All our free courses
Science, Maths & Technology
Microgravity: living on the International Space Station
This free badged open course, Microgravity: living on the International Space Station, will help you to consider microgravity environments in more detail than before! You will make direct comparisons of some important physical values between the International Space Station (ISS), the Earth and the Moon.
Nature & Environment
Energy in buildings
Themes covered in this free course, Energy in buildings, include reducing heating demand in buildings, heating systems and fuel emissions, and reducing electricity use by appliances. The course looks at the importance of energy in buildings in the UK, investigate heat loss and how to prevent it, ways of increasing building efficiency, ...
Education & Development
Teaching the First World War
This free course, Teaching the First World War, is designed for history teachers and their pupils. It provides a wide range of visual, textual and oral sources to enrich the teaching of the First World War. It covers familiar and less familiar aspects of the history of the First World War, ranging from the debate on the origins of the war and ...
Society, Politics & Law
Wildfires: environmental and social entanglements
This course explores how environmental and social factors interact to cause wildfires and shows why these interactions need to be considered when preparing for future wildfires. Focusing on the 2007 wildfires in Greece, this course introduces students to the geographical concept of entanglement as a tool for exploring these interrelated factors....
Money & Business
Managing my money for young adults
As a young adult, it is essential to effectively manage your finances. You will learn how to budget effectively, and will be encouraged to start thinking about your financial future.
Science, Maths & Technology
COVID-19: Immunology, vaccines and epidemiology
This free badged course, COVID-19: Immunology, vaccines and epidemiology, explains how antibodies protect against viral infections and how the incidence of antibodies can be used to track an epidemic. The course incorporates an interactive on-line assay (ELISA) of the type that is used to detect antibodies against COVID-19 infection. The samples...
Education & Development
Young children, the outdoors and nature
This free course, Young children, the outdoors and nature, looks at the importance of babies and toddlers having opportunities to engage with rich outdoor environments.
Society, Politics & Law
Judicial decision making
This free course, Judicial decision making, explains how judges decide cases. You will learn how judges make sense of evidence, and how they decide on fair outcomes in legal disputes. The course shows how the law constrains and influences judges, and what happens when the law is uncertain or contested. The course uses videos, practical examples,...
Society, Politics & Law
Applying your community engagement skills
This free course is the final instalment of a set of 10 courses with the common theme of community engagement and leadership. In the previous 9 courses there has been the opportunity to build a wide range of skills in leadership, communication, working with others and decision-making, in the context of policing within a community. We advise ...
Health, Sports & Psychology
Felly, rydych chi eisiau bod yn nyrs? Cyflwyniad byr i nyrsio
Mae’r cwrs yma am ddim, Felly, rydych chi eisiau bod yn nyrs? Cyflwyniad byr i nyrsio, yn rhoi trosolwg o’r hyn y mae nyrsio’n ei olygu. Mae’n canolbwyntio ar nyrsio yn y DU yn benodol, a hefyd ar ei le yn y byd. Byddwch yn dysgu am bedwar maes nyrsio yn y DU, sut beth yw hyfforddiant nyrsys, yn ogystal â beth sy’n gwneud nyrsys gwych. Mae’r...
Health, Sports & Psychology
So, you want to be a nurse? A brief introduction to nursing
This free course, So you want to be a nurse? A brief introduction to nursing, provides an overview of what nursing entails. Focusing on nursing in the UK specifically, but also looking at its place globally, you will learn about the four fields of nursing in the UK, what nurse training involves, as well as what makes a great nurse. This ...
Education & Development
Early years team work and leadership
This free course, Early years team work and leadership, explores aspects of teamwork and leadership for early years practitioners.
Education & Development
Multidisciplinary study: the value and benefits
This free course, Multidisciplinary study: the values and benefits, explores the advantages of studying more than one subject and will help you to decide if multidisciplinary study is for you. Featuring videos with students on the Open University’s ‘Open’ qualifications, you will learn about the unique skills you can gain from studying a ...
Society, Politics & Law
Myths in law
Have you ever wondered how much truth there was reflected in your favourite court room drama? How accurate is your favourite crime series in depicting the way the criminal justice system works? If you have, then this free course is for you. You will be looking at some of the biggest myths around criminal law and criminal courts to see how ...
History & The Arts
What do historians do?
What do historians do? In this free course you will explore some of the ways that historians work to develop our understanding of the past. You will learn about three aspects of the historian’s craft through three topic areas: landscapes, infant health and criminal justice. Through the activities in the course, you will experience a wide range ...
History & The Arts
Agatha Christie and the golden age of detective fiction
In this free course you’ll examine one of Agatha Christie’s most significant works, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), and explore the evolution of British detective fiction in relation to Christie’s background, literary modernism and the development of middlebrow fiction.
Health, Sports & Psychology
Supporting older people with learning disabilities and their families
This free course, Supporting older people with learning disabilities and their families, stems from research that explored how to improve the care and support for older people with learning disabilities and behaviours that challenge others, and their families.
Education & Development
Leadership for inclusion: what can you do?
This course will help you to develop your understanding of how to promote and support learning for all, within classrooms with a diverse student and staff population. It will encourage you to embrace your own capacity to lead at any level of an organisation. You will explore the tensions around collective responses and individualised challenges,...