In focus: Taking a Cambridge professional education online
Prompted by global lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, we used our expertise and resources to help the University move its teaching online. We designed and developed an initial portfolio of 50 short, cross-disciplinary and flexible online courses for professional learners.
These Cambridge Advance Online courses are created and led by University academics, and are intended to bring the best of Cambridge professional education to a global audience.
The certificated courses reflect the Cambridge experience, with low student-to-tutor ratios and academically rigorous standards. Students can engage directly with academics at Cambridge, and benefit from rich interaction with subject experts and enhanced peer-to-peer networking.
“Being able to draw together the combined expertise of the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Press & Assessment allows us to develop these courses using the skills and experience we have ‘in-house’ and puts us in a unique position. We have the expertise and freedom to create a truly great digital product and to be able to wield the right tools rather than make compromises.”
Professor Graham Virgo, Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, University of Cambridge
Student feedback has been exceptional, with 96 percent of students in the first two cohorts rating courses as ‘good’, ‘great’ or ‘excellent’.
In its first year, together we have developed 13 specialist online courses, collaborated with 29 academic experts, and delivered three successful sets of course runs. The Cambridge Advance Online team has seen significant investment and its group of expert learning designers, media and content creators and marketing and sales executives has grown to over 30.
