Frequently asked questions

Interested in a new topic and want to dig deeper? Or maybe you're passionate about a subject? Whether it’s a five minute exploration or a 24-hour expedition into learning that you’re after, you’ll find it on OpenLearn for free.

OpenLearn is a free learning platform, delivered by The Open University as part of its Royal Charter commitment to support the wellbeing of the community. We're proud to say that it reaches over 6 million learners a year.

You will find over 1,000 free courses, topical and interactive content, videos and online games on OpenLearn. Follow us on X (Courses section of The Open University’s website to view the online prospectus.

Much of the content on OpenLearn will be accessible to anyone with a general interest in a subject. Each free course is set at a particular level to indicate the amount of previous educational experience expected for you to be able to study the unit without too much difficulty and within the stated hours of study. There are three levels - introductory, intermediate, and advanced - indicated in the summary description of each free course. If you are new to higher education we recommend that you start with free courses at an introductory level.

OpenLearn does not provide you with a tutor. Instead you can connect with other learners. Many pages have a Comments section. Once logged in, you can use the Comments to share your ideas, views and questions with others. Unfortunately, we no longer provide this functionality on our free course pages.

Our courses are free and not formally accredited by the Open University. Many employees study them in their spare time. This means that enrolling on and completing our courses does not qualify you as a student nor does it make you eligible for student discounts.

OpenLearn is a website which is easily accessible from any web browser whether it is PC/Mac or a mobile device such as a tablet. OpenLearn is optimised to be enjoyed by users on the current full versions of many widely used browsers.

The majority of our interactive content is HTML based which will work on these browsers, however, some older courses may contain Flash which your browser may not be compatible with.

If you have any problems with the content, such as videos not playing, please first try using a different browser (we recommend Chrome or Firefox) or incognito/private mode. Also, using a different device may help overcome the issue.

If you continue to have problems with the content, please email [email protected], and provide details of where the problem occurs (e.g. name of course, together with page/section number and preferably the URL link to the page where the error occurs).

If you already have an OUCU you only need to enter it when signing on OpenLearn. No other information is needed (except your password).

There could be many reasons but the most probable is that you have simply forgotten your password, are trying the wrong one or are entering it incorrectly. Does your username or password contain a mixture of upper or lower case letters? It should be entered exactly.

You could also try clearing cookies from your browser or trying another browser to see if that helps.

If you're still having problems, please email [email protected]

It is possible to download some audio and video files from the OpenLearn website. We enable this where we have the intellectual property rights to allow these downloads - you will see clear links where this option is available.

MyOpenLearn is your user profile. It contains the information about yourself that you have provided on OpenLearn as well as any recommendations of what you may also like, the free courses you have enrolled on and your personal tag cloud. From here you'll also be able to track your progress and access activity records. As we roll out badged courses, you will be able to see your badges here, too.

You will get the most from OpenLearn if you create an account (this is free). Creating an account will give you full access to a range of features that are not available to guests, such as enrolling on free courses. From your MyOpenLearn profile, you will be able to track your progress and download an activity record. You are currently unable to unenrol from courses that you've enrolled on, but we have an 'unenrol' option in development. You do not need to create an account if you just want to read content without participating in activities. You can read about how we handle your personal data in ourcontact form, choosing the ‘delete online account’ option under ‘subject of query’.

Your OpenLearn profile is linked to an underlying Open University account. If you only wish your OpenLearn profile to be deleted, please make that clear on the form – in this case be aware that your personal details will still exist in your Open University account. If you wish your details to be fully deleted please make sure you request both accounts are deleted. 

Please be aware that deleting your OpenLearn profile will remove any badges you may have earned, and remove all records of your activity on OpenLearn. It is not reversible, and you will not be able to open a new account with the same email address in the future. You can read about how we handle your personal data in our privacy statement at Advantages of signing up onto a free course.

Some OpenLearn courses carry a free digital badge this is awarded in addition to a Statement of Participation. These courses are 24 hours in length and require learners to read every page of a course and pass compulsory online quizzes. OU-branded digital badges do not carry formal credit but enable you to demonstrate interest in a subject and commitment to your career, and are used to augment CVs and ePortfolios. You can show your digital badges to others by sharing them on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and by making them public (should you choose) on your My OpenLearn Profile.

Instructions for sharing your badge on LinkedIn

From 'My achievements' in your OpenLearn profile click on ‘share’ and choose LinkedIn.

LinkedIn presents a form:

• In Certification name enter name of course
• In Certification authority ‘The Open University’
• Tick ‘This certification does not expire’
• Go back to OpenLearn Profile tab, right click on Download and copy the link
• In LinkedIn paste in ‘Certification URL’
• Leave others blank and click 'Save'

On LinkedIn your badge then appears in Accomplishments. If you click on ‘See certificate’ it takes you to the badge details page on OpenLearn.

badged OpenLearn course to study.

