Success story - Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Success story

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (formerly the Foreign and Commonwealth Office)

The OU collaborated with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Diplomatic Academy to design, develop and host a suite of short courses for practitioners covering International Law, Devolution, Economic Prosperity and mulitlateralism. Working with academics and subject matter experts we supplied expert learning design to extend the curriculum to a wider audience.

The challenge

The target audience is drawn from embassies and mission staff based in various professions all around the world. Where previously knowledge and experience existed in the heads of expert colleagues and attendance at training was limited to the few who could travel, these courses needed to extend reach to 11,000 dispersed staff around the world.

The solution

Utilising the OU’s reputation and expertise in learning design, academic input to content and our accessible platforms, we produced a context specific collection of courses which can be studied in the learners’ own time, can be used as part of a blended programme by learning and development champions thus reducing the cost of delivering core learning, increasing its reach and ensuring greater consistency of experience. Individuals can provide evidence of their learning through a digital badge for their CV and LinkedIn profile.