A Range of Times to Enrol on Courses - East Anglian Daily Times Education Page, 27 January 2004

There was a time when the academic year was governed by a rigid schedule and enrolling for a course was rather a case of ‘September or nothing’. What’s more, your choices of when and how to learn were also pretty limited. These days fortunately programmes are much more flexible – full-time, part-time, work-based learning and on-line learning – and that change has also resulted in a variety of starting options.

For some types of courses, such as those offered by learndirect for example, there is no set enrolment date and you can make a start at whatever time of year suits you. The courses are delivered on line, so once you have enrolled at an accredited centre you can learn at the pace you want, whenever you want, wherever there is internet access. If you think this is the kind of programme for you then you can find out more from the Suffolk College learndirect centre on 01473 296559.

The Suffolk Institute of Technology (SIT) also offers on-line courses with no set enrolment dates. These are fully tutor-supported and choose to achieve a full qualification or credits towards one. These cover subjects such as introduction to the internet, using the internet to support business and developing employees through mentoring. The latest addition to the portfolio is Professional Development Planning - teaching students how to recognise their strengths, identify the areas that would benefit from improvement and plan to address those needs.

For those lecture room courses where the support of the tutor and the rest of the group is a factor in success, there have also been changes. The Suffolk College and SIT higher education provision offers enrolments in February as well as September. There are February starts in further education centres as well, including IT, hospitality and catering, and leisure.

Part of the new academic thinking has been the introduction of a more ‘building block’ or modular approach. The Suffolk Modular Degree Programme offers a framework within which there are all kinds of opportunities to combine subjects and levels. If committing to the entire degree seems a bit daunting, you can start by studying just a single module and then choose to opt for formal assessment and achieve credits towards your chosen goal.

As well as understanding that not everyone wants to study full-time and start their course in September, the value of maturity and experience has also been recognised. So if you are over 21 the absence of formal academic qualifications does not have to be a bar to higher education. Relevant professional qualifications can be taken into account, and there are access courses covering subjects such as writing skills and study skills to ease you back into education.

Find out which is the best way forward for you. You can contact the Suffolk College Information Centre in person, or by telephone on 01473 296606. Or visit the websites www.suffolk.ac.uk and www.sit.ac.uk.