When FutureLearn launched in December 2012, this post outlined the aims of the company as follows:
- To bring together a range of free, open, online courses from leading UK universities, that will be clear, simple to use and accessible.
- To draw on the Open University’s expertise in delivering distance learning and pioneering open education resources to underpin a unified, coherent offer from all of its partners.
- To increase accessibility to higher education for students across the UK and in the rest of the world.
Nearly six years later, we’ve just welcomed our ten millionth learner to the FutureLearn fold and have active learners in every single country of the world.
From a stellar group of 21 UK and two international university partners in 2012, we’ve grown to work with 175+ industry-leading institutions around the globe.
From Russell Group universities to national museums, we’ve worked with partners to bring you thousands of online courses and materials so that anyone, anywhere has the opportunity to learn.
In honour of the occasion, and to put ten million people into perspective, we’ve taken a deep-dive into what ten million looks like for our platform, university partners, courses and learners.
Last year in the UK, there were 2.3 million students in higher education.
With ten million learners on the books, FutureLearn has seen quadruple the student population of the UK last year sign up to our courses.
In terms of university student populations around the world, ten million learners are equal to:
➞416 times the student population of Oxford University.
➞67 times the student population of the University of London.
➞436 times the student population of Harvard University.
➞212 times the student population of Melbourne University.
Sitting slightly above the UK average for female students in higher education, 60% of our learners are female.
And fuelling the tireless efforts of the team behind the platform?
With ten million learners on the books, over 25 million enrolments across our courses, and over 35 million comments made on course steps, we’ve made exciting progress towards our mission of transforming access to education.
But the work is only just beginning.
We’ll continue to invest in our platform, making sure it’s enjoyable to use and easy to connect with and learn from those who share your passions.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, questions, ideas, and experience with us and your fellow learners, whether it’s through leaving a comment on a course step or chatting with us on social media.
Every single one of the ten million (!) of you has brought us closer to our mission of creating enjoyable, social and credible learning experiences where anyone, anywhere can enjoy the transformative power of education.
Please do share your experiences of learning on FutureLearn below, or enter our #FL10million competition for the chance to win a free course upgrade and certificate.
Now, to the next ten million 🥂.
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