A British study compared the characteristics of Open University students 60 years and older with those of a random sample of younger students. Data collection involved obtaining demographic information from the student database, questionnaire responses from 831 out of 1,042 older students and 884 out of 1,418 students younger than 60, and follow-up personal interviews with some 60 students. The following were among the major findings: (1) among the Open University student population, three times as many older students compared with students under 60 have no formal educational qualifications; (2) two-thirds of the older students said that before enrolling they had worried about such things as memory, coping with the pace and organization of study, and exams and assessment; (3) most had experienced fewer difficulties than they had expected, although 3 in 10 had trouble with exams; (4) the older students have a slightly lower dropout rate than the under-60 students; (5) older students do slightly better on their continuous assessment work but slightly worse on the end-of-year exams; (6) there is virtually no difference between the overall pass rate for older students and that for the younger students; (7) students aged 60-64 are among the most successful of all Open University students in terms of pass rates, and they have the best academic performance of the over-60 students. (The document contains 32 tables and 6 figures; the appendix includes a copy of the survey instrument and interview schedule, as well as charts detailing research findings. (CML)