Free Online Courses and Certification
93Free Online Courses and Certification
If there's one thing we increasingly need these days it's more education. The world is changing so fast around us that it's easy to get left behind. Maybe you work long hours, or perhaps you're geographically unable to participate in courses. Whatever the reason it's frustrating for you to not be able to learn new skills easily, or to undertake professional training or certification.
The Internet can help you participate in online classes, online courses, self-paced learning and even certification in some subjects.
Below are a selection of some great courses that you can do for free, online courses and certification that you can do in your own time, wherever you are - and without cost.
Some of these courses will hopefully be able to help you do any of:
- Get back into the modern workplace
- Build confidence
- Get IT certifications
- Take that next step up the career ladder
- Change career entirely
- Provide evidence to potential employers of your commitment to lifetime-learning
- Pursue your interests, or explore new areas
- Help you to start a new business, or generate a second income
... in short, to be more fulfilled, more able and more employable!
Signup for Free Online Courses with Alison
- Free Online Courses, Workplace Skills Training, Interactive Education and Multimedia Learning | ALIS
ALISON is the world's leading provider of free online courses with certificates for basic and essential workplace skills. Start your elearning and online training today and educate yourself for free!
ALISON
Who the heck is Alison? Well, ALISON is the world's leading provider of free online courses with certificates for basic and essential workplace skills.
Alison is a training organisation dedicated to bringing free learning and free education to people worldwide. The courses are high quality and can provide you with that all important certification, or as I call them "magic bits of paper" that get your resume read by employers.
Having an active and recent list of subjects you've studied will demonstrate to an employer that you're actively improving your skillset - and by taking courses relevant to the industry you wish to work, or progress, in you can stand head and shoulders above those who just never bothered.
The free online courses you can take with the Alison online learning system include:
- Digital Literacy and IT Skills: Enabling you to use computers and technology efficiently. Courses from complete beginners to advanced certification. Full Microsoft Office training, touch typing, using gmail - you choose from a huge range of free online courses.
- Diploma Courses: Professional level diplomas in a range of subjects including multimedia development, web development, business & entrepreneurial studies.
- Business and Enterprise Skills: Free project management courses and free business management courses. Ideal for that 'step up' the career ladder.
- Financial and Economic Literacy: From economics, to accountancy, these free financial and economic literacy courses and certification could help get you noticed for applications to enter the financial industry.
- Health & Safety Compliance: Occupational health and safety courses, office safety, fire safety, manual handling, Workstation Ergonomics (DSE) and managing health and safety in schools. The world of health and safety is immense (and a growing industry), offering great future jobs potential.
- Health Literacy: From basic biology courses to HIV/AIDS awareness. An ideal entry point if you're considering working in the healthcare industry.
- English Language Skills: English language training, business English, FCE Certification coming shortly.
- Personal Development & Soft Skills: Psychometric tests, basic study skills, touch typing, US Citizenship test preparation - and more.
- Schools Curriculum: Subjects covering the school curricula, ideal for current students or returners to education. Biology, mathematics, science and more.
Get a Certificate: All courses offer you the choice of receiving a printed certificate at the end, or not. Great to take to job interviews.
Take Free Exams at the National Computer Science Academy
- Online Certification Exams
Take online certification exams with NCSA. IT certifications.
National Computer Science Academy
Free IT Certification courses are available online from the National Computer Science Academy. Choose from a range of popular subjects, within the areas of:
- Microsoft Windows
- Computer Hardware
- Microsoft Office
- Visual C++ Programming
- Javascript
- ... and many more
Whether you're looking to work in IT as a hardware engineer, or a web programmer, there's a free certification exam that'd be suitable to impress a potential employer with, or to help you change careers.
If you're not currently working, these courses will get you noticed as employers will see from your resume that you're interested and motivated.
The NCSA also develops relationships with large companies, inviting them to access their pool of certified professionals for any vacancies they might have. The NCSA also provides exam testing of candidates to these large employers, so there's a strong relationship there which you might benefit from.
Staff Kit - Free IT Training for Professionals
- StaffKit Web Based Training
Come and try some great IT Professional courses in web technologies, hardware or project management. Revise, refresh, or learn something new.
