The Open University Becomes Free

The Open University, the British distance learning university, is making its educational resources freely available on the net for anyone in the world to use.

The OpenLearn project aims to make 5,000 hours worth of material available by April 2008 – for learners, educators or those just interested in subject material.  As of 25th October 2006, 900 hours of material will be made available.



The University has over 180,000 enrolled students and for the last two years its students have been the most satisfied of any University in the UK.

Open University pro-vice-chancellor Professor David Vincent said its mission had always been to be open to people, places, methods and ideas.

“We want to lead the learning revolution, experimenting with new models of content and technologies. OpenLearn is a huge step towards this aim.

“The philosophy of open access and sharing knowledge - a cornerstone of this project - matches the founding principles of the Open University.”  

The £5.65m OpenLearn project is backed by US charitable foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.