per annum. In 2023/24 27% of Open University undergraduate students in Northern Ireland were in receipt of the Part-time Fee Grant.

For over 20 years, our Future Nurse Future Midwife programme has delivered a highly successful work-based pre-registration nursing programme in partnership with healthcare employers. The funded programme includes routes for those already working in healthcare support worker roles to become registered nurses. Our social care programme is also growing. Department of Health funded places for Health and Social Care sector employees vary between 150-175 places each year.

Thanks to the Department for the Economy’s Skill Up initiative, over the last four years we have supported over 7,000 students across Northern Ireland to access a range of fully funded post-graduate and microcredential courses in priority sectors. Courses were aligned with real-world needs in areas such as digital transformation skills, business leadership and health.

Further Education Progression

The Open University in Ireland continues to deepen its strategic partnerships with Northern Ireland’s Further Education (FE) sector, helping more students take the next step in their learning journey.

Progression agreements are in place with all six NI colleges – opening clear and accessible routes from college to degree-level study. These agreements help ensure students, particularly those from widening participation backgrounds, can build on their qualifications with confidence and flexibility. Together, the colleges offer 51 OU validated programmes, and this will rise to 67 in 2025/26.

1,643 students enrolled on OU-validated FE courses in 2024/25 – marking a 27% increase year-on-year increase and demonstrating the growing appeal of this model of supported progression and blended learning.

The OU in Ireland’s Partnerships

We work with organisations across Ireland to widen access to education, co-create community centred initiatives, and unlock opportunities for learners of all ages and backgrounds. From national partners to local libraries, our collaborations are driving impact where it matters most.

Established partnerships include Open College Network, Libraries NI, Manufacturing NI, Irish Congress Trade Unions and NI Local Government Association. We have developed Learning Hubs on OpenLearn, the OU’s free learning platform, to support the skills development of specific groups in the workforce. Several hubs have been developed with our partners. A free online learning platform, OpenLearn, reaches over 150,000 learners in Ireland each year.

New partnerships to further OUiI’s work supporting disadvantaged groups into higher education include AwareNI (a depression charity) and The King’s Trust.

To support our engagement work we are members of several groups including NI Camber, Dublin Chamber, Cyber Ireland, IoD, Software Ireland, Universities Ireland, NICVA.

Research with Purpose

The Open University in Ireland is committed to research and skills development that delivers meaningful impact. From digital exclusion to youth mental health, our work is driven by collaboration, informed by lived experience, and designed to empower.

We support research that addresses society’s most urgent challenges – centring communities, amplifying unheard voices, and driving forward the real-world relevance of academic work.

Current examples of OU research with local impact include:

Peace of Mind

(funded by cross border funding programme Peace Plus)
A cross-community and cross-border initiative aiming to address critical mental health challenges stemming from intergenerational trauma through the delivery of mental health resources and improved community cohesion.

Verbal

A charity in Derry/Londonderry and working across the island of Ireland, secured funding from an OU Open Societal Challenges grant for their innovative project that addresses the pressing issue of social media’s impact on young people’s mental wellbeing.

“Learnings from Why Riot?: Addressing the ‘whys’ beneath youth violence”

An OSC research project developed in partnership with community organisations in Belfast. This project used storytelling, workshops, and civic education to explore the roots of unrest and support peaceful engagement.

Government affairs and external engagement

Our focus is to deepen policy engagement across both jurisdictions, working with government departments, elected representatives and think tanks to shape education reform, influence strategic priorities, and champion access to lifelong learning.

The OUiI is Secretariat of the NI Assembly All Party Group for Skills working to facilitate and enable discussion, engagement and action on the key policy issues impacting our skills system. We are also Secretariat to the Alliance for Lifelong Learning (ALL), a cross-border body to support and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all across Northern Ireland.

In the heart of the community

We ensure the OU is visible and accessible to everyone through a calendar of public events and sponsorships. We are a long-standing sponsor of the Northern Ireland Science Festival, contributing a number of STEM events led by academics to the programmes each year. Our involvement in the festival aligns with our mission to open-up science, sustainability, and innovation to the public, while promoting lifelong learning and lifelong learning and STEM engagement across the region.

We also participate in Imagine Festival, Belfast’s festival of ideas and politics; the John Hewitt Society Arts Festival and BBC NI Book Week.

We support industry, local communities and social enterprises through awards sponsorship including the RCN Nurse of the Year Awards, Aisling Awards, Eastside Awards and Aontas Star Awards.

People & Culture

At The Open University in Ireland, our people drive everything we do. We continue to invest in a workplace culture rooted in wellbeing, collaboration, and continuous growth – ensuring every colleague feels recognised, supported, and empowered to make a difference.

This year saw meaningful progress against our People Plan priorities, helping foster leadership, resilience, and belonging. Stronger internal communications and cross-team collaboration is helping us build a culture of transparency and collective decision making. Our culture of care and connection is reflected through a range of staff engagement activities across the year.