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Skills for study

Updated Friday, 29 November 2019
Thinking about studying for the first time or after a long time away? Refresh your skills and prepare for success with these free courses.

A notebook, laptop, pen and post its

Whether you're new to studying or returning to study, brushing up on your study skills is a great way to prepare before starting a new course, module or qualification. A free OpenLearn course can help you get an idea of what it's like to study with The Open University, or can help you improve your literacy, numeracy or digital skills at your own pace.

Our badged open courses even give you a way to get recognition for your learning achievements with a statement of participation and digital badge for your online profile.

Your first steps to success with study

Are you ready to study in English? Check your language skills...

Even if you are confident in using English as a second language, studying in English at higher education level can present extra challenges - try this course first to reflect on and assess your skills and identify any language areas you might want to improve.

What skills do you want to work on?

If you're already an OU student, don't forget to look at the resources, study support and help available from the Open University Library Services.

If you're already an OU student, the Study Support resources on StudentHome contains pointers to lots of helpful information about referencing, assignments and exams.

If you're already an OU student, the Open University Library hosts Being Digital - a resource with activities to develop your skills for online life - whether for study, work or home.

You can also find information on computing skills for studying online with the OU available from StudentHome.

Already registered as an OU student?

Don't forget there's a wealth of support accessible from StudentHome, including OU Skills for Study where you can do a skills check and then do activities, Being Digital which focuses on digital literacy and handling information online, and the resources available from the Open University Library Services.

Try these free courses on Reading and taking notes, Preparing assignments and Developing effective study strategies, from OpenLearn Cymru.

More study resources

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