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The Open University (OU) has announced it is rolling out a new massive open online course (MOOC) platform to all UK universities, which will offer digital degrees free of charge. The new service is called Futurelearn Ltd.  It will function as a single virtual destination through which various British institutions can distribute their own courses.

Although the technological specifications of the system have yet to be decided, Futurelearn is to be initially funded by the OU. However, one spokesman told Information Age that it will be looking for new partners and while some universities have agreed to put money into the e-learning initiative, some will not and the government is also refraining from financially supporting the venture.

Not just crucial to the country's academic practices, online training is also popular among businesses that are seeking to educate their staff more conveniently and efficiently. These companies can either roll out their own schemes or turn to e-learning providers to supply the education for them - one organisation to help firms with their employee development is Virtual College.