Looking for more industry specific, in-depth content to help advance your career? A premium course could be for you. Learn more about what they are and how they can help you.
If you’re an employee in 2025, you’ll have noticed one thing – your world of work is changing, and at rapid speed. From technological advancements to shifting business needs, more and more industries are looking for adaptable, digitally literate and skilled professionals, but what does this mean for you?
Upskilling is one thing when you’re just starting out, but another for mid-career and senior professionals looking to invest in industry-specific expertise. That’s where our premium online courses come in. In this learner guide, we’ll explore premium courses, how they compare to our free online courses and how you can use them to boost your skills.
What are premium courses?
Our premium online courses are designed for professionals looking to develop their skills, accelerate their career growth and reach their goals. With in-depth content and industry knowledge across topics such as business strategy, product development, dental radiography and laser safety awareness, learners can address technical and soft skill gaps at a range of price points to suit them.
Like all our courses, you can learn at your own pace, from wherever you are in the world; however, our premium courses are all paid-for courses, meaning they’re suitable for learners looking to invest more in their skills. Once purchased, you’ll get unlimited access to your course.
Premium online courses vs free online courses
Now you know what our online premium courses are, let’s take a look at how they compare to our free online courses.
| Premium online courses | Free online courses | |
| Cost | One-time payment. | Free with limited access (for courses included in Unlimited). Free with unlimited access (for sponsored/digital upgrade courses). |
| Study mode | 100% online. | 100% online. |
| Audience | Professionals from specific industries. | All learners. |
| Who will you learn with? | Join a smaller group of like-minded professionals and learn from industry experts. | Join a global learning community and learn from expert educators. |
| Access | Unlimited – Keep your access to course content for as long as it’s on the platform. | Limited (for courses included in Unlimited) – Receive course content each week. Unlimited (for sponsored/digital upgrade courses). |
| Content | Articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes. | Bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities. |
| What do you get? | New expertise, and a downloadable certificate. | New skills you can take anywhere. |
How to get a promotion
Ready to advance your career? Here’s how you can in a few steps.
Become a specialist
According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, around 39% of employee skills sets will become outdated over the next five years. Developing specialist skills in your industry is key to offsetting that. With expert content designed for professionals in business, engineering, tech, education and more, our premium courses can arm you with the skills you need to become an expert in your field.
Be indispensable
Establish yourself as a top performer and critical team player in your workplace. Whether by improving work processes, taking on new responsibilities or even helping launch a major product, demonstrating how essential you are to your team (and wider organisation) is one of the most important steps to stepping into a more senior role.
Quantify your impact
If you’re set on a promotion, it’s important to quantify your impact. Whether that’s demonstrating how you contributed to high priority projects, improved essential metrics or helped boost revenue, numbers don’t lie and could very well work in your favour.
Be clear on your intent
Having a conversation with your manager about your career development is important regardless of where you are in your career. From your short-term and long-term career goals to learning opportunities, letting your manager know how best they can support you will only help make career advancement that much simpler.
Don’t neglect your soft skills
It goes without saying that people skills are powerful. Don’t discount the power of cross-team collaboration – successfully working with other teams can help amplify the work you’re doing more than working in silos ever could.
Make your work visible
In the same vein, don’t just let your work speak for itself, be loud about your achievements. Make your growth known and get your name out there by talking about completed projects and works in progress, asking questions, being curious, taking initiative and being proactive.
It’s also important to note that there needs to be a path to grow. If it’s clear that there are limited opportunities to progress in your workplace, it’s worth considering what else is out there – and if you’re thinking about changing careers, we have a guide to help you do just that.
Make your next career move with FutureLearn
Whatever your career path, we’re here to help you. Explore expert-led content, learn at your own pace and gain your industry’s most sought-after skills, right here.
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