Help Centre Now Available

Update timeline

1. identified Oct 21, 2026, 06:00 PM UTC

   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).

2. identified Oct 22, 2026, 07:13 AM UTC

   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.

3. monitoring Oct 22, 2026, 02:54 PM UTC

   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.