- Santander’s global learning platform saw over 5.9 million applications to its training programmes and courses last year.
- The most in-demand subjects included IT, languages, and job skills as people look to adapt to an ever-changing market.
- 41% of the platform’s users are over 31, while young people aged 18-24 also account for a significant portion.
Santander Open Academy, Banco Santander’s global learning and development platform, further cemented its growth last year as over 2.8 million people undertook one of its courses or received a scholarship or grant, an increase of 33% on the 2.1 million users in 2024.
This rise affirms the increasing demand for accessible, quality training, especially in such key areas for employability as technology, languages, and job skills. According to Santander’s Tomorrow’s skills report, eight out of ten people feel the need to continue broadening their skill set in a labour market where lifelong learning will be crucial.
In 2025, over 5.9 million people applied for a place on the platform’s near 900 programmes, courses, scholarships and grants. This increased demand speaks to the growing interest in broadening horizons and acquiring new skills in a market under constant transformation.
Artificial intelligence training skyrockets
Direct access courses were also popular, especially those on IT, artificial intelligence (AI) and business English, which demonstrates the value of combining digital skills, languages and practical skills for the workplace.
AI-related programmes such as ChatGPT Fundamentals, Google’s Master AI with Gemini, and Master AI with responsible prompting were the most in demand out of the 537,000 people who took courses in this area.
The Tomorrow’s skills report also concluded that six out of ten people believe AI to be a major disruptor in the labour market and expect AI and data science to be the most sought-after disciplines in the next five years.
The data also reveals a wide range of age groups, with a significant proportion of people over 31 (41%), followed by young adults aged 18 to 24 (36%), and a majority of women in both age groups. This affirms the new, key role that lifelong learning plays.
High demand for languages
Celebrated international, limited-place programmes like English Online (in partnership with the British Council) received over one million applications, confirming its status as one of the most requested globally.
With a proposition that covers business, technology, well-being and many others, not to mention partnerships with such prestigious international institutions as Harvard Business Impact, LSE, University of Pennsylvania and Google, Santander Open Academy continues to extend access to free, quality education worldwide.
Its current offering includes 64 direct access courses and 138 programmes with limited spaces that anyone over 18, anywhere, can apply for.
Supporting education, employability and entrepreneurship
Banco Santander has been a pioneering stalwart of education, employability and entrepreneurship for 30 years, standing out among the world’s financial institutions. It has invested 2.5 billion euros in these areas in partnership with over 1,000 prestigious international universities and entities in 13 countries, helping more than 8.3 million people and businesses along the way. Santander also featured in Fortune magazine’s 2025 “Change the World” list as one of the biggest contributors to making the world a better place (www.santander.com/universidades).
Santander Open Academy offers a free, diverse and flexible training proposition with courses, scholarships and content for both customers and non-customers. It enables people to boost their employability by learning and building on the job skills that the market is demanding most.