
20+ FREE ways to learn something new
Including languages, AI, piano, Open University courses, first aid, mock driving theory & more
If you're looking to learn a new skill or broaden your knowledge, we've rounded up some free ways to learn something new. There are tons of free online and app-based resources that can help you learn and develop new skills in a fun way, from free courses, to tutorials and quizzes – and all can be done from the comfort of home.
Of course, we can't cover everything, so we've picked some favourites below including:
🌍 Learn a new language 🎓 Free Open University qualifications ⌨️ Improve typing speed & accuracy 🚑 First aid training 🤖 Get the most from AI 💻 Crack the basics of coding 🎸 Free piano lessons 💇🏽♀️ Brush up on hair & beauty techniques ✏️ Learn to draw from Disney animators 🕵️♀️ Solve murder mystery puzzles 🚗 Take a mock driving theory test 🌌 Scope out space & constellations 📜 Revisit history with free online museums 🙋 Boost your general knowledge
Learn a new language at your own pace
Whether you want to learn a whole new language or just see how much you can remember from your French lessons at school, here are some suggestions for how you can pick up a second (or third, or fourth) language for free.

A favourite with MoneySavers is Duolingo (there's also an Android / iOS app). You can learn 35+ languages, such as Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Greek. For Game of Thrones fans, there's even High Valyrian, and Trekkies can brush up on their Klingon.
Each bite-size lesson has a mix of learning methods, and you can generally complete a lesson in under five minutes. You can also 'compete' with fellow users or friends, which helps motivate you to carry on. A somewhat intimidating green owl (who looks the spitting image of Orville the Duck) will send you daily reminders to complete a lesson.
There is a paid-for version of the app which gives a few added features and gets rid of adverts, but it's not necessary and you can do an entire course for free.


Another language learning platform that's worth a go is Memrise (also for Android / iOS). It has a free plan which includes 30+ language courses such as Arabic, Danish, Norwegian, Spanish, German, and Polish.
You can practice your speaking with an AI language tutor, and watch videos of native speakers showing how to converse in a more natural way.
If you want to expand your Spanish vocabulary beyond tapas, sangria and churros, MSE Rebecca found the free Coffee Break Spanish podcast helpful:
It's a free tutorial podcast for Spanish learners and it makes you repeat phrases out loud. I also used to teach English to a Spanish friend, and in return she helped me improve my Spanish, so that was essentially Spanish lessons for me for free.

Another popular tool is Busuu (free at the App Store and Google Play). You can learn one of 14 languages for free, such as French, German, Korean and Arabic. Similar to Duolingo, it offers bite-sized lessons that you can fit in when you have a few spare minutes.
Gain free qualifications such as Open University courses, including MSE's Academy of Money
Adults can gain industry-recognised certificates and qualifications for free online, from resources such as the Open University's 'Open Learn'.

Open Learn hosts 'MSE's Academy of Money' – written by the Open University, with support and guidance from MSE. The course is made up of six two-hour sessions of study covering all the key aspects of personal finance, including spending, borrowing, mortgages, saving, investing and retirement.
The course is totally flexible – students can study at their own pace, perhaps even choosing to complete just one topic to brush up. It's available to anyone wanting to improve their knowledge of personal finance for their own interest and financial capability, or for those who work in the consumer help industries, it can provide some academic grounding to support their work.
More Open University courses
Open Learn has almost 1,000 totally free online courses. Ex-MSE Luke T found it useful for expanding his personal finance knowledge:
Open University is free to sign up and there are thousands of different courses you can complete. Courses I tried out in preparation for my job at MSE were the 'Managing my money' & 'Managing my money for young adults' ones.
MoneySaver Beverley let us know that after reading this guide, she's started a meteorology course on watching the weather...
Thank you!!! I'm currently doing a free Open University course on the weather! Really enjoying it and can do it at my own pace! x
We've written before about FutureLearn, which has free online short courses covering a range of modern and classic subjects from social media to history. MoneySaver Della reckons there's a course for everyone:
I'm so pleased to see you included FutureLearn. They offer a huge variety of free online courses, including languages, scientific and technological subjects, the arts, sustainable fashion – you name it. The courses are short, so they're really useful for people trying to get back into any kind of education, and there's online support from tutors and other students.
The Skills Toolkit – specially selected training for professional development
The Department for Education has selected a number of free digital courses to help you learn in-demand skills. Some of the courses include:
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Open University's 'Everyday maths and 'Developing career resilience'
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FutureLearn's 'Digital skills for work & life' and 'Social media for business'
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Microsoft's 'Get the best out of Microsoft Outlook'
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Google's 'Communicate effectively at work'
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LinkedIn's 'Become a sales representative'
To see the full list, search the National Careers Service Skills Toolkit.
Improve your typing speed and accuracy
Put your fastest finger first... There are several free websites that will let you test and improve your typing skills. One that we particularly like is LiveChat, which tests how many words you can type in a minute, and how accurate you were. Can you beat MSE Oli's score below?

