University of Sheffield external courses
Find out how to sign up for, and access University of Sheffield courses that facilitate non-enrolled students, such as pre-enrolment tasks or admissions tests.
About University of Sheffield External Courses
The University of Sheffield is able to grant non-University members access to certain Blackboard courses. This may be to undertake a short course at the university or to complete a pre-enrolment task such as an admissions test.
If you have a regular University of Sheffield account, your External Courses account is separate and is only needed where a tutor has advised you to sign up for one.
If you are a member of staff at the University would like to provide a course to external users, contact the Digital Learning team to discuss it with us: digital.learning@sheffield.ac.uk
Sign up for External Courses
First access University of Sheffield External Courses to sign up for an account.
University of Sheffield External Courses
- Select Sign Up in the top right to set up your account
Add in your email address, first and last name, and create a password for your account in the boxes indicated with an asterisk (*). Make sure it has:
- one lower case character
- one upper case character
- one number
- one special character which can be any of !@#$%^&*
You will need to create your account using your personal email address if you have an @sheffield.ac.uk email account. Signing up to an external course with an @sheffield.ac.uk email account can cause an error which prevents you from enrolling or starting a course.
If your personal email address contains a special character (eg an apostrophe symbol) this might cause an error message: 'Request failed with status code 400.' If this error message occurs, please try to sign up using an alternative email address without a special character. If the problem persists, visit our help and support information.
- Leave the additional boxes in the Address information and General information blank.
- Tick the box to indicate you agree with the terms and conditions.
- Select Save in the bottom right corner
- You will be sent a token to your email address that you have chosen for your account. Add the token into the box provided and select Validate to finish creating your account.
- You will then be able to sign in to Blackboard with your email address and password and access the courses.
Enrol on courses
Once you have logged in you will be able to see all courses on offer by the University of Sheffield.
- First, select Catalogue on the right-hand menu once you are logged in.
- Select the thumbnail of the course you need to enrol on (your tutor should have advised you which one).
- Select the purple Enrol Now button to be added to the course.
If you see a padlock icon on the Enrol Now button for your course, this means that an Access Code is required.
Get in touch with the school running the course directly if you require access to a course but have not been sent the Access Code. You should be able to find their contact details in the original email prompting you to sign up/enrol.
- Confirm you wish to enrol, and you will then be added to the course.
- It will then be added to your Dashboard in your Active Courses and you can start the course from your Dashboard.
Download a Certificate
A Certificate is a PDF confirming your attendance or achievement on the course, personalised with your name and course information.
Certificates are only available for select external courses. If applicable, your instructors will provide details on how to earn one. Contact your course staff if you have any questions about eligibility or requirements.
Once you meet all the course engagement and achievement criteria you can download a PDF of the Certificate as evidence of your learning.
- Log out of External Courses and close your browser.
- Follow the steps to log in again.
- A pop-up message will explain you've received a new achievement. Select View Achievement.
The next time you log in, the pop-up won’t display. You can navigate to your Dashboard and follow the steps below if you want to download the certificate later.
- You will be taken to the Achievements tab in your Dashboard.
- A tile will display for each possible Certificate on your courses. In the Status drop-down, select Achieved.
- The page will display only the Certificates you have achieved. Select the tile of the Certificate you want to download.
- Select Download in the pop up window.
Help and support
How to use Blackboard
For more information about how to use Blackboard, read the user guide below.
External courses: Blackboard guidance for learners
I can't select Start Course
If you are accessing the course from a mobile device or tablet, you will need to allow/enable pop-ups on your device's browser for the Start Course button to work.
I’m having a technical issue
If you experience any issues when enrolling on or accessing an external course, please follow our troubleshooting guide in the first instance as this can resolve many minor issues.
I can’t remember my password to log in to Blackboard
If you’ve forgotten your password you will need to contact the Digital Learning Team to request a password reset.
digital.learning@sheffield.ac.uk
I don’t know the password to a test
Get in touch with the School running the course directly if you require access to a test but have not been sent the test password.
You should be able to find their contact details in the original email prompting you to sign up/enrol.
I’ve achieved a Certificate, but the text isn’t displaying correctly
Contact the Digital Learning Team using the same email email address you signed up to External Courses with. Include details of the course name and a screenshot or copy of the Certificate if possible. They will check you have met the conditions to achieve the Certificate, and organise for the Certificate to be regenerated. This may take several days.