8 FutureLearn courses from world leading institutions rated the best of 2019

A range of online courses on FutureLearn.com, developed by the British Council, the University of Leeds, the University of Sheffield and the University of Groningen, have ranked highly in the ‘Best Online Courses of 2019’ by Class Central. 

Class Central’s new rankings are based on learner reviews of online courses released in 2019. More than 2,400 online courses were launched last year from a range of different institutions and MOOC platforms. 

In total, there are 8 courses from FutureLearn, featured in the top 30 rankings. The British Council’s course ‘Understanding IELTS: Reading’, was named the third best online course of 2019 while the University of Leeds is the most popular institution with four courses in the top 30, more than any other institution. The University of Groningen’s course ‘Improving Your Study Techniques’, designed to help learners of all ages refine their study skills featured in the top 10, and the University of Sheffield’s groundbreaking course that teaches participants how to spot signs of domestic violence was also rated highly. 

FutureLearn courses in the top 30:

• British Council, Understanding IELTS: Reading (3) 
• British Council, Teaching English: How to Plan a Great Lesson (5) 
• University of Groningen, Improving Your Study Techniques (6)
• University of Sheffield, Supporting Victims of Domestic Violence  (11) 
• University of Leeds, Transport Systems: Global Issues and Future Innovations (17) 
• University of Leeds, Atmospheric Chemistry: Planets and Life Beyond Earth (22)
• University of Leeds, The IB Extended Essay: Managing your Research Project (23)
• University of Leeds, Ecology and Wildlife Conservation (27)

Nigel Smith, MD of Courses and Learning at FutureLearn, said: “We are thrilled to see so many of our courses and partners feature in Class Central’s rankings. It is a real honour that our learners rank our courses so highly. FutureLearn is extremely passionate about providing high-quality and enjoyable courses in a range of different disciplines and we are grateful our partners can provide courses that learners love and clearly value.” 

Dave Holloway, Senior Digital Learning Advisor, the University of Sheffield, commented: “Making ‘Supporting Victims of Domestic Violence’ was challenging in many ways; we had to create course content which was sensitive to the subject matter but still provided an informed and practical learning journey for the participants. We have received very positive feedback from the course learners, some of whom are DVA survivors themselves, and we are delighted that Class Central visitors have recognised the course as one of their best of the year. I think this speaks to not only the quality of teaching at the University of Sheffield but also the practical delivery of that teaching to an online audience, and the strong relationship with Futurelearn.”

Chris Cavey, Open Learning Manager, British Council commented: “We’re delighted to be recognised on this list of top courses and especially happy that both teachers and learners of English have shown how much they value the British Council. Learning English changes lives and through FutureLearn we’re able to help people all over the world achieve their goals.”

Professor Neil Morris, Dean of Digital Education, the University of Leeds, said: “Praise from our learners is always pleasing, but to have four of our courses in Class Central’s top 30 – more than any other University in the world – is particularly rewarding, and is a testament to our academic staff and colleagues in the Digital Education Service who have created well-designed, learner-centric online learning experiences.”

Tom Spits, MOOC Coordinator, University of Groningen, commented: “We think it is a great compliment to the hard work and dedication of the development team at our Student Service Center that so many learners worldwide have found our course useful and wanted to share their appreciation. University of Groningen sees it as a compliment for the efforts we undertake to stimulate life-long learning inside and outside the walls of our university. We hope this ranking will help more beginning or experienced learners of all ages to find our course and use it to become even better learners.”