How do the online tutors work?
Our online tutors are real people, not automated response systems that can only give limited answers. They are available 24/7 throughout the year, except public holidays. The tutors are able to assist you with everything from questions about programming and web development to business management and human resources.
The online tutorial feature works the same way as Instant Messenger. When this is activated, a small dialogue box appears in the corner of your screen. At the beginning you will be introduced to your tutor in the form of a message in the box. He or she will then ask if you need help with anything. You simply respond by typing your message. By having the online tutor present, you are never alone, there is always someone there to assist you.
*Online tutorial is not available with the TT series courses. You can see which courses are marked as TT series if you click on ‘All Courses’ in the course list.
Online tutorial is normally purchased as an add-on for an extra £10 per month with PAYG (Pay As You Go) subscriptions. There is normally a £40 charge to set this up. It comes free with all 12 month subscriptions and there is NO setup fee. If you would like the online tutorial feature to be added to your course, you can do this at any time by calling us to request it.
What is the PAYG subscription and how does it work?
PAYG stands for Pay As You Go. It works slightly differently to our other subscription services. It allows you to pay monthly without committing to a long period. You can use our courseware for as long as you like and stop the following month if you wish. It’s ideal for people that do not want to commit to long contract periods or pay a large sum of money at any one time.
We also offer our customers a direct debiting facility, which allows them to pay their monthly PAYG subscriptions automatically. Like the subscription service, this can be cancelled the following month at your request.
If you are intending to use our courseware for more than 5 months, we would recommend you switch to one of our other subscription plans as you’ll pay less over the long period. For instance, if you intended to use the courseware for a year, you could switch to our our 12 month subscription plan and save yourself up to £269 in a year. You’d not only make savings on the courseware, but you wouldn’t have to pay for the online tutor also, which is normally £10 per month on the PAYG plan and comes with a £40 setup fee.
Which subscription is right for me?
This really depends on a number of things such as what you’re learning, how much time you can commit, and your budget. For instance, if you only want to do one specific part of a course and know this will take you less than two months to complete, you’d be better off purchasing a monthly PAYG subscription. If however you’re intending to purchase a pre-packaged course, you’d be better off purchasing a 12 month subscription, as these can typically take much longer to complete. The other benefit of opting for a 12 month subscription is you get access to an online tutor free of charge if you’re doing an interactive course. As is it explains in the FAQ above, you could save yourself up to £269 in a year if you choose this option.
For those people that aren’t too sure what they want to do, or those that wish to learn a variety of skills in different areas, we offer the ‘All Access’ subscription. As the name suggests, this gives you access to our entire course range… that’s more than 250 courses. You can see all these courses by clicking on the course tab at the top of the website, then selecting ‘All Courses’. There are two payment options for this subscription: monthly PAYG or 12 month access. PAYG monthly is more cost effective if you intend to use the courseware in the short term, say only a few months. If you’re intending to use it longer than 7 months, we strongly recommend you opt for the 12 month subscription. You’ll save up to £333 compared with making 12 monthly payments of £89 + the £10 monthly online tutor fee and setup fee of £40. That’s a BIG saving!
What are Interactive and Total Training courses?
We have two types of courses: Interactive and Total Training. Each course is marked on the website to indicate whether it is from the Interactive or Total Training series.
Interactive incorporates text, diagrams and audio into the lesson. As a learner, you are required at times to interact with the lesson. This is done by answering multiple choice questions, moving objects around on the screen, and even typing programming code (if you’re doing a programming course). At the end of a lesson, you’ll be graded based on the answers you’ve given, plus on any tasks you’ve completed. You can track your scores throughout the whole time by using the on-screen tools. Once you’ve completed the course, you can print out a certificate of completion. This is for your personal records only and is not the same official certification you’ll get after sitting your final exams if your course leads to a certification.
The Total Training series courses work a little differently. They are based purely on video lectures. You simply sit back and watch the tutor speak, draw diagrams, work with equipment, and carry out various other tasks. You can either watch all of this and take notes or copy what the tutor is doing at the time of the lesson and put this into practice, such as editing a photograph or designing a creature if you’re doing an animation course. These courses are all pre-recorded, meaning you can rewind, pause, or jump to another lesson. The Total Training courses also contain project files which give you tasks to do after the lessons.
What are packaged courses?
We offer 19 packaged courses in a variety of different areas which are displayed on the course menu list. A packaged course contains several courses. For instance, if you click on Graphic Design, then click on the words, ‘What’s in the course’, you’ll see all the different courses in there such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign among others. By purchasing a packaged course, it allows a student to learn more about that area than studying from a single course. If you click on the ‘All Courses’ tab at the top of the course menu list, you’ll see every course module we offer. These are the individual courses. You can gain access to all of these course modules at once by purchasing one of our All Course Access subscriptions. See the homepage for more details.
Can anyone do these courses?
Most of the courses don’t require you to have any experience or knowledge in a particular field. The more advanced courses, such as Software and Database Development do however. Each course lists the prerequisites on their Summary Page. If you’re uncertain about this, please feel free to call us.
Who are the courses aimed at?
Pretty much anyone that’s ever aspired to make that career leap! Our courses also cater for professionals already working in similar industries, but wanting to upgrade their skills.
How soon can I start a course?
Once you’ve decided you want to do a course, it’s as simple as picking up the phone and booking it. If the order is placed before 5pm on a working day, we can normally have it to you within 1 hour or less. Some courses may take a little longer to set up though. If this is the case, we’ll let you know how soon we can get you started on the course.
Can I can cancel my course if I don’t like it or for any other reason?
Yes. Once you have purchased your course, you have seven working days in which to cancel your order. You must however write to us by post or email. We CANNOT cancel your order without written notification. This proves the date you requested your cancellation and that it was within the cancellation period. Further information on the cancellation procedure can be found in our Terms & Conditions.
What do I need to do the course?
Aside from determination to change your career or upgrade your skills, a PC that can connect to the internet (preferably with broadband). Most of the courses are designed for PC, but can be run on a MAC with certain plugins. We can advise you on this. It’s also important you’ve got Internet Explorer installed on your PC as most of the courses work well with this browser. If your course requires you to download other devices or drivers, you’ll be prompted to do this at the beginning. It’s quite straightforward. We’re always here to help in case you get stuck.
How long will a course take me to complete?
Because the courses are self-paced, you can take as long as you like. Just bear in mind though that if you’ve purchased a one month subscription, you’ll only have one month. The modules in the courses are not set out in any particular order. You can choose to start anywhere. You may only decide to complete some of the modules as you feel you don’t require the skills from the other modules.
Do I need to sit any exams at the end of my course?
Most of the courses are skills based, meaning there are no exams. Some of the more technical courses, like Microsoft and Cisco, do require you to sit exams if you want to get qualified. We can advise you on exam costs and where your nearest testing centre is.
Am I ready for this?
As you’ve probably guessed, the best person to answer that question will be ‘you’. You’ll know when it’s time to make that all important decision. It’s never too late to learn something new. Choose something that you feel passionate about. As the ancient Chinese philospher, Confucius once said: “Choose a job you love doing, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