Free first aid training from the British Red Cross

There are free apps that can give you simple first aid training. While they don't beat having a first aid qualification, and they're not as detailed as traditional first aid manuals, in an emergency it could literally be a lifesaver.
The British Red Cross free first aid app guides you through how to deal with a range of emergencies such as choking, heart attacks, seizures, asthma attacks, and burns. The app has step-by-step guides and works without internet. It also has a dedicated baby and child first aid app designed for parents and caregivers.
There's also the St John Ambulance first aid app, which guides you through CPR and how to deal with a range of other emergencies with step-by-step guides, both in illustrated form and as voice instructions to keep your hands free during first aid. If you're a cyclist, there's a separate first aid for cyclists app to keep with you while out on the road. At the time of writing, the apps are temporarily unavailable as they're undergoing updates.
I use the St John Ambulance free first aid app, which is full of guidance, no internet required. If, God forbid, I encounter an emergency while I'm out and about, I can use it for step-by-step instructions on what to do.
Learn how to get the most from AI

AI, or artificial intelligence, is the big thing right now, and it's going to continue to develop and impact us over the coming years. But if AI has you scratching your head (or worried for the human race), there are free training courses available so you can learn how to use AI tools to save you time, be more productive, and other potential benefits.
We can't vouch for how good the below courses are as we've not tried them all, but we've picked a selection with positive reviews. Before you ask, no we didn't use AI to write this.
Google, which knows a thing or two about this subject, hosts several AI courses, including 'Boost your productivity with AI', which Google says shows how to use AI-powered tools and techniques from Google and others to save you time. It also has a further session, 'Introduction to machine learning', designed for those with a small to medium business who want to learn how to apply machine learning.
FutureLearn has a free AI digital skills course, which lasts about six hours, and covers the history of AI, how it's applied within businesses and everyday life, as well as skills needed to work with AI.
Udemy has several free tutorials on artificial intelligence, including:
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Introduction to artificial intelligence (67 mins)
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ChatGPT complete beginner's guide (two hours)
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Preparing your career for AI (45 mins)
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Leverage ChatGPT for blogging (30 mins)
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Kickstart artificial intelligence (three hours)
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ChatGPT quick guide for engineers (two hours)
The free versions of these tutorials give you on-demand access to video content so you can learn at your own pace, but you won't be able to ask questions.
Crack the basics of coding in HTML, Javascript & more
There are a few sites that offer free online coding courses, including Codecademy and General Assembly. Both have an option to upgrade to a 'pro' version that costs money, but you can learn the basics for free.
Ex-MSE Laura B decided to use General Assembly's Dash free online course, which teaches the basics of HTML, CSS and Javascript. She found the online course really engaging and easy to follow, and there's even a Facebook Community where you can get help from others if you get stuck.


Play a musical instrument, including free piano lessons
Have you been wanting to learn to play an instrument? Well now sounds like a good time.
If you fancy giving guitar playing a go, then while paid-for lessons may be important if you're wanting to go through the grades, or want to reach proficiency quickly – and you may be able to get these lessons online such as over Zoom – there are also many ways you can learn at your own pace for free using sites such as Ultimate Guitar and JustinGuitar.com to learn new chords.

