Opening Universities for Lifelong Learning (OPULL)

The Opening Universities for Lifelong Learning (OPULL) research project is investigating different approaches to opening up higher education to vocationally qualified and experienced target groups in four European countries. Models of open universities in Germany, Denmark, Finland and the United Kingdom are being studied in three research phases between 2009 and 2012 with the aim of identifying critical success factors for building open universities for Europe. The initial findings of the first phase of the project indicate that the recognition of vocational and experiential learning have an impact on widening participation in higher education.