The Open University offers 1000 free online courses via their OpenLearn platform. And these include free certificates of completion, and sometimes, badges.

Launched in 2006, OpenLearn is the OpenCourseWare (OCW) platform of the Open University, the world’s first distance-learning university and one of Europe’s largest academic institutions, founded in 1969 following a push by the UK government to make higher education more accessible.

OpenLearn takes the form of a catalog of open educational resources (OER), including articles, podcasts, videos — and more than 1000 free online courses.

Since the platform focuses on openness, you don’t actually need to create an account to access the learning materials. That said, if you do create an account, you’ll be able to save your progress, and upon finishing a course, you’ll unlock a free certificate of completion.

Courses

All the courses are on-demand, meaning they don’t have specific start and end dates. And they’re released under the Creative Commons license, meaning you can freely use the course materials in non-commercial contexts.

These can be broken down into three levels (introductory, intermediate, and advanced) and eight categories:

• Languages
• History & The Arts
• Money & Business
• Nature & Environment
• Society, Politics & Law
• Education & Development
• Science, Math & Technology
• Health, Sports & Psychology

Free Certificates: How to Earn One

The online courses offered on OpenLearn include a free certificate of completion like the one above. And some courses also include a free badge.

Here’s how to take a course on OpenLearn and earn free certificates and badges:

1. Create an OpenLearn account here.
2. Enroll in an OpenLearn course here.
3. Finish the course.

As you work your way through the course materials and assignments, you’ll tick items off your course to-do list, and upon reaching 100% completion, you’ll unlock your free certificate.