Free courses
Produced by The Open University, a world leader in open and distance learning, all OpenLearn courses are free to study. We offer nearly 1000 free courses across 9 different subject areas. Our courses are available to start right away.
- All topics
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
Languages
Beginners’ Tamil: a taster course
This free course, Beginners’ Tamil: a taster course, provides a brief introduction to the Tamil language and its scripts and sounds. You will learn how to greet people and introduce yourself, as well as how to count from one to ten. You will also be introduced to Tamil society and culture and will learn about the food and music popular in ...
free course icon
level 2: intermediate icon
Education & Development
Climate justice for the next generation
This free course, Climate justice for the next generation, frames global warming and climate change in terms of social justice, human rights and intergenerational equality and emphasises how children and those least responsible for climate change are the ones who suffer its most significant consequences. The course looks at the impact ...
free course icon
level 3: advanced icon
Education & Development
Meddylfryd mentora (A mentoring mindset)
Bydd y cwrs rhad ac am ddim hwn, Meddylfryd mentora, yn cefnogi unrhyw un sy’n gweithio yn y byd addysg i ddatblygu dealltwriaeth am fentora athrawon ar ddechrau eu gyrfa yn effeithiol yn ystod addysg gychwynnol i athrawon ac yn syth ar ôl cymhwyso. Mae wedi’i ddylunio drwy dynnu ar brofiadau cydweithwyr system addysg Cymru, a bydd fersiwn ...
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
Money & Business
You and your money
An important aspect of personal finance is the way in which individuals and households manage their debt, how much it costs and the different types of credit they can or cannot access. This free course, You and your money, explores these issues, with respect to the wider, changing, social and economic context.
free course icon
level 2: intermediate icon
Health, Sports & Psychology
Living psychology: animal minds
Does your pet cat or dog experience emotions the same way you do? Can non-human animals solve complex problems? To what extent do other species have minds that are like human minds? This free course, Living psychology: animal minds, explores these, and other, issues in the psychology of animal minds. Studying animal minds is of great importance ...
free course icon
level 2: intermediate icon
History & The Arts
Exploring the English language
How has the English language changed over the course of the last 500 years? What are the social and political contexts that have affected how these changes have come about? This free course, Exploring the English language, will consider the development of the English language from the 15th to the 19th century.
free course icon
level 2: intermediate icon
Languages
Language and creativity
This free course is an introduction to the relationship between language and creativity, to the roles that linguistic creativity plays in culture and society, and to the different approaches to its study.
free course icon
level 3: advanced icon
Education & Development
Leadership for inclusion: thinking it through
This course will help you to think about your professional educational situation and the ways in which you can develop your practices alongside others. It will provide you with a better understanding of competing values within the school system and how to identify and build upon opportunities to lead and collaborate in this context. You will ...
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
Education & Development
Introduction to child psychology
Childhood is a time of rapid growth and development, and studying these changes is endlessly stimulating. In this free course, Introduction to child psychology, you will be introduced to the discipline of child psychology and some of the key questions that guide the understanding of childhood. These questions include 'What influences children's...
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
Badge icon
Society, Politics & Law
Working in the voluntary sector
This free online course, Working in the voluntary sector, will introduce you to some of the main activities carried out by volunteers and staff, will give you some background on how different organisations work and will provide you with knowledge and skills you can apply to your own work or volunteering, as well as to your every day life.
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Numbers, units and arithmetic
Do fractions and decimals make you apprehensive about maths? Do you lack confidence in dealing with numbers? If so, then this free course, Numbers, units and arithmetic, is for you. The course will explain the basics of working with positive and negative numbers and how to multiply and divide with fractions and decimals.
free course icon
level 3: advanced icon
Education & Development
Assessment in secondary mathematics
This free course, Assessment in secondary mathematics, will identify and explore some of the key issues around assessing mathematics in secondary schools. Through coming to understand these issues and debates, you will reflect on and develop your assessment practice as a mathematics teacher and develop a greater awareness of the implications of ...