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If yes, check out Alison’s Free LMS here!
If yes, check out Alison’s Free LMS here!
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Most Asked Questions
learner account
premium subscription
learning
certificates
payments
orders
career building tools
accreditation
affiliate programme
refer-a-friend programme
alison app
technical help
Most Asked Questions
learner account
premium subscription
learning
certificates
payments
orders
career building tools
accreditation
affiliate programme
refer-a-friend programme
alison app
technical help
What courses have free Certificates?
Below is a list of our courses that offer a free Digital Certificate:
Where can I find my course Resources?
If a course includes additional resources, you will be able to find it in the Resources section, as shown in the examples below:
Can I download/print the course contents?
As per our publishers agreements, course content can only be distributed through our website and app.
This means that we cannot offer downloadable or printable versions of our course material.
However, you can use our App to learn anything, anywhere, anytime.
How do I continue a course?
You can continue any course you have enrolled in from your User Dashboard:
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 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.
All your enrolled courses in the App can be found in the Current Course section on your Dashboard:
The first course you will see is the most recent course you have studied. Click the blue Continue Learning button to resume your course.
If you want to continue any other course, click the View My Other Courses button, as shown in the screenshot below:
Select the course you wish to continue, and click the Continue Learning button.
I want to retake the module/topic. How can I do it?
You can retake any module or topic anytime you want. The easiest way to do it is by opening the Module Tree.
Open the Module Tree by clicking on Module name as shown below.
After opening the list of modules and topics for the course, choose the module and topic you would like to study:
*The topics and modules that have a blue checkmark are the ones you have finished.
Open the Module Tree by clicking on the module name as shown below.
After opening the list of modules and topics for the course, choose the module and topic you would like to study:
*The topics and modules that have a blue checkmark are the ones you have finished.
Open the Module Tree by clicking on the module name as shown below:
After opening the list of modules and topics for the course, choose the module and topic you would like to study:
*The topics and modules that have a blue checkmark are the ones you have finished.
Do you have non-english courses?
At the moment, we have a small but growing selection of courses available in other languages. You can find courses in these languages on our website by following these steps:
Choose the course type or course category and find the Language filter on the search course page:
Choose the language:
If you cannot find the language you are looking for, please check again in a few weeks since we are constantly updating our selection with new language courses.
How to find specific courses?
Finding the right course on Alison couldn't be simpler. You can do it in many ways:
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:
How to start a course?
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. Most Certificate level courses take 2-3 hours to complete and Diploma courses take around 6-15 hours to complete.
Finding the right course on Alison couldn't be simpler. Everything depends on your interests or needs.
Alison’s Career Guide is a great way to find relevant courses to help you succeed in your career. Explore the job responsibilities, earning potential and required experience across 900+ exciting career paths and get suggested courses to learn the skills you'll need to succeed!
Find the career and we will list courses you can study to get started in that career.
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
All learning on Alison is free. There is no payment required to enrol and complete any course on Alison and you can download your free Learner Record as proof of the courses you've completed. Once you complete a course, you have the option to purchase a Certificate. The paid Certificates allow us to continue creating courses that anyone, anywhere can access for free.
Select the course you wish to study and click Start Learning.
To enrol in a course and start learning, you need to be registered with Alison. Sign-up now!
Do Alison courses have assessments?
Assessments are built into each course, generally in a quiz format. Some courses have assessments throughout and others just have one assessment at the end.
Alison Diploma courses have multiple assessments. Your final score is an average of all your individual scores from each assessment. Use your individual assessment scores to calculate your average overall score.
If you have failed or wish to attain a higher score, you can retake the assessment as many times as you want to. Go to the assessment module, click on the assessment topic and you will be redirected to the start of the assessment.
If you retake an assessment, the new result will only get saved if it is higher than the previous result.
You can review your answers after you have completed an assessment. Simply click Review, as shown in the screenshot below. This will take you through the questions you answered incorrectly and show you the correct answer.
A course may have a selection of 50 assessment questions, however, you may only be asked 20. If you retake an assessment you will not necessarily be asked the same 20 questions again. This is why we encourage you to take notes.
How do Alison courses work?
Alison has over 4,000 courses and learning verticals across nine core subject categories, at Certificate and Diploma levels. There is no time limit for completing a course. All courses are accredited by CPD UK, the continuing professional development institution in the United Kingdom.
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 6 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 4000 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.
I want to improve my English skills. Where should I start?
To improve your English skills, start with an unbiased assessment of your current abilities. This will provide you with a snapshot of your current English level, so that you can make informed decisions about your future plans for improvement.
To start, try our free English assessment. It's an easy-to-use online test that takes 15 minutes to complete and provides instant results. At the end of the assessment, your composite score will be tailored to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), the most extensive system used to grade English language ability.
Once you have your CEFR score, you can easily find the English courses that match your level and are best suited for your language development journey. Then, you can join millions of learners who have learned the English Language with Alison.
What is the Alison English Vertical?
Our English Vertical is a series of courses created to guide our users through the English learning path. With Alison, millions of learners have learned the English Language in a step-by-step, structured way. You can too. No matter what level you're at, you can find out where to start by taking our free English assessment.
Our free English courses have been developed with the best English language standards worldwide, including Cambridge, Toefl, and TOEIC. This ensures that when you learn English on our Vertical, you learn it in the best way possible. The Vertical offers a wide range of courses, so you can easily find a course that’s suited to your current level of English. Start learning today and explore the possibilities with Alison's English Vertical.
Everyone's different, and so are their questions. Speak to our team directly and they'll personally answer all your questions, no matter what they are.
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