Certificates are a great way to boost your resume’s value and give you an upper hand over the ones who don’t possess a certificate. It also gives the impression that you are motivated, hardworking, and have a will to learn.
There are a number of online learning platforms that offer free courses. But the number of hoops that you have to jump through to get a free certificate is unnerving. Shelling out some bucks just to prove that you have learned something seems unfair sometimes.
So, in no particular order, here is a list of the top 10 sites for free online courses that also offer certificates for no charge.
1. LinkedIn Learning
Earlier known as Lynda.com, LinkedIn Learning is a subsidiary of LinkedIn that offers video courses taught by industry experts in software, technology, creative, and business skills.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → You have to sign up for a 1-month free trial.
Keep in mind that while registering for LinkedIn Learning, they ask for your Debit/Credit Card information for auto-renewal of the subscription. So, make sure to cancel the trial before it ends. They’ll send you an email 7 days prior to the ending of the trial.
2. Google Analytics Academy
Google Analytics Academy offers free online courses to learn about Google’s measurement tools for data collection and analysis. It also has mini-courses on YouTube for you to learn how to set up your first report, tag, or test; and use Google Tag Manager, Google Optimize, and more.
How many courses are offered for free? → 6
What are the names of these courses?
1. Google Analytics for Beginners
2. Advanced Google Analytics
3. Google Analytics for Power Users
4. Getting Started with Google Analytics 360
5. Introduction to Data Studio
6. Google Tag Manager Fundamentals
How to access these courses? → All you have to do is sign in to Google Analytics Academy with your google account, click on the course you want to pursue, click on ‘Register’, and get going!
How to earn a certificate of completion? → You have to score 80% or above in each assessment to earn a certificate of completion.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → It is completely free! There are no hidden charges whatsoever.
3. SCRUMstudy
SCRUMstudy is a global accreditation body for Scrum and Agile Certifications. It is backed by Sequoia Capital, the biggest PE firm in Silicon Valley who has funded Oracle, Cisco, LinkedIn, and others.
How many courses are offered for free? → 7
What are the names of these courses?
1. Six Sigma Yellow Belt
2. Scrum Fundamentals Certified
3. Marketing Strategy Fundamentals
4. Digital Marketing Fundamentals
5. Marketing Research Fundamentals
6. Corporate Sales Fundamentals
7. Negotiation Associate
How to access these courses? → Click on this link to register yourself and then you can access all the 7 courses and its exams for free by logging in on this link. Under the ‘Home’ section, you will find the 7 free courses that you can access only for 6 months, after which the courses will expire.
How to earn a certificate? → The ‘My Exams’ section will give you a list of all the free and paid exams that you can take. The free exams are online and un-proctored. After you pass the exam, you can access your certificate from the ‘My Certificates’ section.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → These 7 courses are free along with their certification exam, although the course materials and videos are only available for 6 months.
4. Oxford Home Study Centre
UK-Based Oxford Home Study Centre, better known as OHSC, is a specialist provider of distance learning professional courses. It offers a variety of courses ranging from Management to Finance and almost everything in between.
How many courses are offered for free? → 46
What are the names of these courses? → Here you will find the list of free courses.
How to access these courses? → Click on the course you want to start, then click on ‘Start your FREE course’. You will be prompted to register yourself, after which you can access all the free courses.
How to earn a certificate of completion? → The certificate of completion will be emailed to you after you complete the course.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → These 46 courses are completely free of charge. If you want to pursue other courses, you will have to pay a certain amount for each course.
5. Open SAP
OpenSAP is SAP’s free knowledge platform which delivers a variety of learning formats. The main format is Massive Open Online Courses, also known as MOOCs. Apart from SAP’s innovative solutions, they also provide courses about digital transformation.
How many free courses are offered with a certificate? → 60
What are the names of these courses? → Click here to see the 45 Self-paced free courses. The rest of the 15 courses can be found under the Upcoming and Current courses. The Self-paced courses usually do not offer a Record of Achievement, but as per the Digital Learning Initiative, 45 self-paced courses have been unlocked for you to earn a Record of Achievement for free until June 30, 2020.
How to access these courses? → Click here to create an OpenSAP account. After creating an account, you will be able to access these courses.
