Getting your employer involved
It’s always worth asking whether there’s funding available for your course; there are lots of good reasons for your employer to invest in you. Distance learning is a flexible, effective, non-disruptive and highly targeted way of learning, and these are some of the extra arguments that you could use in convincing your employer:
- the qualifications are the same as those in traditional colleges, and our teaching is inspected by the same exam boards,
- our pass rates are good,
- you can fast-track or take things slowly, according to your circumstances,
- it’s off-the-job training, so it doesn’t mean you’re missing from work at important times, or that someone has to work harder to cover for you,
- it makes you better at your job – distance learning provides more and better opportunities to develop your organisation, problem-solving and communications skills,
- you can study in the unlikeliest places and at any time,
- you can relocate (even to another country) and generally move around with your work without affecting your studies, and
- training is good for the company – any organisation with plans to grow, or even just to stand still, needs to improve its workforce, and it’s usually far easier to train someone who’s already in the organisation than to look outside for a more qualified person.
We’re happy to confirm to an existing or potential employer that you are taking a course with us, and to provide them with updates on your progress if you want us to.
Those are the advantages that we offer to you as an individual, but there are also advantages from using us as a college, too:
- we have students from all over the world which means we can usually run the less popular options and to the same level of quality as the popular ones,
- we can join together dispersed workforces who cannot be brought together at one time and place to study,
- one-to-one relationships can be easier to achieve, making tutor-heavy training situations, such as mentoring, feasible,
- being accredited by many organisations helps us to provide a well thought-through and rounded service to our students,
- we offer good tutor support in terms of how long it lasts, the number of formal points of contact (assignments), access to troubleshooting, turnaround time, and ease of access,
- we’ve been doing this a long time and have had success with many students,
- our courses are designed to be self-contained for a comfortable pass,
- we can profile potential students to establish appropriate study programmes for them,
- costs, particularly travel and residential costs, are kept to a minimum,
- we have a grace period during which you have to change your mind over an enrolment, change levels, obtain refunds, and
- there’s no need to buy more training if you fail – we keep on teaching you until you pass.
Managing distance learning students
Employers often don’t appreciate the support that they can give to a distance learner. Discussing the issues with your manager can help them see how valuable the training will be. Encourage your employer to:
- allow you to study in the workplace – it helps you both,
- consider a mentor to help put your study into context at the company,
- provide structure through realistic goals – make sure someone takes sympathetic interest in you and their study,
- be understanding over shifts, overtime, trips and so on, especially at and leading into exams and assessment, and
- integrate your study into appraisals and HR policy.
Your employer should see that there are certain qualities that a successful distance learning student will develop:
- a willingness to participate,
- competent decision-making,
- a more proactive approach, especially over human contact,
- a more organised approach,
- a more goal-focused attitude,
- better time management,
- better self-knowledge,
- a willingness to ask and question, and
- a self-critical approach.
