Description
FUN MOOC is the French public platform of free online courses made by universities and grandes écoles: videos, quizzes and forums on hundreds of subjects, mostly in French, with about one course in ten in English.
The Ministry of Higher Education opened it in October 2013, using the open-source Open edX software. Since 2015 it has been run by France Université Numérique, a public interest group (GIP) funded by the state and its member institutions. It offers just over 500 courses (October 2026) in health, law, computing, agriculture, the environment and more, and had 1.6 million registered learners in January 2019.
A free account is needed. Courses either run as dated sessions led by the teaching team, with a forum, or can be followed at one’s own pace. Passing the assessments earns a free badge; a certificate based on a proctored exam is optional and paid, and its price is shown on each course page. FUN also sells short professional micro-certifications of 7 to 30 hours, for example €175 for an introduction to prompt engineering. None of the courses leads to a degree.
Strengths
- Courses by recognised institutions such as the Cnam or Université Paris-Saclay.
- All course content, quizzes included, is free.
- Many courses can be followed at your own pace.
Weaknesses
- The certificate is paid, its price varies, and the courses lead to no degree.
- No personal feedback: questions go to the course forum.
- Once a session closes, you can no longer enrol or take the tests.
Who it is for
Employees or job seekers who want to discover a field, such as law or programming, before paying for training.
Sources
- FUN MOOC: Home, À propos, FAQ, checked November 2026
- France Université Numérique: Notre histoire, checked November 2026
- Wikipedia: France Université Numérique