Free IT Courses from Staff Kit
Staff Kit provide professional IT courses and IT certification programs, at very affordable rates - but they also have some free courses. A free course is great for a beginner, or for those working on a budget, but they're also a great way to test out companies to see if their learning style suits you and your needs.
The free online courses on offer are:
- Microsoft Access 2002
- Microsoft Excel 2002
- CompTIA A+ Certification, for PC engineers
- Microsoft MCSE Exam 70-215 - Installing, Configuring and Administering Microsoft Windows Server
- Photoshop
- Flash
- HTML
- DHTML (Dynamic HTML)
- Dreamweaver
- Project Management
A great opportunity to try either the subjects, or the company providing the training!
More in This Series of Free Courses and Free Learning:
- Free Writing Courses Online
If you're looking to earn a living as a writer, then why not enjoy these great free training courses. Find out where your talents lie. Whether you're writing for the web, or want to write your first bestselling novel, there's a course for you.
Free Writing Courses
I've previously written a list of free online writing courses, so rather than cover that again here, I'll refer you to my previous hub, which you'll find here:
Discover free writing courses for just about every type of writing you could wish to explore.
More Free Courses
As I find more free online courses and certification programs, I'll keep the list above updated and growing.
Please tell your friends about this list, we need to support these free training providers!
Thanks for reading - and good luck with your course.
Photos By:
Teenager with laptop, by Spree2010. Photo taken with a Canon EOS 30D camera.
Online Training Courses in the News
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New Training Website from Well Known Internet Marketing Expert Reveals ... - 38 hours ago
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Hi nicomp
Yes, having a certificate is evidence that you're keen to impress and do well. Taking a course shows potential employers, or a promotions board, that you're pro-active and eager.
You also never know what the future will bring - and when you'll suddenly wish you had certain knowledge already under your belt.
That's handy to know. There are so many free resources these days online, if you go digging around.
Thanks for this hub, earner, very useful information
Thanks for a really good hub.
Wow--very useful! Voted up and bookmarked. Thanks.
Very useful information.
I believe that learning / education should be a life-long pursuit ~ and the Internet can be really helpful in this area.
Simply great!!Voted up, Bookmarked and twitted.
Thanks and keep it up
good luck
Awesome resource. Had not heard of ALISON.com before! Well done to all involved.
Great hub. Thanks for the wonderful links.
Really an informative hub. I was in search of a free online course. Thanks for the details.
Wow I had no idea I could take some of those IT courses for free! That is going to be so helpful to me thank you so much. I've been trying to learn JavaScript and C++ so I will definitely check that out. I totally "liked" and "tweeted" this.
Thanks earner. Now it's just a matter of deciding which course to take first. :)
Thank you very much earner. I was not aware of any of this.
I definitely voted you up and awesome! Because this hub certainly is.
Great info, thanks very much.. i didnt even know it was possible to do online courses for free, thanks for the info!
I never say wow. but I am impressed it is free in this day and age. How about the quality and up-to-date (a new word?) of the material?
Excellent Hub, voted up and useful. I may just have to start up studying again, especially if its free.
Just to let you know earner, I tweeted your hub page last night. I have this site saved to my favorites and am definitely going to use it!
Useful and interesting!
Thanks ..Great info
Thanks for sharing this info. I've visited Alison and its truly a great place.
I liked your pun "who the heck is Alison?" Thanks for sharing, these resources look like real nuggets. I'm passing them along to a programmer friend of mine.
Great article. To stay "current," one needs constant updates and "refresher" courses. Most of us are life time learners. The opportunity to learn on a "free" basis is welcomed.
A brain is a terrible thing to waste...
Awesome and flag up!
Great article! I'm going to check some of this out for myself ... need a few refresher courses!
You are brilliant. What a great money making hub! Wish I would have thought of it first. LOL Now I must read your hub on free on-line writing classes as I would like to take one. Smile!
I've never heard of ALISON. I'd like to get a degree in IT as I'm not very good with computers.
Very interesting! I wonder about the quality control and standardization of these certifications -- are they nationally recognized? Perhaps you could expand this hub to address that... I'd be very interested.
Thanks!
Thanks for this! Good info!
Wonderful. Now this is something that I can put to good use. Just a week ago I was trying to study Access and not having any fun. Maybe this will help. Thanks.
