Looking Back at 2025 in The OU Law School

Hugh McFaul, Head of Law School, at The Open University writes the first blog of this year's 'Legally Christmas' series. 

One of the privileges of working in a university is being able to share in the successes of students when they graduate. Given the size of our student body, it is no surprise that we run ceremonies up and down the UK to provide the opportunity to celebrate their achievements with family and friends. OU students never cease to inspire, and this year was no different. The BBC picked up the story of one of our law students, Abbey Douglas-Chappell, who graduated on the same day as her mum and twin sister, who also achieved OU degrees!

Abbey pictured above with her Mum and Sister

Our website page is full of stories of students who have achieved success in their studies, in a wide variety of circumstances.  For example, in a special Mother’s Day edition of Episode 13 the Student Hub Live Podcast, Rebekah Zammett shared her experience of raising her three children while studying for her LLB.  Alice Gillan discussed combining study with playing on the professional tennis tour.  Thomas Barry described his journey from serving in the British Army to landing a prestigious training contract with Freshfields.

We also had the chance to celebrate the research and knowledge exchange successes that inform the education that we offer to our students. The interdisciplinary Centre for Protecting Women Online led by Professor Olga Jurasz has achieved a huge amount in 2025, including presenting evidence to the UK Parliament, UN and advising on BBC TV programme Blackmailed: The Sextortion Killers. You can keep up to date with CPWO by subscribing to their quarterly newsletter via their website. 

Blackmailed: The Sextortion Killers Available on iPlayer.

Law School academic, Dr Marjan Ajevksi also worked with the BBC advising on their recent programme on space exploration: Once Upon a Time in Space. Marjan’s work continues the longstanding interfaculty collaboration between Law and colleagues from STEM on Astrobiology.          

Once Upon a Time in Space. Available on iPlayer.

Dr Francine Ryan and Liz Hardie, academics in the Open Justice Centre, have been working to support the legal and free advice sector with courses from understanding GenAI, to its ethical and responsible use, to horizon scanning and AI literacy.  More information on accessing this course and the research behind it is available here.

A particular highlight of 2025 was being able to welcome the Department for Policing and the Centre for Policing Research and Learning to the Law School, which was a result of a Faculty restructure intended to take further advantage of the disciplinary synergies between law and policing.  As a result, I had the opportunity to speak at Thames Valley Police’s Black History Month CPD Day in October (picture of some of the presenters below).  The theme of the event was Standing Firm in Power and Pride, and attendees heard from a number of powerful and thought-provoking speakers. 

Lisa Lovell, Detective Superintendent Lewis Prescott-Mayling, Fidele Mutwarasibo, Jen Norman, Sonia Bassey MBE, Thames Valley Police Assistant Chief Constable Dennis Murray, Hugh McFaul and Jo Lambert.

More information on the work of CPRL is on their website and information on how to join their next event on 21 January 2026 is here. 

2026 promises to be another busy year and you can keep in touch with news of our new post graduate courses and our latest research throughout 2026 via our Website and by following @OU_Law or on LinkedIn.