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Specific details of the first Moocs to be made available are thin on the ground, although Futurelearn has confirmed that they will cover topics including literature; history; social sciences; computing and IT; and physical science, and be designed to work on mobile devices.

Times Higher Education revealed in December last year that the University of Warwick¡¯s Business School was planning to offer a Mooc on Futurelearn, although it has not been confirmed that this will be one of the first courses to go live.

Simon Nelson, chief executive of Futurelearn said: ¡°Our partners have developed a wonderful range of high-quality courses to launch the service and I have no doubt that our learners will find the content compelling.¡±

There will be a launch event in mid-September, when full details of the platform¡¯s first Moocs will be announced. From this time, learners will be able to sign up for a selection of the courses, the first of which will commence in October, although some course numbers will initially be limited while final ¡°open beta¡± testing is completed.

¡°During the open beta period, we will be listening closely to the feedback from our users and using that to tailor Futurelearn into a uniquely engaging learning experience,¡± Mr Nelson said.

Futurelearn was created in December 2012, and is currently wholly owned by the Open University, which is also overseeing the design of the Mooc platform¡¯s website. Its 26 partners comprise leading UK and international universities and cultural institutions including the British Library, British Museum and British Council.

chris.parr@tsleducation.com