How to earn a certificate of completion? → Here known as the Record of Achievement, you can earn it by scoring at least 50% of the maximum number of points from all graded assignments of a course.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All courses are free of charge. Only 60 courses out of all the courses let you earn a Record of Achievement.
6. Saylor Academy
Saylor Academy is a non-profit initiative working since 2008 to offer free and open online courses to all who want to learn. They offer nearly 100 full-length courses at the college and professional levels.
How many free courses are offered with a certificate? → Around 100
What are the names of these courses? → Click on this this to see the free courses.
How to access these courses? → Click here to create a new account on Saylor Academy. After creating an account, you can see a list of courses on this link. Click on any course you want to pursue and get started!
How to earn a certificate of completion? → You have to take a final exam and score 70% or more in it to earn a Course Completion Certificate. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All the courses provided by them are completely free of cost. No extra charges for certification.
7. upGrad
Founded in 2015, upGrad is an online education platform providing rigorous industry-relevant programs designed and delivered in collaboration with world-class faculty and industry.
How many courses are offered for free? → 19
How to access these courses? → Click here to see the list of free courses offered by upGrad. Click on the ‘Register’ button against the course you want to pursue. You will be prompted to sign up. After you sign up, you are free to access the courses.
How to earn a certificate of completion? → You will receive a certificate of completion after you finish all the modules within a course. This will be issued once the requisite program duration comes to an end.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All the 19 courses are completely free of cost. No extra charges for certification as well.
8. AWS Training and Certifications
Amazon Web Services, better known as AWS, has its Training and Certification wing which helps individuals with cloud skills to help transform their business. It offers courses from around 26 domains, in two formats i.e. digital and classroom.
How many courses are offered for free? → 664
What are the names of these courses? → Click on ‘Learning Library’ where you will see all the categories of courses provided by them. The courses under the category ‘Digital Learning’ are free of cost.
How to access these courses? → Sign in to AWS Training and Certification using your Amazon account. Please note that there are a majority of courses that want you to be subscribed to ‘Free Digital Training’. Go ahead and subscribe to it because it is FREE!
How to earn a certificate of completion? → You will receive a certificate of completion after you finish all the modules within a course. After you finish the course, go to ‘Dashboard’, click on the course you just finished. Below the ‘Launch’ button, you will see a small badge icon. Click on it and you can view your certificate of completion. You can download it on your device.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All the 664 courses are completely free of cost, certificate included.
9. Coursera
Coursera is a world-wide online learning platform that partners with top universities and organizations to offer you online courses, degrees, certifications, and specializations.
How many courses are offered for free? → 3900+
What are the names of these courses? → Coursera has come up with ‘Coursera Together’ wherein they provide 100+ free online courses and don’t charge a single penny for certificates. You can see the list of courses here. Apart from ‘Coursera Together’, there are 3800+ courses you can access for free if you have a school or college email ID. Enroll in these free courses by July 31, 2020, and you can learn for free by September 30, 2020. After you have signed up with your school/college email ID, go to this this and enter your school/college email ID.
How to access these courses? → Sign up to Coursera and go to the links given above. Choose a course you want to pursue, and get going!
How to earn a certificate of completion? → Complete the course videos, attempt all the quizzes, complete the assignment, take the final assessment, and you get your Certificate!
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All the courses provided by Coursera are free of charge if you audit the ones that require you to pay for a certificate. The 3900+ courses do not charge a dime for the course or the certificate.
10. Alison
Alison is an online learning platform with over thousands of courses that fall under roughly 16 broad categories. Each course takes only a few hours to complete.
How many courses are offered for free? → 24
What are the names of these courses? → Here is a list of the courses that are free and don’t cost a rupee for the certificates.
How to access these courses? → Sign up to Alison and choose a course from the list of free courses (go to the link given above), and start right away!
How to earn a certificate of completion? → Score 80% or higher in each course assessment to earn a digital certificate. For more details, you can see the ‘Certificate’ tab below the course details of each course.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All the 24 courses are free of charge. Zero hidden charges!
For those who are in no need of certificates, there are various other sites like Udemy and edX from where you can learn for free.
So, what’s stopping you now!? Get rolling! And oh, Happy learning!
There are a number of online learning platforms that offer free courses. But the number of hoops that you have to jump through to get a free certificate is unnerving. Shelling out some bucks just to prove that you have learned something seems unfair sometimes.
