Staff Development for Schools

Unlock the potential in your school’s workforce with flexible learning solutions from The Open University.

We partner with you to understand the needs of your school. We can help with everything from upskilling, reskilling and retention, to improving performance and professional practice.

Investing in staff development will help futureproof your school, taking the skills and knowledge of your employees to the next level while having a positive impact on the young people they work with.

Learning solutions for your school

With over 50 years of distance learning expertise, our courses fit flexibly around your organisation and your people. Spanning a range of topics, we provide options to develop your whole team.

Unlock the potential in your support staff or help aspiring teachers take their first steps towards becoming a qualified teacher with an undergraduate certificate, diploma or degree.

Developed by experts, our undergraduate qualifications span a range of areas relating to childhood and education as well as subject-specific topics.

Undergraduate degrees to develop teaching support staff include:

• BA (Hons) Education Studies (Primary)
• BA (Hons) Childhood and Youth Studies 
• BA (Hons) Early Childhood
• BSc (Hons) Mathematics and its Learning
• BSc (Hons) Sport, Fitness and Coaching
• BA/BSc (Honours) Open degree

Explore more undergraduate qualifications or see the full list of our undergraduate education modules which can also be studied on a standalone basis.

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Drive evidence-informed practice with our postgraduate qualifications. Equip your teaching and leadership staff with specialist skills and expertise to take their potential even further.

Postgraduate qualifications for teachers and leaders include:

• Postgraduate Certificate in Childhood and Youth Studies
• Postgraduate Diploma in Childhood and Youth Studies
• MA in Childhood and Youth
• Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Studies in Education
• Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Studies in Education
• MA in Education 
• MA/MSc Open
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• PGCE in Wales
• Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD)
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Explore more postgraduate qualifications

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Our online professional development courses can help quickly build in-demand skills and knowledge in as little as a few weeks.

With academic credit and a focus on building practical skills, our microcredentials include courses for teacher development and inclusive learning.

Find out about professional development courses

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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.

Discover our specially curated collections for teaching staff:

• Resources for educators
• Resources for schools
• Postgraduate Study: Education, Childhood & Youth

Visit OpenLearn

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Reading for Pleasure at The Open University

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.

Get involved in Reading for Pleasure

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Ready to develop your workforce?

Contact us now to discuss how we can support staff development in your school