All our free courses
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Science, Maths & Technology
Personal development planning for engineering
This free course, Personal development planning for engineering, has been written in keeping with the requirements of UK-SPEC and the professional engineering institutions (e.g. ImechE, IET etc). It will provide you with a range of relevant information and guidance in critically assessing and scrutinising your career development aspirations.
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level 2: intermediate icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Interpreting data: Boxplots and tables
This free course, Interpreting data: Boxplots and tables, is concerned with two main topics. In Section 1, you will learn about another kind of graphical display, the boxplot. A boxplot is a fairly simple graphic, which displays certain summary statistics of a set of data. Boxplots are particularly useful for assessing quickly the location, ...
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level 2: intermediate icon
Nature & Environment
Organisations, environmental management and innovation
Do you want to discover more about how organisations innovate for environmental management? This free course, Organisations, environmental management and innovation, focuses on the innovations organisations are developing or using to manage contemporary environmental issues. It also covers how organisations are innovating thinking about ...
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level 2: intermediate icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Number theory
This free course is an introduction to Number Theory. Section 1 provides a brief introduction to the kinds of problem that arise in Number Theory. Section 2 reviews and provides a more formal approach to a powerful method of proof, mathematical induction. Section 3 introduces and makes precise the key notion of divisibility. The Division ...
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level 3: advanced icon
History & The Arts
Hadrian's Rome
This free course, Hadrian's Rome, explores the city of Rome during the reign of the emperor Hadrian (117-38 CE). What impact did the emperor have on the appearance of the city? What types of structures were built and why? And how did the choices that Hadrian made relate to those of his predecessors, and also of his successors?
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Languages
How to be a critical reader
In this free course you will focus on how to be a critical reader. Reading critically is an essential skill at university. It means being aware of your own purposes and opinions as you read and being able to recognise the writer's purposes and opinions in their writing.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Forensic science and fingerprints
This free course, Forensic science and fingerprints, covers how science can make fingerprints easier to study, how they are used in court and some of the questions about the extent to which fingerprint identification is sound and scientific. Students will learn the principles used in classifying and matching fingerprints (often called marks).
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level 2: intermediate icon
History & The Arts
Napoleonic paintings
In this free course, Napoleonic paintings, we will examine a range of Napoleonic imagery by David, Gros and a number of other artists, beginning with comparatively simple single-figure portraits and moving on to elaborate narrative compositions, such as Jaffa and Eylau. In so doing, we will have three main aims: to develop your skills of visual ...
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level 2: intermediate icon
Nature & Environment
Animals at the extremes: hibernation and torpor
Hibernation is an ingenious adaptation that some animals employ to survive difficult conditions in winter. This free course, Animals at the extremes: hibernation and torpor, examines the differences between hibernation and torpor, and discusses the characteristic signs of hibernation behaviour. It explores the triggers that bring on hibernation,...
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Education & Development
Am I ready to be an apprentice distance learner?
Distance learning can open up opportunities for study. You might have not studied for a while, you might be returning to education, or you might not have had the chance to study at a higher level before. This free course, Am I ready to be an apprentice distance learner?, will help to boost your confidence. You'll explore useful skills so you can...
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level 1: introductory icon
Education & Development
Am I ready to be a distance learner?
Distance learning can open up opportunities for study. You might have not studied for a while, you might be returning to education, or you might not have had the chance to study at a higher level before. This free course, Am I ready to be a distance learner?, will help to boost your confidence. You'll explore useful skills so you can discover ...
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level 2: intermediate icon
Languages
Intermediate Italian: describing people
This course requires some basic knowledge of Italian. It focuses on describing both physical appearance and personality, as well as on developing listening skills and work on pronunciation.
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level 3: advanced icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Influenza: A case study
This free course, Influenza: A case study, explores the biology of influenza, covering a range of topics including: the virus, infection, replication, mutation, immune responses, pathology, surveillance, diagnosis and treatment.
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level 2: intermediate icon
Digital & Computing
Exploring communications technology
This free course, Exploring communications technology, looks at some of the principles underpinning communications technology. It looks at the properties of signals and media (such as optical fibre and radio waves), error control, data compression, and the principles of 4G mobile communications, wi-fi and DSL broadband.
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Science, Maths & Technology
More working with charts, graphs and tables
When you encounter maths or technical content you'll need to know how to interpret this information, and possibly to present your own findings in this way. This free course, More working with charts, graphs and tables, will help you to develop the skills you need to do this, and gain the confidence to use them. This free course builds on our ...
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Money & Business
Sustainable innovations in enterprises
This free online course, Sustainable innovations in enterprises, introduces you to the importance of sustainable innovations, the role it plays in commercial and social enterprises and the importance to society. It explores cases of sustainable innovations in specialist areas – arts and humanities; science, technology and engineering; health & ...
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Society, Politics & Law
Human rights and law
Human rights now seem to take precedent over many areas of our lives, but where do these rights come from and how did they develop? This free course, Human rights and the law, looks at the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights and its influence on law in the UK and examines the Human Rights Act 1998.
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History & The Arts
How do empires work?
How are empires ruled? How do military, economic, logistic and cultural constructs combine to create 'systems of empire'? This free course, How do empires work?, introduces these questions by briefly sketching in the dramatic events of the Anglo-Chinese conflict over Hong Kong from 1839 to 1842.