Does The Open University pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, The Open University employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.4 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at The Open University. This rating has decreased by 3% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at The Open University?

64% of The Open University employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated The Open University 4.2 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.7 for culture and values and 3.0 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at The Open University?

Associate Lecturer (63) , Student Recruitment Advisor (27) , Lecturer (20) , PhD Student (18) , Project Manager (17) , Student Recruitment and Support Advisor (14) , Senior Manager (13) , Administrative Assistant (12) , Manager (11) , Research Assistant (11) , Senior Advisor (11) , Senior Project Manager (11) , Associate Lecturer AL (10) , Staff Tutor (9) , Graduate Student (8)

What are the pros of working at The Open University according to real employee reviews?

"Interesting projects and great colleagues" ((in 56 reviews)); "Great people to work with and to learn from." ((in 44 reviews)); "Good package and benefits for staff" ((in 44 reviews)); "Good pay compared to other institutions" ((in 26 reviews)); "Good Pension Scheme and holiday scheme" ((in 24 reviews))

What are the cons of working at The Open University according to real employee reviews?

"This university flourished on the goodwill of its students and staff; sadly in recent years poor management has done away with both." ((in 25 reviews)); "Low salaries compared with other unis & considering the range of knowledge we must have." ((in 19 reviews)); "Lack of career progression but that's it really" ((in 15 reviews)); "Constant, incessant bullying was fully tolerated, because there's nothing you can do about any sort of problems with other colleagues, no matter how outrageous they are." ((in 10 reviews)); "Senior management very political." ((in 9 reviews))

The Open University Reviews

3.7

64% would recommend to a friend

(695 total reviews)

Dave Phoenix

50% approve of CEO

39% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (695 reviews)

The Open University has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 695 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The The Open University employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

695 reviews

3.0

26 June 2026

Good benefits but limited career growth and project variety

Project manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Pension, flexi work pattern, free study

Cons

No progression, lack of variety in projects, lack of commercial vision

1.0

10 June 2026

Awful management.

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Work from home most the time. Students are usually very pleasant so for a call centre, interactions are pretty nice and it's satisfying to be able to help them on their study journey

Cons

So, so many. There has been an obvious decline in standards across almost all areas Senior management are pompous, demeaning and frankly idiotic in their 'solutions'. Completely out of touch with the day to day running of things and how everything works. Team managers do the bare minimum or less than, tick box 1-2-1's but no real interest in what you have to say or any of the practical solutions to issues. Managers will not give full answers so you never really learn out how, what, why so the same are on repeat. There is zero opportinity for career progession, they have culled numbers recently and now employ Ai to write emails to students and the emails are absolutly laughable. They want staff to teach Ai to take our jobs but staff dont know enough to teach it correctly anyway.

The Open University Response

1w

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience and appreciate your openness. At The Open University, we’re committed to fostering an environment where everyone can learn, grow and progress. We take both development opportunities and our quality standards very seriously. Feedback like yours is invaluable in helping us continuously understand, improve and strengthen our open, supportive culture. We strongly encourage you to connect, in confidence, with a member of the Student Support leadership team, so we can better understand your concerns and work together to address them.

2.0

6 May 2026

Enter at own risk

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Im still looking for some!

Cons

No progression, same faces move up

Viewing 1 - 3 of 695 Reviews

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