Note that this page concerns open short courses. Different timelines apply to microcredentials and professional certificates and to invite only courses.

Once you submit your proposal for a new short course, a Course Development Manager (CDM) will be in touch to help you to get your course ready to open for enrolment. We will work with you to help prepare the course description page and confirm start dates and deadlines for Quality Assurance. In order to ensure there is sufficient time for all the elements that go into launching a new course, we ask that you submit new short course proposals at least 8 weeks before your desired start date.

Short courses

The standard short course timeline breaks down as follows: 

• Proposal submitted: 8 weeks before start date

A CDM will work with you and colleagues in FutureLearn's copy and design teams to get the Course Description Page content ready, to price the course and agree the schedule and next steps. 

• Course outline submitted: 6 weeks before start date

This is an optional, but recommended, step. If you choose to submit a course outline, a Course Development Manager will be happy to give you feedback. Find examples of course outlines, useful templates and tips here.

• Course opened for enrolment: 5 weeks before start date
• Course submitted for Quality Assurance: 4 weeks before start date
• Course starts!

Of course, the more notice you’re able to give us, the better. If you’re able to submit proposals earlier in advance, please do - this will give you and FutureLearn more time to ensure they’re the best courses they can be.

‘Rapid response’ courses 

We are aware that there are sometimes very good reasons for launching a course more quickly than this, however. This is particularly the case when there is a new, immediate learner need that a course can address. We are keen to support partners in launching courses more quickly when it’s required to meet learner demand. 

Please flag any incoming ‘rapid response’ courses to your Partnership Manager as far in advance as you can, and submit your proposal (in the usual way, via Course Creator) at least four weeks before your desired start date.

The ‘rapid response’ timeline breaks down as follows: 

• Proposal submitted: 4 weeks before start date 
• Course outline submitted: 3 weeks before start date

This stage is mandatory for rapid response courses, because of the reduced time for Quality Assurance

• Course opened for enrolment: 3 weeks before start date
• Course submitted for Quality Assurance: 2 weeks before start date
• Course starts!

Note that ‘rapid response’ courses should typically be in the minority and there are some risks involved. In particular, shorter enrolment windows may have a negative impact on enrolment numbers. For this reason, courses should only be ‘rapid response’ when there is a significant unmet need in the market that they are able to address.