Free Places on Microcredential Courses (Scotland Only)

Supported by the Scottish Funding Council Upskilling Fund, we’re offering the opportunity to study a fully funded microcredential course in a variety of subject areas.

The Open University are committed to supporting the upskilling and reskilling of individuals and organisations by offering a limited number of free places.

Microcredentials allow you to gain specialist knowledge and skills to help advance your career.

In just 10–12 weeks you can gain:

cutting-edge knowledge in a specialised subject, informed by our world-class academics

practical skills that you can immediately apply to your work, or boost your CV

undergraduate or postgraduate credit you could in the future use towards further study.

With microcredentials, all your study is entirely online via the OU’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) platform or FutureLearn. You’ll use a combination of learning materials, videos, quizzes and experiences to develop your specialist professional knowledge.

You’ll be advised which platform you are studying on if your application is successful.

Applications are now open for our next set of funded Microcredentials. You can only apply for a funded place through this page. There are a limited number of funded places available.

You are eligible to apply if you are:

domiciled in Scotland

UK citizen or have the legal right to live and work in the UK

18+ years of age.

As we have a limited number of places, the criteria used to determine how to award the funded places will take into consideration the following factors:

Strength of personal statement.

Geographical representation across the whole of Scotland.

Balance across protected characteristics.

Employment status (priority will be given to applicants who are unemployed or at risk of redundancy).

The final deadline for applications is 23:59 on Sunday, 19 May 2024.