FREE Places on Microcredential Courses (Normally Up To £800) (Scotland Only)

FREE Open University Courses If You Live in Scotland

500 places available for selected courses. Normally up to £800

Apply by Sunday 19 May
If you live in Scotland, the Open University (OU) is offering the chance to apply for one of its microcredential courses for free – these are professional development courses, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. They normally cost up to £800, but the OU is currently offering 500 free places. You'll need to apply by 11.59pm on Sunday 19 May.

They're not quite open to all, but the eligibility criteria is quite broad. You must be:

• Aged 18 or over
• Living in Scotland
• Eligible to work in Scotland
• Settled in Scotland, and ordinarily a resident in the UK for at least three years (or you have indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK).
• See the 'Who can apply' section at the OU website for full details.

Which courses are being offered for free?

The courses will be largely delivered online, and vary in length from 10 to 12 weeks, with 10 to 13 hours of study per week. You'll start studying in June or July. You can see all the free course options via this link, but a few examples include:

Agile Leadership and Management (postgraduate) – normally £800
Teacher Development: Embedding Mental Health in the Curriculum (postgraduate) – normally £675
Climate Change: Transforming your Organisation for Sustainability (undergraduate) – normally £500
Business Management: Financial Accounting for Non-Financial Roles (undergraduate) – normally £500
Cisco: Python Programming (undergraduate) – normally £275
Business Management: Marketing Principles and Practice (undergraduate) – normally £500

How to apply
To apply for a course you'll need to fill in an application form (depending on the course type you choose) via the OU website and submit proof of your address in Scotland. Once you've checked you meet the entry requirements for your chosen module and have filled in the form, you'll receive confirmation that your application has been received within one working day (so if you submit on a Friday, you won't receive confirmation until Monday).

Do note that the OU will be selective about who it offers places to, so it's not first-come, first-served. You'll need to fill in a personal statement about why you want to study the course, plus it'll also consider geographical and demographic factors too.