FutureLearn reaches 5 million registered learners, turns 3 and runs the world’s largest MOOC
18 November 2016 – FutureLearn, the leading social learning platform owned by the Open University has today announced that 5 million people have signed up to study with FutureLearn in just 3 years. 75% of these learners are based outside of the UK, coming from over 190 countries around the world; between them they have studied around 12 million courses created by world class education institutions. The company is also celebrating running the world’s largest massive open online course (MOOC), with well over a million learners now enrolling on the British Council International English Language Testing System course since its launch.
In May 2016, FutureLearn introduced Programs, which are groups of courses that learners can take to earn academic course credits for degrees and MBAs, professional qualifications or formal CPD accreditation. So far, around 200,000 learners have signed up for a FutureLearn Program of which around 17,000 are signed up to degree course material, all of which could then decide to go on to apply for the full degree following the successful completion of the Program.
Simon Nelson, CEO of FutureLearn commented; “We are incredibly proud of what we have managed to achieve in these three short years. We have built a platform that delivers world class social learning, that retains learners better than any other MOOC and now delivers meaningful qualifications that can be studied from anywhere, on any device. Our focus for the next few years is to continue to create connections between learners, universities and employers, developing courses that are exciting and interesting for learners, relevant for employers and that give access to leading academic material for everyone everywhere.”
FutureLearn works with 70 universities of the world’s top 250 universities, over half of which are based internationally. It is also proud to work with over 30 leading institutions from organisations such as The Houses of Parliament, The BMJ, Cancer Research, UCAS, European Space Agency and UNESCO.
About FutureLearn
“Pioneering the best social learning experiences for everyone anywhere”
Founded by The Open University in 2012, FutureLearn is a social learning platform, designed to support learning through conversation. It offers over 5 million learners free online courses from world-leading UK and international universities, centres of research excellence and specialist education providers like the British Council, Creative Skillset and European Space Agency.
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Mulder, Head of Communications, FutureLearn
Email: sarah.mulder@futurelearn.com, Phone: 07720 401466