If you'd like to learn to play the piano, the Flowkey app (for Android / iOS) is a decent place to start. With its free basic account you can get access to eight songs and selected course content. You'll be able to practice notes and chords, and receive instant feedback.

Elsewhere, musical instrument producer Casio Music UK offers free previously-recorded virtual piano and keyboard lessons online through its Facebook page. The videos are available to watch back at any time.
The lessons are about 30 minutes long and are aimed at new learners and people of all ages. Here are the first few lessons to get you started:
🎹 Lesson one 🎹 Lesson two 🎹 Lesson three
If you want to give some popular pieces of music a go (we're talking Baby Shark rather than Beethoven), here are a few tutorials we spotted from YouTuber Amosdoll Music...








Of course, there are many other instruments that you can learn, and from a quick search we found there were loads of free tools out there to help. If you're after sheet music, you can download it for free from sites such as free-scores.com.
Brush up on hair & beauty techniques
Video hosting site YouTube and social media platform Instagram are great free resources for hair, make-up and other beauty tutorials.
You can easily search for, then subscribe to or follow, any hair/beauty influencers that grab your attention, and the more you follow, the more recommendations you'll receive for other channels/accounts sharing similar content – so you can constantly learn new techniques or find inspiration for new styles.

Ex-MSE Laura B has used YouTube to teach herself how to do 'fishtail' plaits and apply eyeshadow without looking like she's got a black eye.
You might think it brave (we certainly do!), but Ex-MSE Rhiannon has even used YouTube to save money on eyebrow threading:
I had a look for tutorials on YouTube and was shocked at how easy it was to learn eyebrow threading – the same with cutting my own hair. So now, I'm saving £10 every time I thread my brows and about £50 every time I cut my own hair. And if I mess up? It grows back, no problem!
Ever thought of cutting your own hair? For tips, including dos and don'ts from the MSE team and other MoneySavers, see the DIY haircut tips guide we published during the national lockdown in 2020.
Learn to draw 40+ Disney characters from Disney animators
Do you want to draw a snowman? Well, Disney animators will show you how to create Olaf, Elsa and other Frozen favourites, as well as 50 more Disney characters from famous animations such as The Lion King, Toy Story and Snow White, and of course Mickey, Goofy, Donald and the gang.
Check out the official Disney Parks YouTube Channel to watch the video tutorials with Disney animators – they range from five to 30 minutes. It could be fun to try with family or friends and compare each other's drawings.


Use logic skills to solve a murder

You may have heard of Wordle, the internet craze where you visit the site daily and try to guess the word – well if you really want to test your brain and logic skills, how about playing detective and solving 'murders'?
Murdle is a daily mystery puzzle where you're presented with clues and have to work out who of the suspects committed the murder, where it happened, and what weapon they used.

Read or listen to key ideas from books covering career & success, psychology, politics & more

Blinkist is a learning app which summarises key ideas from non-fiction publications in text or audio. It's normally a subscription service, but it offers one title for free each day through its Blinkist Free Daily site, with no sign-up required. Or you can sign up for a free seven-day trial to get access to over 7,000 learning titles.
Important: After your free trial ends, you'll be automatically enrolled into a paid subscription, unless you cancel. Blinkist says it'll send a reminder email on day five of your free trial, reminding you it's ending.

Some of the subjects previously covered include a practical guide for entrepreneurs, minimalism, habits of highly effective people, and intuition or deliberation. It can be good if you're curious to learn about new ideas but don't have the time or inclination to read a whole book, as summaries are often 15 minutes or less.
Take a free mock driving theory test online
Whether you're learning to drive or you're an experienced driver who wants to test your knowledge, you can take an official free mock driving theory test online from the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). There are two separate mock tests for car drivers and two for motorcyclists, each with 50 multiple-choice questions that can take up to an hour to complete. While you'll still have to take the real test, doing this mock version could save you money by giving you that extra practice to help you pass first-time.

