Beneficiaries will have a year’s access to over 80 courses on the job market’s most sought after skills.

The deadline for registration on the Santander Open Academy website is 9 December.

Madrid, 1 October 2025.
Banco Santander has teamed up with global online learning platform Coursera to provide 50,000 adults in 13 countries with free access to the Curso Santander | Skills for Work course. The aim of this initiative is to boost people’s employability through lifelong learning in such key skills as artificial intelligence, leadership, and languages.

Beneficiaries will get free access for a year to a selection of over 80 courses designed by universities and experts that home in on the most in-demand skills in today's market. Leadership, innovation and data-driven decision-making, marketing, artificial intelligence and languages will be some of the main topics that these courses — which will also include practical exercises — cover.

Anyone who is interested can apply for a place by 9 December on Santander Open Academy, Santander’s global learning and development platform that helps people enhance their education and employability through access to fully subsidized courses, free content and scholarships at top universities and institutions.

Beneficiaries will be able to undertake as many courses as they wish at their own pace for one year and receive a certificate after each one. Applicants need not have a university degree or even be a Santander customer to apply for one of the 50,000 places.

According to Ramón Rodríguez, Global Head of Santander Open Academy, “the job market is undergoing profound transformation that is bringing new opportunities for reskilling and demanding the constant update of our abilities. With these initiatives, we’re looking to build bridges between emerging needs and the talent that must meet those needs”.

“Students in Spain and 12 other countries are eager to acquire the skills that today’s job market demands“, said Zac Rule, Vice President of North America, Enterprise at Coursera. “Through our partnership with Santander, we’re extending access to high quality online training in such key areas as artificial intelligence, leadership, and languages. By equipping thousands of people with highly sought-after skills, we help them unlock new career opportunities and strengthen their long-term employability in an economy typified by rapid technological change”.

Among the findings of Banco Santander’s Tomorrow’s skills report, based on a survey of 15,000 people in 15 countries, eight out of ten participants feel the need to continue broadening their skill set, which paints a new picture where lifelong learning is the cornerstone of career development. Against this backdrop, digital learning platforms are increasingly becoming a go-to option.

Santander and its support for education, employability and entrepreneurship

Banco Santander has been a pioneering stalwart of education, employability and entrepreneurship for almost 30 years, standing out among the world's financial institutions. Santander has deployed over EUR 2.4 billion to these areas and helped more than 3.7 million people and businesses through agreements with nearly 1,100 universities and institutions (www.santander.com/universidades).

About Coursera

Coursera was launched in 2012 by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller with a mission to provide universal access to world-class learning. Today, it is one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, with 183 million registered learners as of June 30, 2025. Coursera partners with over 350 leading university and industry partners to offer a broad catalog of content and credentials, including courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, and degrees. Coursera’s platform innovations — including generative AI-powered features like Coach, Role Play, and Course Builder, and role-based solutions like Skill Tracks — enable instructors, partners, and companies to deliver scalable, personalized, and verified learning. Institutions worldwide rely on Coursera to upskill and reskill their employees, students, and citizens in high-demand fields such as GenAI, data science, technology, and business, while learners globally turn to Coursera to master the skills they need to advance their careers. Coursera is a Delaware public benefit corporation and a B Corp.