Learning on FutureLearn

Using FutureLearn

Pick a course

Browse our course list to find something that you’d like to learn about. We have courses in a diverse range of subjects and are always adding more. Courses vary in length. Most are six to ten weeks long but we also have some shorter two and three week courses.

Read reviews of FutureLearn courses to see how other learners enjoy learning online with FutureLearn.

Perhaps you might want to invite a friend to take part with you? You can do this via email and social media when you join.

Learn for free, buy a course upgrade, or subscribe to Unlimited

You can choose how you learn on our online short courses. Here’s the difference between learning for free, buying an upgrade, and subscribing to Unlimited:

Free limited access

  • Access to the course for its duration, regardless of when you join
  • Buy a course upgrade

  • Access to the course for as long as it exists on FutureLearn
  • Access to course tests if there are any
  • A printed and digital Certificate of Achievement or Statement of Participation when you’re eligible
  • Subscribe to Unlimited

  • Access to your choice of thousands of online short courses and tests
  • A printable digital Certificate of Achievement on all short courses once you’re eligible
  • The freedom to keep the content of any of the courses you’ve gained a digital Certificate of Achievement on
  • The flexibility to complete your short courses in your own time
  • Introduce yourself

    While you’re waiting for the course to start, you can fill in your profile page so that other learners can find out more about you. You can find your profile in the menu on the top right of the screen.

    We’ll email you to let you know when the course starts. If you’ve signed up a long time in advance, we’ll also send you a ‘one month to go’ email, to help you prepare for the course.

    Start the course

    Once the course begins, a link will appear on Your courses dashboard. This will take you to the course ‘To do’ list, which will show you what to do next.

    To do

    FutureLearn courses are divided into weeks. These contain various activities that you should aim to complete within the week, each one built from a sequence of straightforward steps, to help you learn. Each week is given a descriptive name, so you always know what’s expected, and you can even navigate between them, to see what’s coming up, or catch up from the beginning if you’re late starting.

    Videos, audio and articles

    You can learn by watching videos, listening to audio and reading articles. Many of these steps are followed by short quizzes to help you check that you have understood.

    Comments

    Every article, video or piece of audio has a space to allow learners to comment and ask questions. This appears below the step content.

    You can discuss topics with each other and educators will offer guidance and answer questions. Press the comment button to join the conversation.

    Mark as complete

    There is a switch at the end of each step that allows you to mark it as complete. This updates your ‘To do’ list, but leaving the switch off does not prevent you from moving on to the next step. If you’re not sure that you properly understood something, you can leave it and come back to it later.

    Discussion

    Every so often, you’ll come across a discussion step, where you’ll be given a topic to talk over with fellow learners. Talking about ideas is a really great way to learn and consolidate information, so give it a go, even if you find it daunting!

    Activity

    Want to find out what everyone is talking about right now? Go to the course activity page to see what questions you can help answer and which topics are under debate.

    Replies

    Once you start commenting, you’ll probably get replies from other learners. You’ll see these on the replies page. You’ll also get email notifications, so that you never miss a reply.

    Follow

    Spotted somebody that is making interesting points and asking great questions? Press the ‘Follow’ button on their profile page and you can filter the discussions to include the people you’re most interested in. If someone follows you and you follow back, you can learn together.

    Quizzes

    Many activities will include a quiz, a moment to pause and check how well you’ve understood the key points from the previous video or article before moving on. The quizzes are not scored, you get an unlimited number of tries at each question and we give you feedback and hints on each go.

    Tests

    If you’ve upgraded your course you will be able to take tests. Tests work in much the same way as quizzes but tests are scored and are limited to three tries. These count towards your overall mark and are designed to test your knowledge. We’ll give you three points if you get a question right first time, two on your second attempt and one on your third.

    Assignments

    Many of our courses also offer you the opportunity to do assignments and get feedback from other learners on the course. Each assignment will come with clear instructions about how to write or create your assignment, as well as give constructive feedback to others. It’s a great opportunity to put what you’ve learnt into practice and get tips on how to improve.

    Completing the course

    When you’ve finished your course, if you’ve upgraded and met the requirements for a certificate, you’ll receive a digital certificate and later a printed certificate to help you demonstrate your learning.

    If you haven’t upgraded you still have the chance to when you’ve finished the course. If you upgrade you will be able to go back and complete any tests in order to earn a certificate.

    Choose the next course

    Education is infectious: we’re confident that you’ll enjoy the FutureLearn experience so much, you’ll have signed up to another course before the first is even finished!

    Browse our courses to get started