In this article we will go over our vouchers system, through which your organisation can pay in bulk for multiple course enrolments.
We will discuss what a voucher code is, how your learners can use them, and how to order them for your organisation.
If you are interested in choosing which courses your learners enrol on while paying for them in bulk, please check out our guides Learning Manager demonstration and Learning Manager FAQs.
Table of contents:
- What is a voucher code?
- How do my learners use their voucher codes?
- How long can learners access their purchased courses?
- Which courses can voucher codes be used on?
- Can I pay for ExpertTracks in bulk?
- How much do vouchers cost?
- How do discounts work for bulk voucher code orders?
- What currencies can we pay in?
- How do I order vouchers in bulk?
What is a voucher code?
A voucher code is a unique string of numbers and letters that will replace payment for a course upgrade, once applied on the checkout page for a course upgrade purchase.
Once you have completed a bulk voucher code order, we will send you a list of individual, single-use voucher codes. You can then distribute them to your staff as you see fit, with each voucher code having a 12 month expiry date from the date of when we issue them to you.
What is an upgrade?
An upgrade is a one-off purchase for a short course on FutureLearn. It allows the learner to get unrestricted access to that course, including bypassing the weekly content release schedule and restricted course access time which are a part of our Limited (unpaid) Access enrolments.
It further allows the learner to access any tests in the course, and to be able to earn a Certificate of Achievement for their course upon successful completion. This certificate will be issued to the learner in both printed and digital formats.
Printed certificates are sent to the shipping address specified by the learner when they complete the checkout process for their course, we cannot specify an address for them.
How do my learners use their voucher codes?
Once you have given one of your learners a voucher code, they select the course of their choice out of the eligible courses on FutureLearn and apply the voucher code on the checkout page for an upgrade for that course. This is also called the ‘Buy this course’ option in our enrolments table:
[Alt text: Screenshot of the course enrolments option table, with the ‘Buy this course’ option highlighted].
If you have a course in mind that you know your learners would like to purchase, and you’d like to know the cost for that course you can scroll down to the enrolment options table at the bottom of any available short course. Under the ‘purchase this course’ option you should see a price for the course, such as is highlighted in the above example taken from this course page- Manage Virtual and Hybrid Teams.
If you are unclear on which courses are eligible to be purchased via voucher code please scroll down to or click here for the explanation of Which courses can voucher codes be used on.
Applying the discount code
Once on the upgrade checkout page for the course of their choice, they will need to apply the voucher code using the ‘Got a discount code?’ box shown in the below screenshots:
[Alt text: a series of four screenshots showing where to click on the checkout page to bring up and enter in the voucher code via the ‘Got a discount code?’ box]
Once applied, the voucher code will reduce the price of the course purchase to 0 and allow the learner to bypass entering any card details for this purchase. They can then go straight on to entering in their certificate delivery details, and start learning on that course right away!
If you would like to get more of an idea on how learning works on FutureLearn please refer to our guide- How does learning work on FutureLearn.
How long can learners access their purchased courses?
Once a learner has redeemed a voucher on the course of their choice, they have long-term access to that course for as long as it exists on FutureLearn*. A voucher code cannot be revoked once redeemed, even if that learner has since left your organisation.
*If a course is about to be withdrawn from the platform, we notify learners by email as far in advance as possible so that they can revisit the materials before they are taken down.
Which courses can voucher codes be used on?
Voucher codes can only be used to make a one-off payment, meaning they can’t be used to pay a subscription plan. This means they cannot be used to purchase any Unlimited subscriptions (monthly or annual), or to purchase access to any short course which is part of an ExpertTrack.
You can browse our courses here. You can also use the sidebar menus on this page to search by subject, course type, and start date.
[Alt text: Screenshot showing a list of subjects to browse under, and some example short courses]
Purchasing a Premium course via voucher
Premium courses are short courses which have to be purchased in order to access any of the course content, there is no Limited Access/free version of these courses.
For learners joining these types of courses with a voucher code, the buying process is simple. The learner selects the Premium course (you can browse those here) and clicks the 'join' button- which will state the cost of the price as well.
