Frequently Asked questions

With the $1 (USD) Lite Plan, you can download a single course to your device for offline learning. Once downloaded, the course remains accessible for you to study anytime without needing an internet connection, until you delete it from your device.

The Lite Plan is a one-time payment, not a subscription. Once you purchase offline learning for a course, you will always have access to that course for offline study, anytime.

There are two ways to purchase offline learning for a single course:

Buy now, choose later:

Purchase the Lite Plan and select the course at any time in the future. After payment, you can download one course of your choice whenever you're ready.

Pay now and decide later!

Choose the course first, then purchase:

You can also purchase offline learning directly from a course page. Click the download icon while viewing the course. The course will be linked to your order and immediately available for download after payment.

⚠️ Please note: Once purchased, the selected course cannot be changed.

By subscribing to the Unlimited Plan for $5 (USD) per month, you can download as many Alison courses as you like for offline learning. These courses will remain accessible offline as long as your subscription is active.

You will be automatically charged each month, with the option to cancel your subscription at any time. If you cancel mid-billing cycle, you will still have access to your previously downloaded courses until the end of that period.

Some Alison courses are quite large and require a stable WiFi connection and sufficient storage space. If a course is downloading slowly, consider downloading individual modules instead of the entire course at once. You can do this by selecting the download icons next to each module.

If your course fails to download, try the following steps:

• Check that your device has enough storage space. You can also download modules individually instead of the full course.
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• Ensure that you have a strong and stable internet connection.

You can access the Notes feature through the Help panel, located at the bottom of the page.

To add a note, simply enter a title and content, then click Save. Use this space to jot down key points, reminders, or anything you'd like to remember during your course.

To view your saved notes, click See all notes.

A pop-up will appear showing all the notes you've added throughout the course. From here, you can view, edit, copy, or delete any note.

You can also choose to download all your notes or email them to yourself directly.

You can access the Notes feature through the Help panel, located at the bottom of the page.

To add a note, simply enter a title and content, then click Save. Use this space to jot down key points, reminders, or anything you'd like to remember during your course.

To view your saved notes, click See all notes.

A pop-up will appear showing all the notes you've added throughout the course. From here, you can view, edit, copy, or delete any note.

You can also choose to download all your notes or email them to yourself directly.

We apologise that this feature is not yet available in the App. However, we are doing everything we can to bring it to you as soon as possible. For now, you can access your course via a web browser and use Notes feature.

Click on See All Notes to open the full notes page.

A pop-up will appear showing all the notes you've added throughout the course. From here, you can view, edit, copy, or delete any note. You can also choose to download all your notes or email them to yourself directly.

Click on See All Notes to open the full notes page.

A pop-up will appear showing all the notes you've added throughout the course. From here, you can view, edit, copy, or delete any note. You can also choose to download all your notes or email them to yourself directly.

We apologise that this feature is not yet available in the App. However, we are doing everything we can to bring it to you as soon as possible. For now, you can access your course via a web browser and use Notes feature.

The different course types can be defined as follows:

Certificate Courses

Average duration: 2 - 3 hours

There are times when you may wish to specialise in a whole subject area, and there are times where you may prefer to gain critical knowledge of individual concepts within a subject area. Alison’s Certificate courses will help you focus your learning on distinct topics. Our Certificate courses include an abundance of subjects, such as: languages, media studies, journalism and public relations, health and fitness, business studies, computer programming and networking, and many more!

Not all our Certificate courses have a Diploma equivalent.

Diploma Courses

Average duration: 8 - 10 hours

Diploma courses are specifically designed to give you a more extensive understanding of a subject area, by helping you master multiple concepts within a subject. Our Diploma courses span a variety of professional subjects, such as: workplace safety and health, business management and entrepreneurship, food safety, nursing and patient care, customer service, and many more! However, before you start learning, it's helpful to check if there's a Diploma version of your chosen topic to avoid any repetition in your learning journey. If you complete a Certificate course that's also part of a Diploma course, you will have to take it again within the Diploma programme. The completion from the Certificate course doesn't automatically count for the Diploma course.

To summarise, the Certificate courses are meant for light study. The Diploma courses are more extensive, helping you broaden your knowledge on a particular topic.

Alison courses are designed to be self-paced and self-taught. You can begin a course when you're ready and study whenever you have the chance. The duration of your study is entirely your decision.

You can complete our skills-based Certificate courses in under 3 hours. They are designed to focus your learning on specific topics in your field or industry.

You can graduate from our Diploma Courses in around 6-15 hours. These courses cover a range of topics and are great if you wish to broaden your knowledge on a particular subject area.

All Alison courses follow the basic structure of Course - Module - Topic - Assessment.

Typically, Certificate courses have one assessment at the end of the course and Diploma courses have multiple assessments throughout.

Assessments are designed to test your understanding of the content. They may include single or multiple-choice questions. You need to complete all modules and topics, and achieve at least 80% in your assessment in order to pass. The good news is that you can retake the assessment as many times as you like.

Not all courses contain videos. Some courses include video slides of text and some have animations or pre-recorded lectures.

Alison courses are designed to be self-paced and self-taught, so we do not offer tutoring assistance on course content.

We don’t currently offer undergraduate or postgraduate degree courses, nor do we plan to in the future.