Very good information here. I'm willing to investigate and study nearly anything that doesn't require a classroom. At least, that's the preference. :)
Thanks for this hub, earner, very useful information
Thanks, very useful
Thanks for info gonna check them out when I get home
Great hub! Thank you so much! I'm always looking for more schooling, but have enough student loans.
Thanks! So helpful for me since I am struggling to find a job currently!
Wow, this is some great info! It's amazing how much is out there, if you know how to look for it. I appreciate the leg up in my search for further education without the hefty price tag :)
This is a valuable source of information! I had not heard of ALISON, voted up!
Great Info thanks for gathering info that is valuble to many!
I love this hub, I found it very informative and I personally will look into some of these free courses. I also have a work counselor that I will forward this article to. A lot of her clients will benefit form this as well.
Great well researched info :). Thanks!
Excellent info here! Voted up and useful!
it is a helpful and resourceful site- Alison
Very good information.Thanks for sharing.
This is a great article! Many individuals have no idea these resources are available for them, and free for that matter! Thank you for sharing.
Never even considered free learning courses. This is a great hub, one that I will use as reference. Will start researching tonight. Thanks
thanks for the information...
This is an Awesome Resource. I am always looking for free training opportunities. In fact, I took a free 4 hour course about AIDS treatment a few weeks ago. Will that course help me? Not Sure, but it was still fun and I learned something. However, these resources will most definitely help me. Thanks for creating this!
Nice work. I am tagging u so I can refer to this again.
This is a great article, I know I will get some use out of it.
Really great hub! So much information. Didn't know there were so many free opportunities for learning out there!
What great information. Thanks for sharing!
Great resource here. I haven't heard of some of these before. Knowledge is power.. We always need to keep learning new things.
Online courses are very convenient and becoming more and more popular, even with major colleges and universities. What I had not heard of were FREE courses. That is exciting news.
Cool info..
great news and a bit of imformative
This is great. One more reason for me to be behind the laptop! I will definitely be taking a few of the IT courses. Thanx for sharing! Voted you up and to the max!
Thumb up for this great info...See CRROOOOWD!
You are doing so appreciable work by writing these types of hubs, which need not to be commented except appreciation. I vote it up and admire you a lot.
Excellent hub very helpful.
I've been looking for free online courses for a while but gave up. Thanks ;)
Fantastic list of free courses, I'm bookmarking it for later to show them to my boyfriend as he is currently trying to qualify as web developer so that woudl come handy. Thanks a lot!
I was looking exactly for one like this. Thanks and regards for the post. Working from home would be easier with that.
This is great information! Thanks so much!
Hey Earner, great hub! Very informative, this is exactly what I need right now, thank you very much :) voted up and awesome!
Wow! this is amazing information. And its so timely for me as well. It's almost fate that this was at the top of the hub pages for me on the very day that I am regretting my decision to stay on for A-level.
If these courses are free i will do all of them :) I love learning and I am going to enjoy taking part in these courses. Thankyou very much.
thank hub...
Very nice and helpful hub.
Great hub. I love free knowledge. Another great site that sounds a little like Alison is Lynda.com. Check it out.
This is a very good resource for anyone wanting to learn a little something new. Great hub!
Wow! This is an incredibly helpful hub! Thanks for not only highlighting free online courses, but free certifications as well. I'll have to look into some of these. I love learning new things and I think that stocking up on certs could help me get a nicer job! Thanks for sharing!
I had a look through the Alison site and am excited to sign up to learn a few things.
Thanks!
i got this from google search.thanks for great hub and useful information.
i have taken 22 diferent courses love it thankyou very much
A very informative hub. Thanks!
Online courses and online education are more popular than ever these days.
All this was very informative!! God hub.
Terrific Resource! Thanks for the info and the research.
Thanks, I am always trying to improve myself and love free courses.
Man this was really good stuff i bookmarked the free exam site thanks
Wow - I just found this. VU.
Earner-good morning. Superbly written article, both well-written and containing crucial info. I'd not heard of any of these online choices, and plan on passing them onto a friend of mine who is in a category you mentioned. WELL DONE :)TR
I am also very keen to do some online courses for free.You provided some very helpful informations for me and others also.Thanks.
Very good information. Thank you!
Great information I will definitely be passing this information on.
thank you for sharing this...i am newly retired and am interested in finding out about things i did not really have the time to pursue when i was teaching...i will definitely be looking into some of these classes.
