SkillsTrain Reviews from Students

THE STUDY IS LONG HARD, BUT GOOD REWARD AT THE END. EMPLOYERS PAY FOR WHAT YOU KNOW.

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After a few turbulent months at Home and at Work that affected my ability to continue the course, mainly due to me feeling unwell most of the time, but the doctors were unable to narrow down the reasons. I decided to focus on my goal, to work from home but in rural location, and get back on track with my course! Here's to country living, bring it on!

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My achievements always starts with me doing my TMA and submitting it . Near enough most of the time I'm requested to resubmit. Nine times out of ten I get a substancialy higher mark usually around 75-95%. So for myself I'm always achieving.

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Getting through the first lesson of Section 1C of the course has been a big challenge, but I have done it. Normally I try to complete a lesson a week, but a number of personal issues have got in the way since I started this section. In the last few weeks, I have been in hospital for some minor surgery and need time out to recover, my husband was made redundant and needed lots of my support when his company transferred its software development and maintenance work to China, and then last week one of my cats was diagnosed with a heart condition and needed some treatment, time and attention. Alongside all this I have continued to take full-time care of my 2 children, aged 1 and 3. Despite the challenges, I set myself the goal of sitting down for 2 nights a week, as usual, and doing what I could, even if it was only half an hour or so. It meant taking longer than usual to complete the section, but I have now completed it and feel a real sense of achievement.

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At 55 years of age, I think I have achieved a great deal of progress on the CIW course, and although it has taken a bit longer for me reach my current stage, I am now coming to the last section and am nearer to my goal of starting a new career. Thank you.

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As a new student I am feeling very pleased with the results of my first two TMA's I have the found the course very user friendly. I am amazed at the amount of information I have learned and understood in such a short space of time. Currently I am working 4 hours a day and not getting bored or fed up at all. I obviously find some of the jargon a little confusing at times but eventually it all sinks in, also it helps and gives me a boost when I read the feedback that is received on the progress report I am hoping that I will be able to complete the course without any major problems.

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I am new student and just submit my TMA 01,02, 03. I am not working anywhere at this moment before I was working in school in India .I just want to change my field because there is much more opportunity in IT.

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I enjoy doing my ciw web design manager course, I find the training and support of the tutors excellent, it has given me a move in-depth knowledge of web design which I never had before.I started being interested in web design when I was attending my college course, I found that designing a webpage really interested and wanted to take it further.My next approach I took was I enroll in glamorgan university and I found the course really interested, I achieved very good marks and I was getting on well with the coursework unfortunately I had a really bad kidney infection and was unable to attend the university or catch up with the course.
I have been really pleased with the tutors and the marks ive been getting on my coursework and the skills ive obtained from the course.
Id like to say a many thanks to the SkillsTrain team for making this course so rewarding.

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So far so good, general knowledge of computer has been achieved by me and really happy about this. Am facing challenges now. I now have a good understanding of what website design is.

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I have successfully started my own web-media design company with one of my friends.
Thanks to the CIW Web Site Design Management course that I am doing, I am able to put all my knowledge from what I have learnt into making this happen. I started with realizing my goal and taking a risk and seizing the opportunity.
From the first section of the course I was able to distinguish what active employee roles would be necessary for me to start the business, for example positions such as a designer, a backend technician, a marketing and sales manager and so on and because of my course I was able to strategically piece everything together and make it happen.

Even the small section on Project Management helped me out immensely in co-ordinating my objectives and using the project management triangle to run an efficient project with the most control, it was great.

I feel that I still have a lot more to get out from my course as I am still on the Scripting Language called Perl and I still have far to go but what makes it so great is that all that I learn will be put into practise and can be put into good use. I haven't made much money from the business but experience and a foot in the door is a good start.

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I was going to put off doing this until I had actually achieved something, but I think still being here is an achievement in itself. let me explain.
I had planned to start the course in September 2005. the first disaster was that my isp and telephone line provider decided to have a major disagreement with me in the middle, hence I had no internet connection or telephone line for two months. just managed to start the course by reading through some of the material, but not much help without the internet. my new grandson was however providing some distraction at the time. then when he was just 6 weeks old, on 17th September 2005, we lost him to cot death. suffice it to say it was a very bad time, more so with no landline to keep in touch with my daughter who lived 12 miles away and was understandably traumatised by this. found it very difficult to concentrate on anything for about 4 months. more delays. then when I finally got the phone and the internet sorted out, my daughter had a breakdown and her partner threw her out, so she came to stay with me for a while. again more difficulties and distractions until she finally moved out in January 2006. by this time I was wondering if it was all worth it, as I seemed to be getting nowhere fast. I work in the customer services department of the biggest diy chain in the country and lo and behold, in February 2006 we had a massive fire at one of our warehouses in derbyshire, wiping out our entire stock of appliances, worktops and finishing touches. the fallout from that lasted 10 months with everyone working flat out to sort out peoples kitchens bathrooms and bedrooms. I came home every night completely exhausted with my brain numb. nevertheless, I kept going with the course, struggling all the way and not able to devote half the time I had planned to study. in August I was blessed with another granddaughter - again more distractions. this time we were all very worried and concerned about her, having lost the little boy the year before. however, she continues to grow and delight us all and is now a bouncing 9 months old. I have another granddaughter who is four and a half and lives with me permanently. obviously she takes a lot of my time too but is none the less a joy and delight to have around. in March this year I was given notice to quit my home as the landlord has decided to sell the house. when I took on the tenancy I understood it to be a long let, at least 5 years. yet after just 2 years I find myself looking for another house yet again. this of course will cause further delays. sometimes I wonder if I will ever get through this course before all the material is out of date! I am now coming to the end of section 2 part A and know I should have accomplished much more than this. I have maintained around an 85% average over the tma's I have done so far, so although I am slow and way behind, I am very pleased to be still here and still trying. so if you are struggling like me, keep going. the only thing you will accomplish by giving up is failure!

