Coventry University ranked best in the world for online courses

Coventry University
University news

Friday 05 February 2021

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Coventry University has been ranked as the world’s best provider of online courses.

MoocLab’s World University Rankings by MOOC Performance 2021 named Coventry as number 1 for its Massive Open Online Courses, beating world-renowned institutions including the likes of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to the top spot.

MOOCs are educational courses which are delivered online and are open and available for anyone to enrol. Coventry’s MOOCs are free to study, two-week tasters of the university’s degrees making them an accessible and flexible way for learners to gain in-demand skills, as well as gaining an insight into studying longer term online courses with Coventry University.

Coventry University’s online courses are designed to offer a flexible approach, giving learners the opportunity to increase their employability skills and take great strides in their career paths. 

The World University Rankings by MOOC Performance 2021 included 200 universities covering 34 different countries across the world. 

Having claimed fourth place in last year’s rankings, Coventry has climbed three places to the very top of the pile this year. 

We’re delighted to be recognised as the top online university in the world based on the performance of our short courses. These have now been delivered to almost 600,000 students in 195 countries across the world, reinforcing our truly global reach. This achievement is testament to the hard work and dedication of colleagues both within Coventry University Online and across the broader Coventry University Group.

Nick Worthington, Managing Director of Coventry University Online

Having only established Coventry University Online in 2017, partnering with leading online learning platform FutureLearn to deliver online courses, Coventry has made tremendous progress within its digital education provision over a short space of time.

The university clinched first place in the rankings chiefly thanks to its offering of a total of 21 MOOC-based degrees, 15 more than the next-best achieving university. The university total number of MOOC-based degrees has since risen to 25, with the courses covering a range of disciplines including business, health, education, construction and psychology.

The tables rank universities based on five performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across the number of MOOCs provided, the provision of course programs, course programs bearing credit, MOOC-based degrees and the institution's average world ranking.

We’re immensely proud to be ranked the best provider of online courses in the world based on the performance of our MOOCs. To achieve something like this after only establishing Coventry University Online in 2017 is a wonderful example of our commitment to expanding and developing the digital education services we’re able to provide.

Professor John Latham CBE, Coventry University Vice-Chancellor

Find out more about the additional MOOCs Coventry University and FutureLearn have made available through the coronavirus pandemic to help people thrive at work and maximise productivity.