Future Learn

FutureLearn is a British digital education platform founded in December 2012. It is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) learning platform, and as of 2021, it includes 175 UK and international partners, including non-university partners.

The platform offers 3 plans: free, upgraded and unlimited.

The free plan allows you to access any course you want for a limited period of time (course length + 2 weeks). BUT you only get access to the course material, so any other additional resources that the course provides (interactive quizzes, tests, assignments etc.) will not be available for you. And if you want to get a Certificate of Achievement on any course, you will have to pay £49.

The upgraded plan gives you access to the course for as long as it exists on the platform. Upgrading usually costs between £24-£69, depending on the course. It allows you to do quizzes, tests, assignments if the course provides any. And you get a printed and digital Certificate of Achievement or Statement of Participation when you’re finished with your course. 

The unlimited plan costs £190/year and gives you access to all benefits of the platform, including unlimited access to your choice of hundreds of online courses and tests for a year, a printable and digital Certificate of Achievement on all courses and the flexibility to complete your courses in your own time within a year. It also allows you to download any content from any of the courses onto your device. 

So, to sum up, it is safe to say that FutureLearn has some pros and cons. 

Pros: 

- free access to more than 1000 courses, 

- flexible schedule,  

- self-pacing, 

- the ability to interact with peers on discussion forums.

Cons: 

- for free you get a very limited amount of material, 

- you can't test your knowledge, unless you upgrade,

- expensive prices of upgraded and unlimited plans,

- paid certificates.