GALWAY, IRELAND – 04/12/2025
Alison is proud to announce a significant milestone in Africa’s strongest economy: a record one million Graduates in South Africa. This comes at a time when many South Africans continue to face barriers to education, including rising tuition fees, transport costs, and limited access to traditional institutions, making free, flexible online learning an essential alternative to overcoming these obstacles. This milestone also reflects the rapid nationwide growth of online education and its growing role in providing individuals with practical, affordable ways to upskill. This impact is reflected in the story of a South African Learner, Sphephelo Asanda Ntuli, who is using Alison’s free courses to build a mindset coaching business and continue his personal growth.
Democratising Education in South Africa: Flexible Learning for a Changing Economy
South Africa’s labour market is evolving quickly, with digital skills, caregiving, and remote-friendly roles increasingly in demand. Yet many adults still face economic and social constraints that make pursuing traditional education difficult. Alison’s free, self-paced learning model removes these barriers by eliminating education fees and allowing people to learn anywhere, anytime. With over 50 million registered Learners and more than 15 million Graduates worldwide, Alison continues to democratise education by offering more than 6,000 free online courses and a range of career development tools designed to support career progression and employability.
According to the BEE Chamber, the country's youth unemployment rate remains among the highest in the world. With Alison removing traditional roadblocks to skills development, one million Graduates now demonstrate just how strongly South Africans are embracing accessible, credible learning pathways to build their futures.
South Africans are using Alison to acquire practical skills in areas such as Health, Business, Digital Literacy, and Languages, often alongside full-time employment and family responsibilities. In a country where access to education can shape livelihoods, this signals a growing culture of lifelong learning that strengthens the workforce and unlocks social mobility.
From Personal Growth to Career Progression
The one million Graduate milestone in South Africa encompasses people at every stage of life, including school dropouts, mid-career professionals, job seekers, and those looking to transition into more flexible or remote roles. Alison’s free online Certificate and Diploma courses support Learners in building skills directly linked to workplace needs, from core digital capabilities to sector-specific competencies.
For Sphephelo, Alison has become a key part of his journey. Growing up in Soweto, he faced financial struggles from an early age, experiences that taught him resilience and determination. Playing football and rugby gave him discipline and teamwork, while school and his first work experiences showed him the value of self-reliance and growth.
His first course on Alison was ‘E-Learning: Theory and Practice for Publishers’, which he chose because he wanted to understand how to design, structure, and apply course knowledge effectively, so that he could create impactful learning experiences in the future.
Today, he works as a kiosk merchant and has recently completed a Diploma course in Emotional Intelligence on Alison. Although he is not currently enrolled in any college or formal institution, he continues to focus on personal development and on building his mindset coaching business to help others overcome challenges and find their purpose.
“I would definitely recommend Alison to anyone who wants to learn and grow. Alison makes education accessible to everyone, regardless of their location or background. The courses are high-quality, practical, and easy to follow, and they’ve personally helped me build skills, gain confidence, and focus on my personal and professional growth. It’s a platform that truly empowers you to take charge of your learning and your future.”
Just like it helped Sphephelo, Alison’s Personal Development, Emotional Intelligence, and E-Learning courses equip Learners with the mindset, people skills, and course design capabilities that can support careers in coaching, training, education, and community impact.
Looking Ahead: Strengthening Impact in South Africa
Alison’s focus in South Africa will continue to be on expanding access to free, skills-based online courses that support employability, entrepreneurship, and remote work. The platform plans to build further on its existing library of CPD-accredited Certificate and Diploma courses and career development tools, while deepening its impact across Africa through local partnerships and outreach. By offering free online learning, Certificates, and career resources in a broad range of subjects, Alison aims to support South African individuals, employers, and communities as they navigate a fast-changing world of work. The one million Graduate milestone is an essential step in that journey, and the organisation remains committed to ensuring that many more Learners in South Africa can gain job-relevant skills online, at no cost.
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Resources
For more information on Alison’s impact and growing community across the continent, visit the Alison in Africa page. Employers, NGOs, and institutions can also learn how Alison can support their workforce development and skills programmes through the platform’s Free LMS. Additional information and access to Alison’s full catalogue of free online courses can be found here.
Media Contact
For further information, contact the media team at [email protected].
About Alison
Alison is a global leader in free online learning and skills development. With over 50 million registered Learners across 193 countries (as of October 2025), Alison empowers individuals, communities, and organisations to upskill quickly and effectively — at zero cost.
The Alison platform provides immediate access to over 6,000 free, CPD-accredited courses, covering essential areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Digital Marketing, Project Management, Business Operations, Healthcare and Sustainability. Courses are created by a mix of independent experts and global leaders, including IBM, Stanford and Microsoft.
For organisations, Alison offers a Free Learning Management System (LMS) that enables unlimited Learners to access thousands of courses with no upfront cost. A premium version with advanced analytics and customisation is also available. Alison's offering includes a full suite of assessments and psychometric tools, including a Workplace Personality Assessment, Mental Health & Wellbeing Assessment, English Language Proficiency Test, as well as Numeracy, Verbal, and Abstract Reasoning tests.
To further support career development, Learners also gain access to a Career Guide, a Resumé Builder, and the ability to study offline through the Alison App.
In 2026, Alison will launch a Global Recruitment Service to directly connect skilled, motivated Learners with hiring employers. The platform is also expanding its reach with multilingual versions, starting with complete Spanish, French, and Hindi offerings — reaffirming its mission to make education accessible to anyone, anywhere.
Founded in 2007, Alison pioneered the concept of free, large-scale online learning and is recognised as the world’s first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) platform. Today, its mission continues: to break down barriers to learning, helping people gain skills, build confidence, and improve their lives — no matter where they live or what they earn.