Scope out space & constellations with the Star Walk app
Space is astronomical in every sense of the word, and if you ever look up at the night sky and wonder: 'Is that a star? A planet? A plane?', then this is an app you can learn from.
The Star Walk 2 app is free for iOS (works best on an iPad) and Android. Just point your phone at the sky and you'll get a real-time map of stars and constellations.

As well as stargazing, you can learn a lot about the solar system, comets, asteroids, spacecraft and nebulas, and identify their position on the map of the sky.
Revisit history with free virtual museum tours
It's not always necessary to travel to see the world's top museums as you can still get your fix of historical and cultural knowledge from your sofa. Some of the most famous museums offer free online tours where you can take a virtual 'walk' around the exhibits, as if you were actually there.
Below are a few of the top tours – for a bigger list and many more virtual tours and experiences, see MSE Oli's Free virtual globe-trotting guide.
London's British Museum covers the history of cultures across the world. You can take a virtual walk through the museum at Google Arts & Culture.

The National Palace Museum in Taiwan has a collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of ancient Chinese artefacts and artwork. Its virtual tour allows you to read and listen to in-depth descriptions of anything that piques your interest during various guided tour routes.

Some of the exhibits at The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC include the ecology of African elephants, the skeleton of a massive sea turtle, human evolution, and of course, dinosaurs.

Boost your general knowledge
If you're looking to expand your general knowledge or impress others, trivia website Sporcle has a plethora of quizzes where you can test your knowledge and gain some (perhaps) interesting facts.
MoneySaver Steve recommends JetPunk which has a huge free library of trivia and quizzes covering general knowledge, geography, science, history, music and more.

Here are a couple of trivia titbits we'll give you for free. Did you know...
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple. Try it.
Mel Blanc, the person who voiced Bugs Bunny, disliked carrots. What's up with that, Doc?
Gain confidence public speaking
The idea of speaking in public can be crippling for some, but a free course from Google can help you become more confident about public speaking, covering aspects such as body language, preparation, and tailoring a speech to your audience.
Rustle up new cooking & baking skills
You might look inside your kitchen cupboards and feel like you're on an episode of Ready, Steady, Cook, but fortunately the internet is full of cooking and baking advice to give you some inspiration.
A few of Ex-MSE Laura's favourite culinary resources include Buzzfeed Tasty, BBC Good Food and Tesco recipes.

The short and snappy videos from Tasty in particular are great for quickly seeing meals being prepared and getting inspiration, but BBC Good Food and Tesco recipes are good for the comments section, where you can get tips/advice to learn how to adapt and improve the recipes from other users.
Get help with spelling, grammar or creative writing
There are free tools you can use to improve your writing and grammar skills. If, like Ex-MSE Becky, you use Google Chrome to browse the web, you might find the free Grammarly tool becomes your new best friend:
The Google Chrome extension 'Grammarly' is completely free, and only takes seconds to install onto your browser. It's an automated grammar checker that will highlight any spelling, grammar or punctuation errors you've used within your emails, social media or documents. It's really helped me to improve my sentence structuring and become a better writer overall.
If you're looking for something more specific, such as creative writing and playwriting, MSE Laura F recommends poet Tim Clare's Couch to 80k free podcast and the National Theatre's free podcast too…
I'm a big fan of receiving learning straight into my ear canals. Podcasts let you learn stuff while you're commuting, which makes me feel very productive. Tim Clare's 'Couch to 80k Boot Camp' delivers an eight-week fiction writing course spread over 48 episodes.
A few other useful links...
If you want to learn something but aren't sure where to start, there are many websites where you can browse through free courses and content. Here are some we've found useful:
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Skill Share free classes – online community with thousands of free classes, mainly creative topics, but also covering analytics, management and lifestyle.
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Reed free courses – jobs and recruitment site Reed has a section on its website where you can search for free online courses.
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TED Talks – TED is a non-profit community where people share their ideas and knowledge, usually through a short talk. There are tons of free videos of talks available to watch online across a wide range of topics.
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EdX – website that hosts lots of free courses from prestigious institutions, such as Harvard and MIT.
Which free resources have you used to learn something new? Let us know on X @MSE_Deals.