Opportunities 27 September 2026

Santander and Coursera open 50,000 more free AI and data course places (you don't need to bank with them)

The second Skills for Work round adds 50,000 free places to August's 50,000, across 80-plus certified Coursera courses. Applications close on 9 December, and there is an assessment test to pass.

Deadline: 9 December 2026

Apply / Learn more

You don’t need a Santander account, and you don’t need a degree. You do need to be over 18, live in one of the 12 countries where the programme runs (Portugal is one), and sit an assessment test on the platform.

Santander and Coursera have opened a second round of 50,000 free places in their Skills for Work programme, adding to the 50,000 released back in August. That’s 100,000 places in total, spread across more than 80 courses in artificial intelligence, data analysis, leadership, marketing, innovation and languages, with free access for 12 months and an official Coursera certificate at the end.

How to apply

Registration runs through the Santander Open Academy platform, which is free and doesn’t require a bank account. It isn’t first come, first served, though. Under the rules for the first round, places went to applicants who met the eligibility criteria, ranked on an assessment test taken on the platform, with 5,000 places set aside for people with a recognised disability. If you’re offered a place, you get a short window to accept it and set up your Coursera account. Applications for this second round close on 9 December.

Two rounds, one year

The second round, announced this week, matches the 50,000 places released in August, taking the programme’s total for 2026 to 100,000.

Portugal has other free routes into digital skills too. The IEFP’s Cheque-Formação works differently — it part-funds training for people already in work — but chases the same goal of taking price out of the equation. Between them, a private free programme and a public subsidised one, the two schemes cover similar ground from opposite directions.

By Miguel Sarmento

Image: 张明瑞 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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