Unlock the potential of your support, teaching and leadership teams with online learning and Continuing Professional Development (CPD), shaped around the needs of your school or Multi-Academy Trust.
The Open University has pioneered distance learning for over 50 years, helping over 2 million students achieve their ambition. As well as empowering students to succeed, our unrivalled flexibility can support the needs and goals of your organisation, which is why more than 30,000 UK employers have sponsored their staff to study with us.
Developed by experts, our courses in early childhood, childhood and youth studies, education studies and beyond will help take the skills and knowledge of your employees to the next level. We have courses and qualifications in a range of subjects to unlock the potential of your school leaders, early years practitioners, teachers, teaching assistants and other education practitioners.
Sponsoring your staff will develop their practice and understanding, providing career development opportunities to help retain valued employees while your organisation benefits from their newfound knowledge. Most importantly, your staff will be able to apply their learning immediately in practice, having a positive impact on the young people they work with.
From standalone modules to a full postgraduate degree, our courses provide flexibility to align with the needs of your organisation and the career goals of your employees.
Our undergraduate qualifications span a range of topics relating to childhood and education, or subject-specific topics. Develop your support staff with a Certificate of Higher Education, Diploma of Higher Education, or Honours degree, and help aspiring teachers take their first steps towards becoming a qualified teacher.
Some of our undergraduate qualifications to develop support staff include:
Explore more undergraduate qualifications
Drive evidence-informed practice with our Postgraduate Certificates, Postgraduate Diplomas, Masters, or Doctorate qualifications, which will equip your teaching and leadership staff with specialist skills and expertise to take their potential even further.
Read more about our postgraduate qualifications:
Explore more postgraduate qualifications
As well as counting towards a qualification, our modules can be studied on a standalone basis to enhance the knowledge of your workforce.
Some of our most popular education modules include:
See the full list of our education modules
These online professional development courses help build skills in as little as a few weeks, including courses for teacher development and inclusive learning.
Find out about microcredentials
Our ‘learning to teach languages in primary schools’ modules will develop confidence in speaking and understanding simple French, German, Spanish or Mandarin Chinese. Alongside learning a new language, teachers will learn the key concepts for embedding a new language in their primary classroom routine.
Alternatively, our languages, cultures and communications short courses can be studied at a more flexible pace that suits the needs of your employees.
OpenLearn is The Open University’s multi award-winning platform for free learning.
With thousands of courses and learning resources, including Badged Open Courses and lots more engaging content, your employees can engage in CPD for free.
Take a look at our specially curated collections for teaching staff
The Teachers as Readers study (The Open University and UK Literacy Association) and other OU studies have established effective ways to support children's Reading for Pleasure (RfP). Based on the research, OU RfP aims to support a vibrant professional community of teachers, student teachers, librarians and English leaders in order to nurture lifelong readers.
Find the free badged course, Developing Reading for Pleasure: engaging young readers on OpenLearn, or visit the OU Reading for Pleasure website for more information on how your school and teachers can get involved, including information on the Reading Schools Programme for whole school development.
Get involved in Reading for Pleasure
Contact us now to discuss how we can support staff development in your school or Multi-Academy Trust
Please contact us to speak to one of our business team advisors.
Sign up to receive regular emails that are full of advice and resources to support staff development in your organisation.