FutureLearn: Free short courses with the UK’s top universities

52

Would you like to do a short online course with a UK university?

FutureLearn is an initiative from the Open University, in partnership with an ever-growing number of leading universities, the British Council, British Museum and British Library.

FutureLearn provides a great opportunity for you to:

• Get a taste of UK higher education
• Gain new skills and knowledge
• Explore subjects you have always been interested in
• Discuss and share ideas and with other learners and academics.

How does it work?

All FutureLearn courses are free of charge and are taught in English. Most courses require around 2–4 hours study per week and last six to ten weeks. There are also some short courses lasting two or three weeks.

There are no formal exams, but once you finish the course, you can share a public version of your progress page as evidence of what you’ve learnt.

Sometimes, for a small fee, you can get a certificate from a university that says you've completed the course, and gives you a grade. 

Can I do a degree via a MOOC?

Currently, you can't do a full degree with a UK university via a MOOC. However, some universities now allow students to take some course options as MOOCs, and others offer scholarships to students who perform particularly well in MOOCs.

If you choose to pay for a certificate at the end of your course, it will count as a qualification from the university that ran the MOOC.

Find out more about Distance and online learning.

What courses are on offer?

Whether you are interested in physics or psychology, information technology or history, ecology or marketing, you will find a course to interest you! Make sure you check the site regularly to see what is on offer.

Find out more

To find out more, please visit www.futurelearn.com.