Once you have enrolled on an OpenLearn course and have completed it, you will be able to access and download a free Open University Statement of participation as a PDF.

To gain a Statement of participation learners must:

a) Read the course Introduction and Guidance.

b) Be enrolled on the course.

c) Read every page of the course and submit any quizzes within it.

d) You will be notified by email if you have received a Statement of participation but please allow up to 24 hours for this to happen.
At this point, it will also appear in your ‘My OpenLearn Profile’ in the Achievements section.

The statement of participation does not carry any formal credit towards a qualification.

cookie policy.

At OpenLearn we want to understand about your use of our website and how we can help you. We do this in three ways: by logging general activity on the site such as the time each visitor spends on the site and whether they have also used some other sites; by tracking the use of content for learning; and by asking visitors whether they are willing to be involved in research. You can read about how we handle your personal data in our Amazon Kindle

We recognise that our materials may be more effective if they are adapted or built on (e.g. translated, disaggregated, mixed with other materials, localised with new case study examples etc.). Therefore, we strive to avoid the use of the ‘No Derivative’ restriction on our content.

Therefore we grant you the right to make use of the materials as they are or in modified form. You may translate, modify, print, network, reformat or change the materials in any way providing that you meet the terms of the licence.

Free course content in which we do not own copyright, and which we have licensed for use from other rights holders, are identified in the acknowledgements of every free course and in the article information of other OpenLearn content. At times we may also identify Open University content in the acknowledgements. These extracts (along with any acknowledged Open University content) may be used freely as part of your use of the website but we are unable to grant the right to modify them or to use them as stand-alone items. The surrounding OpenLearn content may be modified, however, and the extract retained for use in context within the modified version.

Many rights owners make their content available under a Creative Commons or other open licence and these will also be identified in the acknowledgements and may be re-used in accordance with the licence identified.

Canonical linking:

When you directly republish content from OpenLearn on your own website, you must indicate the canonical source of the content (the correct URL) in the metadata. You should add this tag in the area of your webpage:

If you have any queries about this please contact [email protected]

The Open University considers ‘non-commercial’ to include educational institutions, commercial companies or individuals making use of OpenLearn content on a cost-recovery basis.

We aim to make as much free learning content available as possible. We encourage others to adapt and develop our materials in the development of new free learning experiences.

• You may charge for learning experiences you provide using our materials on a cost recovery basis under the following conditions:
• You may represent these materials in any format or medium, including photocopied or hard copy printouts/DVD/SD Card. You may make a charge for the recovery of your costs for printing/duplication.
• Where the OU open media content forms part of a course you are presenting you may charge for the recovery of your costs for value added services such as the provision of the additional or adapted content or tutoring/teaching and support.
• You may not charge for services in order to return a financial profit (through sales of the content or through placing advertising around them).
• You may not charge for these services if you have not made significant adaptations of the materials or if our unadapted content forms the main basis of the course. Aggregation of our content does not comprise adaptation.

Please check the licensing conditions for ALL content that is to be adapted. Exceptions to the CC BY-NC-SA can be found in the acknowledgement pages of our free course content.

If you are unclear we are always happy to discuss the meaning of ‘adaptation’ and ‘significant’ on a case-by-case basis. So if you are unclear about these conditions – or feel your case needs special consideration – please contact us at [email protected]. We are keen to explore how we can support your educational service – however big or small.

If you use or amend or incorporate any OpenLearn free course content provided under a Creative Commons licence, use the following attribution: ‘(Name of free course). An OpenLearn chunk used/reworked by permission of The Open University copyright © (Year).’ If a chunk has a named author then the following citation must be added ‘Written by (name)’. If your use is online, you must also include a link to the Creative Commons ‘Attribution; Non-commercial; Share Alike’licence.
If your use is offline include the web address Media Sales Website or contact our distributor direct.

The OpenLearn team have a policy for ensuring the quality of older materials on OpenLearn. You can access the latest version of the older content policy by selecting this link.

In developing OpenLearn, The Open University is very grateful for the generous support of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The philosophy of open content mirrors exactly The Open University's founding principles of widening access to high-quality educational opportunities. Through OpenLearn, the University expects to contribute significantly to the development of both the quality and reach of open educational resources delivery at an international level.

The generosity of our users, supporters and partners will help our dedicated staff to continue the academic, pedagogic, technological and research activities that support OpenLearn.

Making a donation

You can make your donation to The Open University using our safe and secure online form.
Please quote OpenLearn in the 'What prompted you to donate?' box. Your gift - whatever the amount - will enable us to continue to fulfil our mission.

You may also send your donation to:

The Open University Development Office
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA
United Kingdom

Tel: 01908 653786

email:[email protected]

Web:here. This is based on the number of visits to these pages on OpenLearn in the last 24 hours.