Where public courses live
Public courses on Distinction are discovered on the learners hub. Open one and you arrive on its catalog page, where you can read the outline, check the price, and enrol. The hub is the front door; the catalog page is the room behind it. This guide walks you through that path so you always know where to look.
A quick note on two similar-sounding URLs. The learners hub is the public catalog — anyone can visit it and discover courses that creators have chosen to make public. Your own logged-in library, at /courses, is different: it holds the courses you have already enrolled in, and it is meant for you rather than for search. Knowing which is which saves a lot of confusion.
How to find a course as a learner
Begin on the learners hub and read what is actually listed. If you already know the skill you want, narrow down by category or topic; if you are exploring, browse the hub itself. When something looks right, open it — you will land on that course's catalog page.
On the catalog page, read the outline before you decide. A good course shows real modules and lessons, not three placeholder headings. Check the access level and the price, then enrol if it is public and priced in a way you are happy with, whether that is paid or free. Courses set to invite-only will not appear on the hub at all; that is deliberate, and it is how private cohorts stay private.
A little patience here pays off. Skim the module titles for a clear path from where you are now to the outcome the course promises, and look for signs that a real teacher stands behind it — an assessment, a worked example, a lesson that goes beyond a summary. If the catalog is quiet on the skill you want, come back to it later; new public courses appear as more creators publish, and the hub grows with them.
For creators who want to be found
If you want strangers to discover your work, publish your course as public and let it go through content review, which keeps the catalog trustworthy. Invite-only courses stay off the public index, which is exactly what you want for a quiet corporate cohort or a small private group. A flagship course you are proud of should be public, complete, and honest about what it teaches.
The single most useful thing you can do for discovery is to finish the course before you ask the hub to list it. Three real, well-built public courses make a working catalog; a handful of empty shells help no one. Categories and topics are supporting lists that come into their own once there is genuine inventory behind them — so it is worth filling the courses first and letting the structure follow.
Creation itself is covered in How to create an online course with AI, and standing up a school on your own domain is covered in How to launch a branded academy on your own domain. If you are still deciding whether to sell a course, a file, or notes, Should you sell a course, a digital product, or lecture notes? will help you choose.
Organisation domains
Discovery looks slightly different when a course lives on an organisation's own domain. On the main site, public course links lead toward the hub or a catalog page. On an academy's custom domain, that academy's own course page is the surface a learner sees. If you arrived from a centre's website, you will stay inside that brand; if you arrived from the hub, you will stay on the catalog page you opened. Either way, the path is consistent.
A quick path to follow
- Open the learners hub and confirm you are on the public catalog.
- Scan the listed courses. If there are only a few, treat the catalog as early days.
- If you know the skill you want, narrow down by category or topic; otherwise keep browsing the hub.
- Open a course to reach its catalog page.
- Read the outline and check the access level and price.
- Enrol when the outline is real and the price suits you.
- After enrolling, find the course again in your library at /courses.
- Share the catalog page's link if you want to point someone at the public listing.
What this page is and is not
This guide explains how public discovery works; it is not a second marketplace, and it will never show courses that do not exist. Private and invite-only courses stay hidden on purpose, and digital-store files or student-store notes live on their own surfaces rather than here. If the public catalog is still small — fewer than a few live courses — this supporting article stays out of search so it cannot rank as an empty page and disappoint a visitor. Once there is real inventory, the hub is the place to send anyone looking to learn.
Frequently asked questions
Is /learners the same as my logged-in course library?
No. /courses is the logged-in library and stays noindex. /learners is the public catalog.
Why might this article stay out of search?
If the public catalog returns fewer than three courses, this supporting article stays out of search so it cannot rank as an empty template.