We are one of the world’s largest certifying organisations, with over 10 million graduates. We offer Certificate and Diploma courses across a wide range of subjects, at almost any level, for free.

Why not take a look at our course options and see if there's one that is right for you?

About half of the content on Alison is under a Creative Commons licence. We always credit the publisher, so that if you want to find the content and download it yourself, we provide a means of locating it. No content is directly downloadable from our site.

The licences that are not Creative Commons or Public Domain are private. That means that we are allowed to provide the courses for free study, but only on the Alison website. They cannot be downloaded elsewhere. Often, these courses are commercially owned and Alison is the only way to access them freely. Then there are courses we own ourselves, and while free to use, they are not available off our site. This is because we have to monetise the traffic on our website through advertising and premium services to cover our expenses and continue growing our mission of providing free online learning.

Alison’s goal is to offer online courses on every subject, at every level. Our view is that access to knowledge and skills should be available to everyone, regardless of nationality. That’s why Alison is a non-institutional platform that directly bridges the gap between those with skills and those looking to gain skills.

It’s simple. Alison works with subject matter experts and experienced professionals who use their applied knowledge to create courses on our platform. We then open up these courses to the world for free. With over 5,500 courses on our site, we are able to offer free access to skills-based training to anyone who wishes to learn.

The Alison publishing team, led by a team of traditionally qualified pedagogic specialists, evaluate all courses published on the Alison platform to make sure they adhere to an appropriate high standard. They ensure the online courses are well-structured, easy to follow, and clearly communicate valuable information to the learner.

The proof of the currency of Alison courses is with the employers who recognise the value of the knowledge and skills of learners who pass our assessments. Alison’s system of accreditation allows any employer, anywhere, at any time, to verify what someone knows or does not know at Certificate or Diploma levels. With Alison, employers can instantly review the level of the course someone has done, or even review the entire course. This ‘here and now’ testing enables employers to take the tests that employees have taken, or to watch employees take these same tests again to show the knowledge and skills they have acquired.

This instantly demonstrates that someone who has an Alison certificate has the skills and knowledge that should come with such a Certificate. What this ultimately means is that an Alison Certificate represents current and up-to-date competency. An Alison Certificate is always current because it can always be challenged by an employer who wishes to test the Certificate holder. As such, an Alison Certificate serves as a representation of skills and knowledge that the user currently holds.

To start or improve your career, you can use Alison’s Career Tools.

• Alison’s Career Guide helps you discover over 900 career paths with suggested courses to build the necessary skills.

• The Career Ready Plan is a personalized program that creates a step-by-step learning schedule to enhance employability, including skill-building, resume tips, and job search advice.

Finding a course that will help you advance in your career starts with understanding who you are and what makes you unique. Our free Workplace Personality Assessment gives you a simple scientific report of your top skills and strengths. And, it offers personalised course recommendations to help you boost your strengths and work on potential development areas.

There are many options you can use to search for a specific course:

• Using the search box

• Choosing the course by Course Type

• Choosing the course by Category

• The simplest way to find the course: type the name of the course you are looking for into the search box. You can do it on the Alison homepage as well as on any other page. Simply use the search box available on the top bar menu, as shown below:

• Use the Top Bar menu to expand the Course Type menu. Choose the course type you are interested in: Certificate or Diploma.

• Alternatively, choose the Course Category you interested in:

• The simplest way to find the course: type the name of the course you are looking for into the search box. You can do it on the Alison homepage as well as on any other page on Alison. Simply use search box available on the top bar menu:

• Use the Top Bar menu to expand the Course Type menu.

Choose the course type you are interested in: Certificate or Diploma.

• Alternatively, choose the Course Category you are interested in:

• The simplest way to find the course: type the name of course you are looking for into the search box.

• Alternatively, choose the Course Category you interested in:

Click the Module Tree icon to view the course’s list of modules and topics.

From the list, select the module and topic you want to study.

*Green checkmarks indicate the modules and topics you have already completed.

Click the Module Tree icon to view the course’s list of modules and topics.

From the list, select the module and topic you want to study.

*Green checkmarks indicate the modules and topics you have already completed.

Click the Module Tree icon to view the course’s list of modules and topics.

From the list, select the module and topic you want to study.

*Green checkmarks indicate the modules and topics you have already completed.

The first course you will see is the most recent course you have studied. Click the green Continue Learning button to resume your course.

If you want to continue any other course, click the Other Courses in Progress button, as shown in the screenshot below:

Select the course you wish to continue, and click the Continue Learning button.

The first course you will see is the most recent course you have studied. Click the green Continue Learning button to resume your course.

If you want to continue any other course, click the Other Courses in Progress button, as shown in the screenshot below:

Select the course you wish to continue, and click the Continue Learning button.

The first course you will see is the most recent course you have studied. Click the green Continue Learning button to resume your course.

If you want to continue any other course, click the View All Courses In Progress button, as shown in the screenshot below:

Select the course you wish to continue, and click the Continue Learning button.

You can access the course resources through the Module Tree. The Resources link is located at the end of the module list. Refer to the screenshot below for guidance.

You can access the course resources through the Module Tree. The Resources link is located at the end of the module list. Refer to the screenshot below for guidance.

To access course resources in the app, open the course and tap the Course Menu (as shown in the first screenshot). Then, select Additional Resources (as shown in the second screenshot).