Does Skillshare Give Certificates?

While going to school, college, and university is all great, they do cost quite a lot, and not every college and university will cover what you want to find out right now. 

This is where online learning spaces like Skillshare come in.

Consider how Skillshare can help you learn and grow, from your PC or even your phone, for minimal costs, and with so many options of what you can learn about. (See ‘How To Download Skillshare Videos?‘)

The one burning question everyone happens to have, though, is: “Does Skillshare give certificates?”

The true sign of any good accredited course is certification, but is this something that comes with Skillshare, or is it not an accredited learning platform?

Does Skillshare Give Certificates?

To get right to the point, no. Skillshare courses are not accredited.

They do not offer certificates that state you have completed a course, therefore there is no accreditation for these online classes. 

Skillshare themselves recommends you post your Skillshare class project to state that you actually successfully completed a course and that you can build a portfolio, however, do note that this is not accredited. 

So, this may be a learning platform that is more suited to casual learning rather than in-depth, academic learning. 

What Is Skillshare Good For?

Skillshare is good for people who want to learn new things and expand their knowledge while also learning new skills on the way. (Check out ‘Can You Put Skillshare On Your Resume?‘)

It is an ideal place to learn and do new things.

It gives you open access to hundreds and thousands of online courses which can help you to expand what you know. 

Courses can range from arts and creative topics to even refrigerator organization and other very specific niches. 

Pros & Cons

If Skillshare is not accredited, is it still worthwhile?

Well, yes, for some people the types of content offered on Skillshare can be very useful.

For this reason, before we jump onto any further information about this educational tool, let’s look at what it has going for it, and against it. 

Pros

• You can get Skillshare for free for a month to watch free courses, however, after this month is up you will have to pay, but there are ways to extend your free membership or reduce costs. 
• Skillshare classes and videos are downloadable. 
• Skillshare offers over 27,000 courses. 
• More affordable than many alternatives.

Cons

• You do not get a certificate upon completion. 
• There is no longer a totally free version.

Understanding Skillshare

To understand why Skillshare is useful for people even if it is not accredited with certification, we will delve a little deeper into what Skillshare actually is. 

Skillshare is an online learning platform that allows unlimited access to thousands of educational tools and videos.

The Skillshare platform is a service run by subscriptions, so to access any of the content you do need to be a subscribed member of Skillshare. 

You can start off with the Skillshare free trial, then, after this, you can join using the monthly paid Skillshare membership, or the annually paid membership.

Note that the annual subscription actually works out as being significantly cheaper than the monthly subscription does.

However, the fact that the entire service is covered by a subscription does make it a more affordable alternative than some other online learning platforms, especially those that offer free courses.

Udemy for example will require you to pay per Udemy course. Whereas Skillshare just asks for one mass payment. 

You could complete 12 courses a year one year, and then another year you could complete 18, but the cost would still be the same.

The videos you get are also helpful as they are less like lectures and more interactive, which craft a casual and enjoyable environment that helps people learn more efficiently. 

So, you do not only watch the videos to learn, but you should be interacting with the online course as well by doing projects throughout. 

Skillshare also helps you learn a vast array of skills in multiple subjects, it could be creative writing, website design, fine art, or anything.

It is a site that has something for everyone.

Skillshare Premium

In the past when you signed up you could have their free membership, or their premium membership, however now, after your free trial if you do not cancel you end up going straight to the Skillshare premium membership. 

This is the version of Skillshare that many like as you get discounts on pieces of software and other applications, you can download the video classes and watch them offline, and if you refer a friend, and they join the Skillshare community, you can get an extra month free. 

Premium is much more useful, but of course, the free version is still active for a month to ensure that Skillshare is for you and that you enjoy it.

Even though it is a cheaper alternative than some other similar learning communities, you do not want to spend money on something you will barely use. 

So, You Don’t Get A Certificate?

Sadly, no, you do not get a certificate.

So, even if you were to complete a course in graphic design, for example, and you learned a great deal from it, and you aim at applying it to a freelance graphic design business idea you have, there is no certificate. 

This means that you will not have certification as a graphic designer, even if you are excellent and Skillshare did help you learn a lot of what you know about graphic design. 

You could also put it on your resume, but it does not have any credibility to back it up.

It is ideal for use alongside studies in college, for professional development, or it is good for learning new things, but when it comes to needing accreditation, sadly Skillshare does not have this.

Overall

While you do not get a certificate from Skillshare you can still learn plenty.

It is worthwhile if you are not too bothered about getting a certificate, but if certification is something you need, maybe look elsewhere.