Partnerships

The Open University has got a unique offer to make.

You're working with a partner that is both nationally and internationally known.

Who share our values, who share our ethos, who share our vision.

I feel it's made me perform better in my current role. We add value to the organisation.

I no longer think, “Can I do this? I don't know.” I know I can.

We want communities to be thriving and vibrant, we want to have successful economies and we want Scotland to prosper.

It gives staff the opportunity to study in areas that are actually very relevant.

We're already working with them quite heavily on microcredentials, but we see a lot of opportunities for us around the continuous professional development courses.

I just wanted to better myself because I don't have qualifications from school. It always kind of felt impossible. I didn't want to give up full-time employment to go back to college properly. These microcredential courses are great because just it's 10 weeks, that's all I had to commit to. It was just good fun.

Upskilling at The Open University prepared me to take on more additional responsibilities in my current role to deal with the very much real-world complex problems. Those approaches supported me to develop solutions in their workplaces It's helped me develop new skills. It helped me to perform better and it helped me to share that knowledge that I learned with my colleagues.

Lita is a prime example of taking initiative and pursuing further development opportunities. The project management microcredential course that she undertook added immense value.

I just gained the confidence that I needed through that one unit.

In terms of her role and the skills that she's developed is invaluable.

Our vision is making Scotland a better place. For us, it makes absolute sense to collaborate with somebody like The Open University to make sure we're dealing with the right problems, we're working on the right things and we're investing the right pieces of work.

That gives those individuals a real sense of achievement.

It does affect the business as well because I'm happier to say yes and try stuff.

All I can see is it added so much value to my career.

It was a personal thing as well as a professional development.

We get higher-skilled colleagues, we bring new skills into the workplace and they get to take away a qualification which is actually worth something in the real world.

These are the benefits that the Open University brings. This is a win-win for communities.