# Free courses and free lessons

> Make a whole course, a section or a lesson free for any student.

Source: https://paatya.net/docs/courses/free-courses

You can make a whole course free, or just some of it: a section, or single lessons. Any student in your academy can then start it from **Free courses** and open the free parts, without you enrolling them. It is a way to let new students try your teaching before they pay.

Free parts are open to **every student**: the ones who [signed up themselves](https://paatya.net/docs/students/self-registration) and the ones you added. Visitors who aren't signed in can't open them.

## What you can make free

| Free | What a student gets |
| --- | --- |
| **The whole course** | Every lesson, quiz and document, and a certificate when they finish. The course is labelled **Free**. |
| **A section** | Every lesson in that section, with its quizzes and documents. The course is labelled **Free preview**. |
| **A lesson** | That lesson, with its quiz and documents. The course is labelled **Free preview**. |

A course with only some free parts never gives a certificate on free access. The student earns it once you enroll them and they finish the course.

## Make a whole course free

1. In the left menu, click **Courses** and open the course.
2. On the **Details** tab, click **Edit** on the **Access** card and turn on **The whole course is free**.
3. Click **Save**.

## Make a section or a lesson free

1. Open the course and click the **Curriculum** tab.
2. For a section, click **Make free** on its row. It changes to a green **Free**. Click it again to stop.
3. For a single lesson, open the lesson's **⋯** menu and choose **Make free**. To stop, choose **Stop making it free**.

The change is saved straight away. Free sections and lessons show a green **Free** badge.

![Curriculum with a free section](https://paatya.net/docs/img/courses-free-courses-1.png)

You can also turn on **Free lesson** on the **Settings** tab of the lesson editor. See [Topic settings](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/curriculum#topic-settings).

Only **published** courses and lessons appear in Free courses. See [Publish, clone, archive or delete](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/publish-archive-delete).

## What students see

When your academy has a free course, students get a **Free courses** link at the top of their pages, next to **Certificates**. Each course shows what is free, for example "3 of 7 lessons free", and a **Start for free** button.

![Free courses, as a student sees them](https://paatya.net/docs/img/courses-free-courses-2.png)

**Start for free** adds the course to their **My Courses** with **free access**. On the course page:

- a box at the top says they have free access, with buttons to **Email**, **Call** or **WhatsApp** you
- the lessons they can open are marked **Free**
- the rest are locked, and sections with nothing free say **Enroll to unlock**

![A course on free access](https://paatya.net/docs/img/courses-free-courses-3.png)

If they open a locked lesson, for example from an old link, they see "This lesson is for enrolled students", with the same buttons.

![A locked lesson](https://paatya.net/docs/img/courses-free-courses-4.png)

The buttons use your academy's support email and phone from [Branding](https://paatya.net/docs/academy/branding), and the WhatsApp number from the contact section of your [landing page](https://paatya.net/docs/academy/landing-page). A button is left out if you haven't given that detail.

## Give a student the whole course

If your academy [sells courses online](https://paatya.net/docs/course-payments/sell-a-course), a student on free access sees **Buy for ₹…** on the course and can buy the rest themselves. Otherwise, when they pay you, [enroll them](https://paatya.net/docs/enrollments/enroll-students) on the course as usual. Either way, their free access becomes **full access** on the same enrollment, so their progress and quiz results carry on. The message after enrolling says so, for example "2 had free access and now have the whole course, with their progress."

In **Enrollments** and on the student's page, a course they started for free shows **Free access** until you enroll them or they buy it.

![Enrollments, with a student on free access](https://paatya.net/docs/img/courses-free-courses-5.png)

## If something goes wrong

- **A student can't find Free courses.** The link only appears when at least one published course has a free part.
- **A lesson isn't free though its section is.** Only published lessons show. Check the lesson is published.
- **A free student wants a certificate.** Only a course that is free all the way through gives one on free access. Enroll them to give them the whole course.

## Related

- [Let students sign up](https://paatya.net/docs/students/self-registration)
- [Certificates](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/certificates)