The Open University System Status

Information about the availability of The Open University’s core IT systems


If you think there is a major system issue that is not listed here, please contact your usual OU helpdesk.



Active Incident and Maintenance
Information about the availability of The Open University’s core IT systems
Microsoft 365 OutagePartial Service Disruption

Incident Status

Partial Service Disruption

Components

Major Incident, Other services


November 13, 2026 4:02PM GMT
MONITORING

Microsoft's latest update advises that recovery is continuing across affected regions, with broader improvements now being seen in North America and sustained improvements across much of Europe. We are also starting to see email functionality recover. However, colleagues may continue to experience delays while services return to full operation. For students, there will be a delay in receiving emails, so if you have tried to contact the University by email or submitting a form since Thursday 12 November, any response may be delayed. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will share further updates as they become available.

November 13, 2026 2:25PM GMT
IDENTIFIED

Microsoft's latest update advises that recovery is continuing across affected regions, with broader improvements now being seen in North America and sustained improvements across much of Europe. We are also starting to see email functionality recover. However, colleagues may continue to experience delays while services return to full operation. For students, there will be a delay in receiving emails, so if you have tried to contact the University by email or submitting a form since Thursday 12 November, any response may be delayed. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will share further updates as they become available.

November 13, 2026 12:13PM GMT
INVESTIGATING

We are continuing to monitor the ongoing Microsoft 365 issue. Whilst Microsoft advise that they are seeing encouraging recovery progress in Europe, the disruption still is affecting colleagues' ability to access emails, use calendars, schedule meetings and access certain other Microsoft 365 features. Not all Microsoft 365 services are affected, and the level of impact may vary. We will post further updates here as soon as there is any significant information to share.

November 13, 2026 10:32AM GMT
INVESTIGATING

We’re aware of an ongoing Microsoft 365 outage, which began on Thursday 12 November. This is affecting services including Outlook, Teams and other Microsoft applications. The issue is part of a wider global disruption, and Microsoft is working to restore services. For staff this may be impacting the ability to access emails, use calendars, schedule meetings or access certain Microsoft 365 features. Not all Microsoft 365 services are affected, and the impact may vary. For students, access to your module websites, tutorials, eportfolio and submitting assignments are unaffected however, you may experience a delay in receiving submission receipts when submitting assignments. If you have tried to contact the University by email or submitting a form, these will be delayed until the Microsoft issues have been resolved. Microsoft has confirmed that it is investigating the issue and working to restore services. Some improvements have been reported, although disruption is continuing.

November 13, 2026 7:32AM GMT
INVESTIGATING

Some Microsoft services (including email) are currently affected by a global outage. We will share further updates when they become available to us and apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.
SuccessFactors Systems OutagePlanned Maintenance

Description

Starting on Friday 13th November, IT will be carrying out an upgrade to the SuccessFactors system. The upgrade is required as it will provide new features, enhancements, and fixes for previous issues. This will cause an outage.  It will mean that SuccessFactors will be unavailable between these times: 22:00 on Friday 13th November 2026 to 05:00 on Saturday 14th November 2026. Impact: This work has been arranged outside of normal working hours to minimise disruption; however, the following services will be impacted.  1. SuccessFactors System – This will mean there will be no access to Payslips, P60s. 2. Recruitment – Internal candidates won’t be able to apply for vacant positions. 3. Onboarding – No access to the onboarding portal.

Components

Other services

Schedule

November 13, 2026 10:00PM - November 14, 2026 5:00AM GMT


November 13, 2026 10:00PM GMT
UPDATE

Scheduled maintenance is starting.

Major Incident

Partial Service Disruption

Apprenticeship Portal

Operational

Broadcast Partnerships (BBC) website

Operational

Ceremony booking

Operational

Dashboard

Operational

eTMA submission system

Operational

External Network

Operational

Help Centre website

Operational

iCMA access

Operational

Library Services

Operational

Module websites

Operational

Online rooms

Operational

OpenLearn

Operational

Registration websites

Operational

StudentHome

Operational

Telephone service

Operational

TutorHome

Operational

Tutorial booking system

Operational

Other services

Partial Service Disruption

Protection against Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks

Operational

Test

Operational

Scheduled Maintenance

SAP Integration Suite and Event Mesh - Major UpgradePlanned Maintenance

Schedule

November 14, 2026 8:00PM - November 15, 2026 12:00AM GMT

Components

Apprenticeship Portal, Module websites, Registration websites, StudentHome, Telephone service, TutorHome, Other services

Description

Intermittent downtime is planned from 20:00 on Saturday 14th November to 00:00 on Sunday 15th November. Customers might experience short disruptions during the planned maintenance window. The following systems will still be available however there may be disruption to non-ERP services which are used by these systems during this window: 1. Identity (IAM) 2. Apprenticeships 3. StudentHome 4. TutorHome 5. VLE 6. Webchat 7. SpecialCircs 8. AskPS 9. KontentAI 10. CAMEL (Syrenis service) 11. SCP 12. SCS 13. ePortfolio

The Open University

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