Ex.
[Image description: screenshot taken from this page- https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/mental-health-and-wellbeing-in-the-modern-workplace which shows the course title, short description of the course, and the button to click to join the course. That button is labelled 'Join-$89']
Once they've clicked that button, they will be taken to the checkout page for this Premium course purchase where they can enter in their voucher code under the 'Got a discount code' box- same as in the above example.
Can I pay for ExpertTracks in bulk?
Unfortunately we cannot currently offer any bulk purchase options for our ExpertTracks, or any of the short courses included in an ExpertTrack. If you wish to pay for a learner at your organisation to be subscribed to any of these you will need to either give them card details to use at checkout from within their FutureLearn account, or ask them to pay on their own card and request reimbursement.
We issue VAT invoices via email upon payment for a monthly ExpertTrack subscription, sent directly to the purchaser’s email, to assist with your accounting for such purchases.
All of our subscriptions are set to auto-renew by default, and it is up to each subscription holder to manage their subscription. They can turn off the automatic renewal of any subscription at any time, and should do so before the monthly renewal date in order to avoid overpayment.
For more information on managing and cancelling subscriptions on FutureLearn, please refer to our learner help centre article Managing and cancelling your ExpertTrack subscription.
Can I pay for Unlimited subscriptions in bulk?
We can now offer Unlimited for Business to organisations looking to be able to give the benefits of Unlimited to larger numbers of staff. You can read more about this here-What is Unlimited for Business?
How much do vouchers cost?
There are two ways to pay for bulk voucher orders: in arrears (only paying for those which are claimed) or, for larger orders, in advance (all payment up front).
| In arrears | Up front | |
| Minimum order | 10 | 10 |
| Cost per enrolment | Cost of upgrade (varies) | Fixed cost |
| Payment | Invoiced monthly for 12 months depending on upgrades claimed | Payment for full amount in advance |
Payment in arrears
The cost per course depends on the cost of purchasing the course on which it has redeemed, minus any discounts that have been applied to your bulk voucher code order.
So for example, we saw in the earlier example that the original cost of the course Manage Virtual and Hybrid Teams was £99 GBP.
If you have chosen to pay in arrears then once a voucher code has been redeemed on this course we will charge that course purchase cost + VAT to your organisation. We charge, in arrears, via invoice on a monthly basis for each voucher which has been redeemed that past month.
If no voucher codes have been used that month, then no charges will be raised and no invoice will be issued.
We do not specify on which courses your voucher codes have been redeemed when we send your monthly invoice. If you are keen to have more of an oversight of what courses your learners are enrolling on, and what progress they are making on those courses then our Learning Manager or Unlimited for Business options may be more appropriate. You can read more about them here- Learning Manager demonstration and here - Unlimited for Business walkthrough.
Payment in advance
If you need to pay in advance, we will need you to first specify which course/s your learners will be purchasing with the voucher codes you are ordering and in what currency. Once you have signed our voucher purchase agreement, we will then arrange an invoice to be created, which is calculated on the purchase cost of each course multiplied by how many enrolments you wish to purchase (minus any discounts agreed on for your order). Once that invoice is paid, the voucher codes will be sent to you to distribute to your learners.
How do discounts work for bulk voucher code orders?
Our standard bulk purchase discount is 10% off the cost of each course purchased via voucher, which is only offered for orders of 10 or more voucher codes.
So if you made an initial order for 100 vouchers, and 5 vouchers were redeemed in a month then you would be charged for the cost of all 5 of those course purchases minus the 10% discount, plus VAT.
We have other discounts available for schools, registered charities and prisons.
What currencies can we pay in?
We can invoice for voucher codes in AUD, EUR, GBP, INR, and USD.
The FutureLearn site will automatically detect your computer's location to show you a price in one of the following currencies:
- GBP (UK)
- Euros (Europe)
- Australian dollars (Australia)
- Indian rupees (India)
- US dollars (anywhere else in the world)
How do I order vouchers in bulk?
If you are interested in ordering vouchers from us please fill in our contact form, and one of our team will be in touch with you to complete the order.