So, in no particular order, here is a list of the top 10 sites for free online courses that also offer certificates for no charge.
1. LinkedIn Learning
Earlier known as Lynda.com, LinkedIn Learning is a subsidiary of LinkedIn that offers video courses taught by industry experts in software, technology, creative, and business skills.
- How many courses are offered for free? → 16,000+. In other words, ALL!
- How to access these courses? → Go to LinkedIn Learning and click on ‘Start my free month’ after which you will be prompted to sign in via your LinkedIn account. If you don’t have one, you will have to create it. That’s it and you are good to go!
- How to earn a certificate of completion? → You can download the certificate after the completion of the course you want to pursue.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → You have to sign up for a 1-month free trial.
Keep in mind that while registering for LinkedIn Learning, they ask for your Debit/Credit Card information for auto-renewal of the subscription. So, make sure to cancel the trial before it ends. They’ll send you an email 7 days prior to the ending of the trial.
2. Google Analytics Academy
Google Analytics Academy offers free online courses to learn about Google’s measurement tools for data collection and analysis. It also has mini-courses on YouTube for you to learn how to set up your first report, tag, or test; and use Google Tag Manager, Google Optimize, and more.
How many courses are offered for free? → 6
What are the names of these courses?
1. Google Analytics for Beginners
2. Advanced Google Analytics
3. Google Analytics for Power Users
4. Getting Started with Google Analytics 360
5. Introduction to Data Studio
6. Google Tag Manager Fundamentals
How to access these courses? → All you have to do is sign in to Google Analytics Academy with your google account, click on the course you want to pursue, click on ‘Register’, and get going!
How to earn a certificate of completion? → You have to score 80% or above in each assessment to earn a certificate of completion.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → It is completely free! There are no hidden charges whatsoever.
3. SCRUMstudy
SCRUMstudy is a global accreditation body for Scrum and Agile Certifications. It is backed by Sequoia Capital, the biggest PE firm in Silicon Valley who has funded Oracle, Cisco, LinkedIn, and others.
How many courses are offered for free? → 7
What are the names of these courses?
1. Six Sigma Yellow Belt
2. Scrum Fundamentals Certified
3. Marketing Strategy Fundamentals
4. Digital Marketing Fundamentals
5. Marketing Research Fundamentals
6. Corporate Sales Fundamentals
7. Negotiation Associate
How to access these courses? → Click on this link to register yourself and then you can access all the 7 courses and its exams for free by logging in on this link. Under the ‘Home’ section, you will find the 7 free courses that you can access only for 6 months, after which the courses will expire.
How to earn a certificate? → The ‘My Exams’ section will give you a list of all the free and paid exams that you can take. The free exams are online and un-proctored. After you pass the exam, you can access your certificate from the ‘My Certificates’ section.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → These 7 courses are free along with their certification exam, although the course materials and videos are only available for 6 months.
4. Oxford Home Study Centre
UK-Based Oxford Home Study Centre, better known as OHSC, is a specialist provider of distance learning professional courses. It offers a variety of courses ranging from Management to Finance and almost everything in between.
How many courses are offered for free? → 46
What are the names of these courses? → Here you will find the list of free courses.
How to access these courses? → Click on the course you want to start, then click on ‘Start your FREE course’. You will be prompted to register yourself, after which you can access all the free courses.
How to earn a certificate of completion? → The certificate of completion will be emailed to you after you complete the course.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → These 46 courses are completely free of charge. If you want to pursue other courses, you will have to pay a certain amount for each course.
5. Open SAP
OpenSAP is SAP’s free knowledge platform which delivers a variety of learning formats. The main format is Massive Open Online Courses, also known as MOOCs. Apart from SAP’s innovative solutions, they also provide courses about digital transformation.
How many free courses are offered with a certificate? → 60
What are the names of these courses? → Click here to see the 45 Self-paced free courses. The rest of the 15 courses can be found under the Upcoming and Current courses. The Self-paced courses usually do not offer a Record of Achievement, but as per the Digital Learning Initiative, 45 self-paced courses have been unlocked for you to earn a Record of Achievement for free until June 30, 2020.
How to access these courses? → Click here to create an OpenSAP account. After creating an account, you will be able to access these courses.
