Choosing a home study provider

Eagle Edu support tutor

Hi everyone,

We would like to provide some hints and tips to help you choose a good home study provider and to address frequently asked questions.

CHOICE
There is a very good choice of providers who provide home study courses. If you type "distance learning centres" in the search box on the home page, you'll be able to open a comprehensive list.

PRICE
Prices vary hugely so do your research. Ensure you know what is included and what is not, as not all centres charge all inclusive prices.

QUALITY OF SUPPORT
Ask what the provider's policy is with regards to support and regular communication. To help with your motivation, it's important you receive good quality support.

Find out:

How long it takes:
-to deal with queries
-to return feedback on progress tests, mock exams and assessments
-to mark assessments and provide feedback

Ask if you have your own support tutor to build a good working relationship with, or are you required to deal with different people?

QUALITY OF RESOURCES
Are you provided with additional learning resources apart from standard text/workbooks? What publisher is used? Are they user friendly?

EXAMS
AAT provide a list of exam venues before each sitting. Most students find exam venues reasonably locally, apart from those studying overseas of course.

ASSESSMENTS
Normally these can be sat when being supervised by a workplace employer. The procedure is comprehensive so you'd need to discuss it with the centre you choose to study with. If you think you will have a problem finding a supervisor, it might be worth finding a local distance learning provider who will allow you to sit them at the centre.

VISIT WEBSITES AND MAKE ENQUIRIES
Do your research to ensure the provider you choose meets your individual needs. The general enquiry and registration procedure should be efficient!

As I'm sure many will agree, studying from home does require discipline and good self motivation. If you have that and want to enjoy the flexibility of studying at your own pace, then you should be able to cope very well.

We hope this information is useful to anybody looking to study from home.

We would like to congratulate all students who have passed their exams. It gives you a fantastic sense of achievement. For those who need to resit, remain positive and keep focussed on your goal. :thumbup:

Kindest AAT Home Study Support Tutor

Rune

Distance learning

This may be my only option, I only failed on section 2 of FRA. My college WILL NOT allow me to continue to level 4 until I have passed Level 3. So I will have to wait until September 2009 before I can continue. So I considering distance learning for level 4 and retake FRA in December, I need advice, I have tried to contact my tutors and surprise they are not available until 29 August which is no use to me what so ever. I am that sort of person that needs answers asap. So I can start making decisions. Can you help or suggest someone that can.?!

Thanks in advance.

Stella

Eagle Edu support tutor

Resits

Hi Stella,

That's the advantage of home study, as you are not prevented from progressing to the next level. There are many papers at Technician level which you can start to study whilst you are preparing for your resit. For example, it could be a good idea to get unit 10 (the report) out of the way (you need assessor support to do this unit). It requires a lot of effort, but there isn't too much to learn to distract you from FRA revision. Progressing can help to maintain your motivation. It could hinder you though if you make wrong choices so you need to discuss it with a support tutor.

He's an example of the flexibility of home study. Recently, I supported a student who felt the pace of level 2 was far too slow at college. He passed his exam in December and spent the rest of the year doing assessments. He didn't wan't to wait until September to start the next level. He joined us in January and has just achieved level 3 along side finishing level 2 at college! He's now a year ahead of the people he went to college with. :thumbup:

Level 4 is challenging but rewarding. You would need to consider if you will have the same discipline when studying from home.

With regards to your resit. You can pay for support with a home study provider, but don't forget the AAT now have the free e-learning resources for FRA Unit 5 too. These are excellent and they cover the key topic areas, and they include quizzes.

Good luck and wishing you every success

Kindest Eagle Ed support tutor