FAQ

Our online short courses are certified by CPD UK. Upon successful completion, learners will be able to request their certificate from CPD, using their certificate of completion as proof of eligibility. The courses have an estimated 40 hours of learning, equating to 40 CPD points.

Note, the onus is on students to request these CPD certificates at the end of their studies. The University and its partners accept no responsibility, and cannot be held responsible, for the claiming or validation of hours or points.

We recommend 3-5 hours of study each week. Tasks and content do vary per week, but this is the guideline.

We aim for a 1:25 Facilitator-to-learner ratio per course to ensure every student has a first–rate experience and the opportunity to interact with both the academic staff and fellow learners.

We would recommend confirming your interest with either a deposit or full payment as soon as you have decided to commit to studying. Our courses are popular and, as a result, we are not always able to accept late registrations. Email our team at oxfordshortcoursesonline@boundlesslearning.com for us to give you a call if you would like to lay down a deposit before paying the full course fees.

Should your circumstances change after your payment has been made, we have a 14-day cooling off period in place to enable full refunds to be processed if necessary. 

After this period ends, payment refunds are not available, and payment will be forfeited. Please see our full terms and conditions for further information.

Depending on when your payment was made, you may be entitled to a full refund. If your payment falls outside of the 14-day cooling off period, you will have the option to defer your place to a future intake or forfeit the payment.  

When considering a course, we recommend checking your availability for the teaching period and reviewing the recommended study hours commitment.

Yes! Employer sponsorship is a great option if you would like to study a course that would benefit both yourself and your organisation, but you need financial support to do so. What’s more, if your employer could benefit from multiple employees studying the same course, they may be eligible for a corporate discount. 

Learn more on our public policy courses for organisations page or read our blog post about why team leaders should consider employer sponsorship.

During registration, payment is made through Shopify. You can either pay from your personal account (and later be reimbursed by your organisation) or use a company credit card to complete the registration. If your organisation requires payment to be made by invoice, this can also be arranged and our team of Regional Development Managers can support you with this process. Please email us if you have any questions about paying by invoice or generally about employer sponsorship.

No, the course is designed to be studied completely online. There will be no need to come into the school, even for tasks or assignments.

You will have a number of tasks and activities to complete throughout the course, all of which will be completed online. These will vary in format – from multiple choice quizzes to taking part in discussion forums – and some will count towards your final grade. For most courses, 50% of your final grade will come from successfully completing the assignment in your final module.

You do not need any specific tools but it is vital that you have regular, reliable internet access throughout your course. This is so you can access our online learning platform, which contains your learning materials, in-course communication tools and more.

Please be aware that this course is taught in English, and all assignments must be submitted in English. Although we do not require learners to have taken any specific language tests, we recommend that you should feel confident reading and writing in English if it is not your native language.

In their professional roles, most of our students will encounter or work across more than one area of policy or governance that our online short courses cover. For example, your initial reason for studying a course may be to use evidence in your policymaking more confidently, but you may also need to consider values when creating policies too. That’s why taking multiple courses is an extremely beneficial option for many of our learners. 

Plus, if you take more than one online short course, you will also be entitled to a reduction in your fees – with discounts starting at 25%. 

Learn more about how our multi-course pathway and discounts could help you lead the way in public policy.

If you have any further questions which haven’t been answered here, please email our team at oxfordshortcoursesonline@boundlesslearning.com for us to give you a call.