How to earn a certificate of completion? → Here known as the Record of Achievement, you can earn it by scoring at least 50% of the maximum number of points from all graded assignments of a course.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All courses are free of charge. Only 60 courses out of all the courses let you earn a Record of Achievement.
6. Saylor Academy
Saylor Academy is a non-profit initiative working since 2008 to offer free and open online courses to all who want to learn. They offer nearly 100 full-length courses at the college and professional levels.
How many free courses are offered with a certificate? → Around 100
What are the names of these courses? → Click on this this to see the free courses.
How to access these courses? → Click here to create a new account on Saylor Academy. After creating an account, you can see a list of courses on this link. Click on any course you want to pursue and get started!
How to earn a certificate of completion? → You have to take a final exam and score 70% or more in it to earn a Course Completion Certificate. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All the courses provided by them are completely free of cost. No extra charges for certification.
7. upGrad
Founded in 2015, upGrad is an online education platform providing rigorous industry-relevant programs designed and delivered in collaboration with world-class faculty and industry.
How many courses are offered for free? → 19
How to access these courses? → Click here to see the list of free courses offered by upGrad. Click on the ‘Register’ button against the course you want to pursue. You will be prompted to sign up. After you sign up, you are free to access the courses.
How to earn a certificate of completion? → You will receive a certificate of completion after you finish all the modules within a course. This will be issued once the requisite program duration comes to an end.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All the 19 courses are completely free of cost. No extra charges for certification as well.
8. AWS Training and Certifications
Amazon Web Services, better known as AWS, has its Training and Certification wing which helps individuals with cloud skills to help transform their business. It offers courses from around 26 domains, in two formats i.e. digital and classroom.
How many courses are offered for free? → 664
What are the names of these courses? → Click on ‘Learning Library’ where you will see all the categories of courses provided by them. The courses under the category ‘Digital Learning’ are free of cost.
How to access these courses? → Sign in to AWS Training and Certification using your Amazon account. Please note that there are a majority of courses that want you to be subscribed to ‘Free Digital Training’. Go ahead and subscribe to it because it is FREE!
How to earn a certificate of completion? → You will receive a certificate of completion after you finish all the modules within a course. After you finish the course, go to ‘Dashboard’, click on the course you just finished. Below the ‘Launch’ button, you will see a small badge icon. Click on it and you can view your certificate of completion. You can download it on your device.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All the 664 courses are completely free of cost, certificate included.
9. Coursera
Coursera is a world-wide online learning platform that partners with top universities and organizations to offer you online courses, degrees, certifications, and specializations.
How many courses are offered for free? → 3900+
What are the names of these courses? → Coursera has come up with ‘Coursera Together’ wherein they provide 100+ free online courses and don’t charge a single penny for certificates. You can see the list of courses here. Apart from ‘Coursera Together’, there are 3800+ courses you can access for free if you have a school or college email ID. Enroll in these free courses by July 31, 2020, and you can learn for free by September 30, 2020. After you have signed up with your school/college email ID, go to this this and enter your school/college email ID.
How to access these courses? → Sign up to Coursera and go to the links given above. Choose a course you want to pursue, and get going!
How to earn a certificate of completion? → Complete the course videos, attempt all the quizzes, complete the assignment, take the final assessment, and you get your Certificate!
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All the courses provided by Coursera are free of charge if you audit the ones that require you to pay for a certificate. The 3900+ courses do not charge a dime for the course or the certificate.
10. Alison
Alison is an online learning platform with over thousands of courses that fall under roughly 16 broad categories. Each course takes only a few hours to complete.
How many courses are offered for free? → 24
What are the names of these courses? → Here is a list of the courses that are free and don’t cost a rupee for the certificates.
How to access these courses? → Sign up to Alison and choose a course from the list of free courses (go to the link given above), and start right away!
How to earn a certificate of completion? → Score 80% or higher in each course assessment to earn a digital certificate. For more details, you can see the ‘Certificate’ tab below the course details of each course.
Is it completely free? Or do I have to sign up for a free trial? → All the 24 courses are free of charge. Zero hidden charges!
For those who are in no need of certificates, there are various other sites like Udemy and edX from where you can learn for free.
So, what’s stopping you now!? Get rolling! And oh, Happy learning!
No comments:
Post a Comment