Free Skills Courses Boost your career and employability with our FREE skills courses.
Employers across Northern Ireland require highly skilled professionals to drive their business forward.
DfE Skills courses - Skill Up to succeed!
Applications for September 2025 are open.
Applications for January 2026 opening in October.
This project is funded by the Department for the Economy through the Skill Up programme.
The Skill Up programme aims to provide reskilling and upskilling opportunities to people across the north which will improve their skills, benefitting their employment opportunities and enhancing Northern Ireland’s continuously growing and diversifying economy.
Working in partnership with the Department for the Economy, we are offering a range of FREE courses to ensure you have the skills and expertise to develop your career.
We have a wide range of courses available across a number of sectors including Business, Education, Green Skills, Hospitality and Tourism, Life and Health Sciences, Software and Digital. Browse through our full list of courses and apply now! Limited places are available across all programmes.
Courses offered are subject to change.
Business and Transversal Skills
PG Certificate
- PG Certificate Executive Leadership - Applications now closed
Short Courses
- Sustainable Transformation in Practice
- Strategic Digital Transformation - Applications now closed
- Innovation Management
- Operational Excellence
- Improvement Through People - Applications open in October
- Quality Management and Process Improvement - Applications open in October
- Mini MBA Family Business - Applications open in October
Hospitality and Tourism
Short Courses
- Tourism and Hospitality Principles
- Contemporary Issues in Tourism and Hospitality - Applications open in October
Software and Digital
PG Certificate
Short Course
- Cyber Security - Applications open in October
- Intelligent Manufacturing - Applications open in October
- Design Optimization of Mechanical Systems - Applications open in October
- Process Product Optimisation - Applications open in October
Education
Short Course
- Embedding Numeracy in Further Education Learning
- Embedding Financial Sustainability in FE Practice - Applications open in October
- Inclusive and Special Education: Developing and Analysing Practice - Applications open in October
Green Skills
PG Certificates
- PG Certificate Energy Management & Green Technology
- PG Certificate Hydrogen Safety
- PG Certificate in Environmental Management
- PG Certificate Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Monitoring
- PG Certificate Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- PG Certificate Remote Sensing & Geographic Information Systems
Short Courses
- GIS Databases
- Principles of GIS
- Introduction to Remote Sensing
- Web-based GIS - Applications open in October
- Programming for GIS and Remote Sensing - Applications open in October
- Biodiversity Management - Applications open in October
Life & Health Sciences
PG Certificates
Short Courses
- Industrial Biotechnology
- Introduction to Personalised Medicine and Pharmacogenomics
- Coding Skills for Biologists - Applications open in October
- Pharmacogenomics Informed Prescribing - Applications open in October
- Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine - Applications open in October
- Synthetic Biology - Applications open in October
- Clinical Trials Design & Patient Recruitment - Applications open in October
- Healthcare Economics and Innovation in Personalised Medicine - Applications open in October
Fee Funding Eligibility
To be eligible for a fully funded place under these programmes applicants must meet each of the following criteria :
- are 18 or over at the point of enrolment;
- have a right to work and undertake training in the UK at the point of application and for the duration of the course and must not be disqualified from doing either by reason of their immigration status. Proof of this will be required to progress your application. Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK
- meet the course specific entry requirements. See course pages for requirements.
- meet the Ulster University general entry requirements including competency in English (as evidenced by GCSE Grade C in English or alternative). For English competency, a degree taught in UK or Ireland covers this requirement. If your degree is from outside the UK or Ireland, please see our list of acceptable qualifications or tests.
- are available to register in person at the campus as required.
Contact us
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