Purchasing an upgrade or premium course

What is a premium course and how do I join one?

Unlike the majority of our short courses which offer the option to 'Join free' and 'Upgrade', you have to pay to access any part of a Premium course. You can tell if the course you're looking at is a Premium course because you won’t see the option to join for free, and the information banner at the top of the page will show this:

[Image description: the image shows where to see the Premium Course type on the course page]

More information on joining a premium course can be found here.

How do I upgrade?

There are a few ways you can upgrade.

1. Before you join by clicking the 'Join and upgrade' button
2. Inside the course, at the top of the To do list, there is a 'Get extra benefits' button. If you click on this, you will see a dropdown that gives you the option to upgrade or become an Unlimited learner.
3. You can also go to Your Learning and click on 'Upgrade' underneath the course card.

[Image description: the image shows the Upgrade tab on the course card]

When do I need to upgrade by?

There are no deadlines to upgrade. You can upgrade anytime, even if the course has finished and you've lost access.

What currency can I pay in?

We determine what currency you're charged in based on your IP address. It's not currently possible to change the currency that you are being asked to pay in, however we hope to be able to offer this in the future.

We'll send you a confirmation email

We'll email you when your payment is successful. If you haven't received an email, please check it's not in your spam folder and that the email address on your settings page is right. If you can't find the email, make a note of your order number, which is shown on the “Thanks for your order" page. If you’re still unsure, contact us at [e-mail].

Will I get a receipt / invoice?

Our order confirmation email contains the breakdown of the price (including the VAT and our VAT details) - you should be able to use this for company expense claims.

If you've placed an order but haven't received this email, get in touch at [e-mail] and we'll resend it. Please note that we can only send these emails to the email address linked to your FutureLearn account.

Is your payment system secure?

There are two ways to pay with FutureLearn:

We use the payment gateway Stripe for card transactions. Both FutureLearn and Stripe are PCI compliant. Your card details are transmitted entirely securely and in addition, all of our pages are served securely over SSL (Secure Sockets Layer).

Alternatively, if you'd like to pay using PayPal, select 'PayPal' at the checkout. You'll then be taken to PayPal's secure site to complete your purchase. Please note that PayPal is currently unavailable for subscription products.

You can pay using Visa, Mastercard or American Express debit/credit cards or PayPal. We’re sorry, but we can’t accept Western Union, payment over the phone, or any other method.

Organisations wishing to pay in bulk

For more information about our bulk enrolment options, please fill out your details in our FutureLearn for Business contact form. Once you have submitted your details via this form, one of our sales team members will be in touch with you to discuss your options.