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Free Certification Ready Courses for Educators
Free Certification Ready Courses for Educators
Offered by volunteers!
Offered by volunteers!
Based on long established free instructor/teacher training courses offered by the Open University (OU), we are pleased to be able to continue to offer free Cisco Instructor training..
To be able to teach CCNA, CCNP, CyberOps, or DevNet - educators (instructors) must take a course run by an ITC (Instructor Training Centre) - the OU and UWTSD are accredited ITC's. Sadly, taking these courses at any other 'ordinary' Cisco Academy, will not offer you the essential accreditation you require to teach these courses.
Each of these courses are 100% remote, instructor led, scalable, hybrid MOOC's (Massive Open Online Courses). Once you enrol, you are committed to commence (we will not remove you), however you are not required to complete (if you lack the time). Within the duration of each course, you can dip in and out of each course at a pace that suits your workload.
Inside each course, you will see prominently displayed study instructions and guidance, as well as the terms and conditions for completion. This includes terms and conditions for the final assessment, grades that must be accomplished. You must complete each final exam at 70% or greater and also complete the end-of-course survey - the final exam has unlimited attempts.
Scroll down to see what we are offering >>> Autumn 2026!
Also: helping you with CCST and OT!
Also: helping you with CCST and OT!
Offered for whole global community
Offered for whole global community
Parallel to the certification ready courses, which educators MUST complete before they are able to teach. Anyone with 'instructor' status can automatically create any of the CCST (Cisco Certified Support Technician) courses.
You do not need to complete any training course - you can dive in and teach your students from the outset. However, aware that some of you would prefer a little prior preparation, there are three primer courses, helping you 'Get Started'.
Anyone can enrol on these courses, the OU Cisco ITC, has provided three helpful optional links below. Remember, as these are not compulsory - you can simply crack on and commence teaching. The design of the 'Getting Ready to Teach' suite is to help develop your confidence if required.
Click on any of these links, to enrol on:
Remember, these courses are optional - if you participate, you are taking these as a solo reference experience.
Unsure how to use NetAcad
Unsure how to use NetAcad
Unsurprisingly with all of our extensive outreach, we often encounter educators that do not (yet) know how to use the new NetAcad platform. Or in some cases require a modest refresher. The following resources, from both Cisco and the OUCisco ASC should cover all that you need:
Programme Orientation - from Cisco NetAcad
Platform Orientation - from Cisco NetAcad
YouTube Playlists - from OUCisco ASC
Autumn 2026 to January 2027
Autumn 2026 to January 2027
For those who enrolled on the Summer of Love, so long as you complete the final exam at 70% or greater and complete the end-of-course survey - you will be accredited on either the 1st of September or the 30th of September 2026 with a final check on 1st of October. We will not accredit anyone early or on any other date. Remember for the price of free, the terms and conditions are uncomplicated.
Now for October 2026 onwards, we have now stopped the Summer of Love enrolment, have exceeded 5000+ enrolments in this time. We want to ensure that all participants have sufficient time to complete the courses.
With anyone who enrols on the new October to January courses, we will PASS (namely accredit) everyone who is eligible on the 1st of December 2026 and also the 1st of February 2027. So long as you gain 70% or greater on the final exam and complete the end-of-course survey.
To directly enrol on each course - please click on one of the following links -
CCNP Instructor Training
CCNPv9: Core Networking
CCNPv9: Advanced Networking
CCNA Instructor Training
CCNAv7.02 - Introduction to Networking
CCNAv7.02 - Switching, Routing, Wireless Essentials
CCNAv7.02 - Enterprise Networking Security & Automation
CCNA CyberSecurity (CyberOps)
CCNA Automation (DevNet)
All courses will commence 01/10/26 and anyone can enrol anytime until the 1st of December 2026.
Links and content updated 03/09/26
Looking to the future - after we end in January 2027 - we plan to have a very short break, then release v8.0 of the CCNA content. Panic not, any instructor who has taken v7.02 ItN, SRWE and ENSA will be automatically able to teach the v8.0 ItN, IEN & CEN - the names may change, however they are broadly similar in structure.
Terms and conditions of enrolment for the Autumnal intake:
You only need to complete the course final exam at 70% on whatever attempt works for you, and the end-of-course survey ... you are NOT required to complete any other assessment.
You must ensure that your email address has been authorised and recognised by Cisco, otherwise you will not be able to collect your digital badge, or certificate of completion.
You understand that this is a voluntary endeavour run by volunteers, there is no legal or personal entitlement, no commitment, no recourse and no liability on behalf of Cisco, or the OU.
The team will check in on the dates statued above - You must also complete the end-of-course survey, otherwise you will not gain any accreditation.
Your purpose for participating in this training, is to utilise Cisco NetAcad accreditation and credentialing, enabling you to teach any of these courses via NetAcad.
If you are already enrolled elsewhere, the OU Cisco team and collaborating colleagues WILL NOT remove you from this enrolment
By enrolling, you acknowledge that this is a 100% remote, 100% self-supporting experience
You may unenrol and re-enrol at any time; however any loss of data is entirely your own risk
You will follow the completion requirements described within each course - it is your responsibility to read these with care
You acknowledge that by enrolling on any of these courses, you will not consider yourself to be a formal student of any organisation supporting this programme, including the Open University
You must already have instructor status at an established Cisco Academy - the OU Cisco Team, will not necessarily provide this
Each course will end 31/01/27 - we will pass students 01/12 and do a final check (and pass everyone else) on 01/02/27
All participants acknowledged, that if offered, discount vouchers are:
Entirely at the gift and remit of Cisco, where the OU or any other ASC has no influence
Only for one attempt, it is offered once, if you pass a course, listed below at 70% (on the first attempt)
Is only available for DevNet, CyberOps and the CCNA ENSA, if these courses are offered
Cisco police the offer of a certification discount voucher, any situation that appears to represent fraudulent activity will be investigated by Cisco. The OU Cisco ASC and any other ASC/ITC has no influence over this offer and are unable (and unwilling) to intervene.
Some final words:
You will not pester the team for anything, doing so will risk you being removed from the programme
No individual or organisation is awarded any special dispensation, for any reason, in any context, whatsoever.
We will close enrolment on 01/12 to ensure a minimum study window.
The Open University Cisco ASC reserves the right to amend the conditions and terminate this offer at any time without notice or right of reply
Anyone trying to use the Cisco NetAcad Helpdesk or any representative from Cisco to alter the terms/conditions will be promptly removed
And of course, the best of luck to all!
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