Open University facts

* The OU offered 235 residential schools for students on undergraduate degree-level courses in 1999

* 22,310 students attended these schools

* About 25,000 students are studying at the OU at any one time; of these, 5,000 are doing an MBA.

* The OU employs 6,917 associate lecturers

* Not every course has a compulsory residential school OU BUSINESS SCHOOL FACTS

n 162 residential schools with 12,000 students a year

* Network of 850 tutors in the UK and Europe

* Central OUBS academic staff and tutors attend

* Tutors selected centrally on a rotational basis

* Amount of tutor contact outside of residentials depends on the course and needs of individual students

* Teaching through regular face-to-face tutorials, plus phone, email and computer conferencing

* There are more than 7,500 holders of OU MBAs

* MBA course completion rate is 95 per cent

* Since 1983, more than 150,000 managers have taken courses at certificate, diploma and MBA level