Is Open University down?

We are currently experiencing some technical issues with some OU Web Sites which are being investigated. We will share further updates soon and apologise for any inconvenience caused by this issue.

This issue has now been resolved and you should be able to access the system.

The University is currently experiencing some technical issues which mean that you cannot access StudentHome at the moment. We are working to resolve these problems as quickly as possible. We will provide regular updates, so please keep checking this site. Follow the links below to access your module website and Help Centre: Module websites – https://learn2.open.ac.uk - Module websites are still available, you can go to learn2.open.ac.uk and browse/search for your module/pres, there you will find your module material and online rooms for tutorials. - Remember that you can get to your module websites directly if you know your module code and presentation code. E.g. the direct URL for DD213 in 25J would be http://learn2.open.ac.uk/site/DD213-25J Help Centre - https://help.open.ac.uk/ If you need to submit an urgent EMA/TMA via the electronic-tutor-marked assignments (eTMA) system during this period: • Attach the eTMA file to an email and send it to [email protected]. Please only submit the eTMA by email if you are unable to do so via the website. • In the subject field you must put your Personal Identifier number, your module code, and the tutor-marked assignments (TMA) number, all separated by a slash e.g. P1234567/B999/01. Please note that the email submission of the TMA/EMA isn’t immediate and there will be a delayed receipt. If there’s no email receipt within 12 hours, the submission has been unsuccessful. For this reason, if submitting by email plenty of time should be allowed for the EMA/TMA to be received. For help submitting your EMA/TMA by email contact Computing Helpdesk on +44 (0)1908 653972. Visit https://help.open.ac.uk/contact to find our opening hours or to start a Web Chat. Please don’t email EMA/TMA directly to tutors. Please accept our apologies for any concern or inconvenience caused by this issue.

This issue has now been resolved and you should be able to access the system. We shall continue to monitor the system to ensure there are no further issues.

The issue has now been resolved, and you should be able to access the system as normal. StudentHome remained available throughout the incident, although the service experienced degraded performance between 17:30 and 18:30. The system will continue to be monitored.

Earlier today, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued advice to UK organisations warning of a worldwide critical security issue (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/critical-security-issue-affecting-php). Upon receiving the alert, The Open University (the OU) has taken the preventative measure to take several of our learning systems offline to safeguard students and staff from this identified threat. Learning systems include all module websites, online tutorials, the HelpCentre, OpenLearn and OpenlearnCreate. Unfortunately, this means staff and students are not currently able to access our learning systems and any tutorials that were due to take place this evening (Wednesday 21 October 2026) will be rescheduled. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused but we must act decisively in these situations to protect students and staff and OU systems. Like other organisations, we must wait for third-party security fixes to be put in place before we can restore our learning systems. Staff will be working throughout the night to try and restore our learning systems and we will update further at 8am (Thursday 22 October 2026).

Learning systems have been restored after our preventative action to take them offline following warnings from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) about a worldwide critical security issue (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/critical-security-issue-affecting-php) issued to UK organisations such as ourselves. Our staff are working hard to restore systems and the following are now operational: 1. Module websites, which also includes access to online tutorials. 2. OpenLearn and OpenLearn Create. Our staff are continuing to work throughout the night to restore systems and we will provide another update by 08:00 tomorrow (Thursday 22 October 2026). We apologise for any inconvenience caused but we must act decisively in these situations to protect students, staff and OU systems.

This issue has now been resolved and you should be able to access the system.

Earlier today, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued advice to UK organisations warning of a worldwide critical security issue (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/critical-security-issue-affecting-php). Upon receiving the alert, The Open University (the OU) has taken the preventative measure to take several of our learning systems offline to safeguard students and staff from this identified threat. Learning systems include all module websites, online tutorials, the HelpCentre, OpenLearn and OpenlearnCreate. Unfortunately, this means staff and students are not currently able to access our learning systems and any tutorials that were due to take place this evening (Wednesday 21 October 2026) will be rescheduled. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused but we must act decisively in these situations to protect students and staff and OU systems. Like other organisations, we must wait for third-party security fixes to be put in place before we can restore our learning systems. Staff will be working throughout the night to try and restore our learning systems and we will update further at 8am (Thursday 22 October 2026).

Yesterday, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued advice to UK organisations warning of a worldwide critical security issue (ncsc.gov.uk/news/critical-security-issue-affecting-php). Upon receiving the alert, The Open University (the OU) has taken the preventative measure to take several of our systems offline to safeguard students and staff from this identified threat. Most core learning systems, such as module websites and OpenLearn, are now back online, but work continues. The focus now is on upgrading the Help Centre and various specialist websites. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused but we must act decisively in these situations to protect students and staff and OU systems.

Yesterday, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued advice to UK organisations warning of a worldwide critical security issue (ncsc.gov.uk/news/critical-security-issue-affecting-php). Upon receiving the alert, The Open University (the OU) has taken the preventative measure to take several of our systems offline to safeguard students and staff from this identified threat. The HelpCentre is now back on line, and monitoring will continue. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused but we must act decisively in these situations to protect students and staff and OU systems.

This issue has now been resolved and you should be able to access the system.

Unfortunately our Learning Systems are unavailable at this time. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience of this unplanned downtime. We will look to restore access as soon as practically possible. For the latest information on when the systems will be available, please visit the System Status page. For any other information visit StudentHome or TutorHome.

Learning systems have been restored after our preventative action to take them offline following warnings from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) about a worldwide critical security issue (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/critical-security-issue-affecting-php) issued to UK organisations such as ourselves. Our staff are working hard to restore systems and the following are now operational: 1. Module websites, which also includes access to online tutorials. 2. OpenLearn and OpenLearn Create. Our staff are continuing to work throughout the night to restore systems and we will provide another update by 08:00 tomorrow (Thursday 22 October 2026). We apologise for any inconvenience caused but we must act decisively in these situations to protect students, staff and OU systems.

This issue has now been resolved and you should be able to access the system.