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An invitation to access thousands of courses from leading Universities and international Organisations

We have 5,000 free Coursera  licences for individuals  looking for their next job,  changing  roles or looking to upskill

The Heart of the South West LEP Digital Skills Partnership is excited to announce a  partnership with Coursera  to help  you learn  critical skills to  succeed in this digital era,  empower you to thrive in  your job or pivot  in your career.

What is Coursera?

Coursera is a world-leading online learning platform for higher education. With short to medium courses  from world-class universities and industry giants, the online platform is available 24/7 allowing you to  learn something new anytime, anywhere. Through a local government offer, access to Coursera is now free for a limited period of time.

With Coursera you can:

  • Learn  skills that are in-demand,    all the courses available relate  either to in-demand roles,  growing  or Covid-19 resilient sectors.
  • Get ready for a career  with job-ready or management short courses.
  • Earn a  certificate of completion  from a leading university or the likes of Google or IBM  to add to your CV.

4,000+ courses to choose from

Here’s just a few to give you a flavour of what’s available and the time required:-

  • From Idea to StartUp (11 hours)
  • Grow Your Business with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women (4 hours)
  • Introduction to G-Suite (7 hours)
  • Spreadsheets for Beginners (2 hours)
  • Introduction to Data Analysis using Excel (20 hours)
  • Create a Blog using WordPress (2 hours)
  • Create Customer Support in Google Sheets (2 hours)
  • Healthcare Innovation (21 hours)
  • Google IT User Support Technician (23 hours)

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The Coursera Offer

The Heart of the South West LEP Coursera Platform is available to anyone living in Devon, Plymouth, Somerset or Torbay from August to December 31st 2020. There is no cost to join or cost to obtain the certificates on completion.
This is, however, a pilot offer in the region which is being made available free  from Coursera and  available until the 31st of December 2020. This means you will need to complete any  courses prior to the 31st of December and download the corresponding certificate prior to the end of the year. Access to the platform will close after this point.

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How to get started

Access to the platform is by invitation, click on the link below to sign up. Requests are processed every 2 days and if you meet the resident eligibility you will be sent an invitation by email (like the one on the left) to join. Click on the link and away you go!

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Do you know someone who is looking to retrain right now?  For individuals resident in  Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay we have 5,000 free licences for the Coursera platform. People can ask to join by emailing their details to  Heart of the South West LEP Skills team.

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Why is Coursera only available until the 31st of December 2020?  

Coursera has offered local Government’s access to their platform for free until the end of 2020. After this date, it is likely that to continue access there will be a charge to Local Government which we currently do not have the funding to meet. Rather than not take advantage of this short-term offer which we feel can be of benefit to those currently looking for work or looking to renew their skills, we have decided to trial the platform for this short ring-fenced period and make users aware from the offset that this is time-bound and will come to an end on the 31st of December 2020. After this time, access to the platform will cease.

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      David Ralph

      Chief Executive

      David Ralph started as Chief Executive of Heart of South West LEP at the beginning of June 2018. Previously, he had spent 5 years as CEO of the Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire (D2N2) LEP from 2013 where he oversaw the development of the D2N2 Strategic Economic Plan and sector strategies, 3 Growth Deals with HM Government to deliver a £1billion capital investment programme, securing and implementing £200m ESIF programme, the Derby and Nottingham Enterprise Zone, the D2N2 Skills Deal and Time for Innovation programme, community fund and led the executive team to develop the HS2 East Midlands hub. He was also closely involved in the proposed North Midlands Devolution Deal and one of the key architects in establishing the Midlands Engine, chairing the officer steering group. Whilst in this role David was a NED of the Nottingham Enterprise Zone, and Marketing NG, the Outer Estates Foundation and a Governor of Nottingham College and on the advisory Board of Nottingham Business School.

      Before the East Midlands, David was CEO of the Have Gateway Partnership working closely with local stakeholders including the ports of Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich and BT Adadastral Park across Suffolk and Essex and prior to that was Chief Exec of the Barton Hill New Deal for Communities programme in Bristol and the Nelm Development Trust in Norwich.

      David is a keen sailor, walker and trail runner.