Open University plans in-person teaching with new campus move

The Open University is planning to build a new campus in the centre of Milton Keynes in a move that would see it offer its courses taught in-person as well as online.

A business case for the “transformational” site is being prepared by the UK’s largest academic institution, with the new campus set to feature science laboratories, interactive working and learning spaces, studios, a library and a student centre.

If it goes ahead, the OU will relocate from its current base at Walton Hall on the outskirts of the city, where it has been headquartered since opening in 1969.

It would also see the distance-learning provider diversify its offer with a new “sister university” providing on-site teaching to those who want to study the OU’s courses in-person.

Vice-chancellor Tim Blackman said the idea was “an opportunity to reshape our facilities and provision for the decades ahead”.

“Students would be able to choose online study with the OU from wherever in the UK or the world they live, or study all or some of the time on campus,” he said.

Milton Keynes has long been identified as a “cold spot” for higher education provision, but plans to create a new university from scratch in the rapidly expanding city have struggled to get off the ground.

MK:U, an initiative involving Cranfield University – based between Milton Keynes and Bedford – has started to offer degree apprenticeships in the city, with plans to expand in future.

The OU diversifying into offering teaching at its campus has previously been identified as an easier way to create a university in the area, but was dismissed as too expensive. A spokesperson said in 2018 that the institution was “not considering this idea and there are no plans to do so”.

The university, which has taught more than two million students remotely since its inception, has suffered in recent years from a collapse in enrolments in part-time education. A big boost in student numbers during the pandemic-affected academic year of 2020-21 has not been replicated since, with accounts showing numbers dropped by 2,000 in 2021-22.

Heavy investment in the online degree platform FutureLearn has also failed to pay off, with the OU selling its 50 per cent share in the company last year.

Plans for the new campus were being backed by Milton Keynes City Council and the Milton Keynes Development Partnership (MKDP), which owns the land near the railway station where it could be located.

MKDP chairman Nicola Sawford said the proposal was a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to re-imagine higher education in the city centre”.

Milton Keynes City Council leader Pete Marland added that the move by the OU was “potentially transformational”.

“It could create another world-class higher education opportunity where creativity meets technology, meaning our young people do not have to move away to study and we can attract students from across the world to study and live in Milton Keynes,” he added.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com