This is such vital info! SO many people will benefit from it! Awesome!
I'm signing up right now because you can always learn something new. great hub.
Extremely interesting and great ressource, bookmarked for more in depth-study later! Thanks for your work!
As I work for It company, its very useful.thanks for this hub.
Thank you for such an informative Hub! I was unaware there were so many courses available at no cost. I am mainly interested in improving my writing, so I will be visiting the Hub you wrote on that as well. Thanks again!
Voted up and useful!
Excellent! Voted Up.
Good info here. Thanks.
Our education never stops. Many jobs require continuing education to remain in our job. And, of course, free is always nice, too.
Very useful information, thank you for sharing this. Not often that I bookmark a hub so quickly. I'm sure I'll be looking back to this hub many times as I look into all the options you graciously shared.
Very good information. I will be looking into some of these free online courses and certifications for myself and my husband. Thank you for this Hub. Voted Up, +Useful +Interesting. Shared.
I love this! I found Alison last week and now here you are telling me about it! I signed up for the UK one and now I find out they have a US one, too.
I think Alison is awesome! I love the info on the other computer courses, too. I'm trying to learn coding and Adobe Dreamweaver. It's nice to know there are resources out there!
NCA actually not free... $25 for on demand learning/month. Still a great deal from the looks of it.
This is a wonderful bit of sharing for the multitudes out there who wish to advance themselves , yet lack the resources to do so. It is an excellent hub, both in style and content. You are doing a great job!
Great information!
There is more and more to learn.. and more and more about everything, our brains most getting bigger and bigger..actually do they?
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing your info!
What a good informative hub. I will go to the writing ones for sure thanks a lot.
Thanks for this great list! I will definitely check this out. Voted up!
This is absolutely fantastic information! I've been dying to get back into school but we live paycheck to paycheck and it's just not an option right now! Thank you so much for giving me an alternative!
Yes there are definitely a lot of things that you can learn online!
I've checked ALISON and it was brilliant. I'll definitely, one of these days, get a certification from there. Thank you for sharing. This is so valuable.
I need or don't but the fact is that great stuff shared here. I may think to benefit from such online free courses or I may recommend someone. Keep sharing things like these to spread free knowledge to build a good career.
Great information I am definately going to put this information to use.I am currently in School now for my BSBA, and almost done certificates like this will set me apart from therest of the grads. Nice job
Thanks so much ! I am going to learn computer !
Awesome! thank you for all this info, this is a great hub.
IS IT'S CERTIFICATE INTERNATIONALLY APPROVED ?
I'VE JUST COMPLETED A COURSE.... HOW DO I PAY FOR MY CERTIFICATE
I had done a short course on Alison. The course material is good and the exam helps to evaluate what you have learned. Thanks for sharing this great info.
Thanks for the information and great hub! I really do need to get my IT skills improved, and if I can get this done online for free, that's great!
Thanks Earner.Informative hub
Thisis such an infromative hub. I believe that continuous learning is important to know the latest trends.
wow! i think this is great. thanks.
Excellent list of free online courses. You certainly did your homework. Great job. Voted up.
Thanks. Excellent information. The computer programming and writing courses really caught my eye. Voted up, awesome and sharing :))
one of my strengths is learning so i always like to learn about new opportunities to learn!! i voted this hub up and useful! blessings...
Thanks for the info! I didn't realize there were such tools out there.
Wow, great Hub! Thanks.
You have shared a very useful information to the world, Earnes. In addition..... Is there any information of scholarship provided by certain Open University for their students ? that the students may get their diploma from the distance learning ? Thank you for your answer...!
Great Information.....some thing I dn't heard....like alison. Great post... cheers!
good info, thanks!
Great hub! very useful information here. I will let people know about this nugget
I appreciate you taking the time to share. A lot of people, because of the economy cannot afford to pay for school. You took the effort to lead some horses to water, now it's their turn to drink. Thank you for this insight. I for one am going to look into both of them. I need to brush up on my computer skills. Take care.
Thanks for the info. Definitely going to check out the National Computer Science Academy. I have done some classes with Alison. They are good.
This is very useful information.Commendable work.Bookmarked this hub.Thanks for sharing
nicomp Level 6 Commenter 11 months ago
Great info. I'd not heard of Alison. Certs are great tools for advancing a career or starting a new one.