Below is a list of resources which we hope will be of interest to asylum seekers and refugees who wish to discover free online courses from The Open University and other providers. These include free courses for learning English to information about working as a translator. We also provide links to some of the key refugee support organisations and useful resources. Many sources of support come and go and change so please note this is not a comprehensive list.
English Language Learning Resources
A range of resources to help you develop basic English skills to progress to English in the workplace. Choose the free course that best suits your interests and needs.
Everyday English
Everyday English 1
This free course, Everyday English 1, will develop and improve your essential speaking and listening, reading and writing skills for work, study and everyday life.
Learn more ❯Everyday English 1
Everyday English 2
This free course, Everyday English 2, will inspire you to improve your current English skills and help you to communicate more effectively in everyday work and life.
Learn more ❯Everyday English 2
A brief history of communication: hieroglyphics to emojis
This free course, A brief history of communication: hieroglyphics to emojis, is an introduction to the history of writing, and the key role it plays in human communication. It tracks this history from the invention of writing around 5500 years ago to the mass popularity of emojis today.
Learn more ❯A brief history of communication: hieroglyphics to emojis
Everyday English for Construction and Engineering 2
This free course, adapted for the construction and engineering sector, will develop and improve your speaking and listening, reading and writing skills for your work, everyday life and further studies.
Learn more ❯Everyday English for Construction and Engineering 2
Everyday English for Health and Social Care and Education Support 2
This free course will develop and improve your speaking and listening, reading and writing skills for your work in the health, social care and education sector.
Learn more ❯Everyday English for Health and Social Care and Education Support 2
English: skills for learning
English: skills for learning, is a free course for anybody who is thinking of studying for a university degree and would like to develop the English reading and writing skills needed to succeed. You will learn through a range of engaging activities aimed at extending your existing language skills.
Learn more ❯English: skills for learning
Summarising text
In this free course, Summarising text, you will learn how to summarise. Summarising is useful both when completing assignments and while studying.
Learn more ❯Summarising text
Languages at Work
All of us in our working lives increasingly need to work with people from other cultures or those whose native language is foreign, or we may have to go to another country and work as a foreigner ourselves. This free course, Languages at work, is about how to understand differences in culture and how to make the most of existing language skills. It is aimed at all adult learners, whether in FE or in the workplace. The sections are independent, and can be studied in any order and any combination. They are linked to NVQ assessments at Entry Level, Level 1 and Level 2.
Learn more ❯Languages at Work
English in the world today
How did English become the global force it is today? This free course, English in the world today, explores the status of the language and its worldwide diversity. It looks at how social and political factors influence people's attitudes towards it, and at the relationship between one's linguistic heritage and sense of identity.
Learn more ❯English in the world today
English skills
Business English: Making decisions
Do you want to relocate to the UK? This free course, Business English: Making decisions, will help you with the language difficulties that can arise while providing assistance with the practicalities of the decision-making processes involved and the consultation that is necessary to ensure employees are kept informed.
Learn more ❯Business English: Making decisions
Business English: Researching a new location
Do you want to relocate to the UK? This free course, Business English: Researching a new location, will help you with the language difficulties that can arise while providing assistance with the practicalities of taking the decision to relocate. You will also examine the factors that influence that decision, including its impact on all those connected with the company from employees to suppliers and customers.
Learn more ❯Business English: Researching a new location
Business English: Presenting the decision
Do you want to relocate to the UK? This free course, Business English: Presenting the decision, will help you with the language difficulties that can arise while providing assistance with the practicalities of moving your company and relocating its employees. You will also learn how other companies have approached this task.
Learn more ❯Business English: Presenting the decision
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.
Learn more ❯How to be a critical reader
Paraphrasing text
In this free course, Paraphrasing text, you will focus on the process of turning what you are reading into 'your own words', which is an essential skill at university.
Learn more ❯Paraphrasing text
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.
Learn more ❯Language and creativity
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.
Learn more ❯Exploring the English language
English grammar in context
What are the differences between spoken and written English? Is use of grammar more or less complex than it appears? This free course, English grammar in context, looks at the way grammar can be used as a tool for adapting our communications (both written and spoken). This OpenLearn course will help you to see how language is intertwined with both describing a view of the world and interacting with others in that world.
Learn more ❯English grammar in context
Translation as a career
This free course explores translation as a career. During the course you will meet professional translators discussing their work and reflect on what they say. You will assess your own language level and find out how translators maintain their language skills. You will also engage in a short translation activity.
Learn more ❯Translation as a career
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