Google IT Support Certificate (Coursera)

What it is

The Google IT Support Certificate is an online course run on Coursera. It teaches the practical skills a helpdesk or support technician uses every day: fixing computers, setting up networks, managing user accounts, and solving the everyday problems people bring to an IT team. You study at home, at your own pace, and finish with a certificate from Google that you can put on your CV and LinkedIn.

Who it suits

This is one of the most realistic ways into IT for someone with no tech background and no money to spend on a full course. It suits career changers, parents returning to work, and anyone who is comfortable with a computer but has never worked in IT. Because you study online in your own time, it fits around a job or family life. It works well if you are patient, like solving problems, and do not mind reading in English.

How you qualify

1. Sign up on Coursera and start the five-course series.
2. Work through the videos, quizzes and hands-on labs, roughly 10 hours a week.
3. Finish all five courses to earn the professional certificate.
4. Optional but recommended: use it to prepare for and sit the CompTIA A+ exams, which many UK employers know and trust.

Cost and how long it takes

Coursera charges a monthly subscription of about £40. There is no separate exam fee for the certificate itself. Most people finish in 3 to 6 months, so the total is roughly £120–250 depending on your speed. The faster you go, the less you pay. Coursera also offers financial aid, so apply for it if the fee is a barrier. If you later take CompTIA A+, that is a separate cost of a few hundred pounds.

The English you need

The whole course is in English. There are subtitles in several languages, but the quizzes, labs and technical terms are in English, and so is almost every IT job. You need to read and understand at about an intermediate level. You do not need perfect grammar or a strong accent, because much IT support is typed or done over chat. If your English is still very weak, do an ESOL course at the same time or first, so the technical words make sense.

The honest reality

The certificate opens the door but does not walk you through it. Employers still want to see that you can actually fix things, so build a home lab, practise, and be ready to explain what you did. On its own the Google certificate is respected but entry level; pairing it with CompTIA A+ makes your CV much stronger. Be realistic about the first job: helpdesk roles can be busy and the starting pay is modest, but they are a genuine stepping stone into better paid IT work.

What you can earn

Entry-level IT support and helpdesk roles in the UK typically pay around £22k–28k a year to start, higher in London. With a couple of years of experience and further certificates you can move into system administration, networking or cyber security, where salaries of £35k–50k and above are common. These are estimates from job sites, not a promise, and pay varies by employer and region.

Your next step

Open the Coursera page for the Google IT Support Certificate and start the free preview to see if it suits you. If the fee is tight, apply for financial aid before you pay. Set aside a fixed few hours each week, keep going even when a topic is hard, and plan from the start to add CompTIA A+ once you finish.