Access and Participation Plan

The Office for Students (OfS) approved the Open University's (OU’s) Access and Participation Plan (APP) for 2025/26 to 2028/29.  A summary is available to view.  Word versions of both the full APP document and the summary document are available to download.

The APP sets out the OU’s commitment to widening participation and to equitable outcomes for students.  It is a condition of registration with the OfS which allows the University to confer degrees and enables our students to access financial support through the Student Loans Company.   

The new APP commits the University to achieving ambitious targets to address: the under-representation of Black students; and inequitable outcomes for Black students, students with mental health difficulties, and students from the most deprived areas of the UK, including progression to highly skilled employment and further study.   

The current Access and Participation Plan (2020/21 to 2024/25) includes a variation approved by OfS in December 2022 and a subsequent alteration approved in October 2024 which can be found here along with an accompanying summary document. 

See our summary of 2024-25 course fees.