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I've managed to achieve regular assignments whilst also keeping the pressure of two full time jobs, in construction and in hospitality and catering, also moving home. whilst travelling at least two miles to process lab files by an internet cafe computer. since recently learning and finishing my assignments I have assisted people on information on their own computers, building and updating. these I feel have been my recent achievements.

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Ever since I joined this course I've felt its the course for me. Study at your own time when you like. Skills Train has helped me out quite a lot since I've joined and have always been happy to help me with what ever I needed help with. The online internet training had been great. I've found it very useful. Also I would like to point out that I wasn't any good at anything in school never really paid much attention but being at skills train you can study what you want. So you learning something you enjoy.

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I have learnt so much from this course I have progressed slowly with the help of the tutors I May not have done everything perfect forst time but I am now getting to grips and enjoy the course so much thanks everybody for you help.

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I work in a care home thats very busy having to do 12 hr shifts sometimes it get so busy that I leave the work place very late after 22hrs but still manage to have a few minutes on my studies because if I do not create time I will never find it its really difficult but I have to do it as I wanna gain new skills and the course is straight forward and interesting to learn new skills.

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After finding it hard to juggle running a home, caring for my partner whom has a brain tumor and DVT and studying I have finally came to grips with things and set a routine which I can get quiet alot of work done even if it has meant downsizing my social life to practically non existant, but hopefully it will all be worth it.

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For looking back only two months ago I did not know what a cookie was, how to disable pictures from downloading or the history of the internet. I only knew the basics such as how to surf the internet or how to turn the computer on. From the first month on this course I started to learn more and more and the interest in computers is increasing for me. I now believe that I can become a web designer if I put my mind to it. From what I have learnt I now have my family and friends coming up to me asking advice on problems they encounter with their computer and I now know how to help them. I am only on my third lesson but I have learnt more than I initially anticipated and I will continue to learn more and more even when I have passed this course.

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I managed to get 100% for PLTMA09! As well as sustaining a full time job I have designed a personalised mySpace site for some friends: http://www.myspace.com/anywaydance, as well as link up with a web designer to help design a website using a content management system "Drupal" so I can put some database / server stuff into practice.

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Last year I was pondering on what career direction to take and if it would be beneficial to enhance my prospects and find more time with my family on a steady income. During this phase I was contacted by Skills Train on the phone asking me if it was okay to send a tutor to my home to talk further about the services. The following week the tutor arrived and talked alot of sense and understanding about my future for my family and how this can be achieved. This man gave me so much inspiration to venture in a world of IT which seemed scary and complexed at the time. Anyway, time passed and I was accepted to start studying as soon as the first book arrived, I kept my head in the book and started to understand terms and knowledge which I thought did not occur to me. Further down the line it became strange and I started to enjoy configuring my setting and handling my cookie accordingly to the steps in the book, wow. Once I started to dable with the coding and the structure and functions it all started to click, my god I thought, whats happening to me, so then it started. A friend approached me with another friend looking for a web designer to develop a site, so I snatched up the opportunity for learning sake to apply my lessons. They was over the moon with what I designed for them which then gave me the confidence to carry on, I then designed for a Bar which was a new experience dealing with clients and there needs, another good experience. Whilst getting a taste of the world on my terms, I was looking after my Grandmother, cooking, cleaning, doctor appointments and also studying, and raising a family of three beautiful children. Unfortunately my Grandmother passed away January and then I was in a position of thought, to what to do, how to support my family. Another week passed after another and then out the blue came another website for development which I jumped to the opportunity, for some reason the work seemed to flock to me. I then came up with the decision to start a business doing web design, why not, go for it I said with trembling Knees and feeling of am I crazy. So I went to town and registered with the business enterprise that support start up business, they were great with fantastic guidance and knowledge on the IT field of business. I attended courses about the legal requirements and structure needs for a business, they guided me the right way and qualified me for a grant. Then more work, a business plan, cash flow charts, you name it, we covered it. The business now is growing at a steady pace and only advancing in services, the design is strictly from notepad and css style way for great search engine optimisations with design, there's so much, but fantastic. I'm now on a high, legally running a business from home, and this week got another two contracts signed, possible work in the states.

Just a little of our change in life due to Skills Train. My spelling is still the same, sorry.

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It's been a difficult month for me so far. I have had to battle with working nights at my job as my wife had her aooendix removed a week ago. I am trying to look after my two boys, making sure my wife is comfy and keeping the household in check as well as getting in a few hours of course work. I am on Section 4 Part A lesson 12. my last TMA result was in the 90% range and I am very close to my next TMA. fingers crossed I get a good result.

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Having joined the course in Sep 2005...which seems a lifetime ago. I have had several challenges both personal and within my workplace that have knocked my confidence to the point where I almost gave up on this course thinking that I would never be able to achieve my qualification. There always seemed to be something else more important - and not enough hours in the day.
I am currently in my fourth role with my present company, due to redundancies and being the only one left with the experience at the time to fill the roles, not wanting to let anyone down has left me with nothing left for myself, while dealing with being pulled left right and center at work I have also had a son....my pride and joy and the reason now for a much calmer outlook on all of life's little problems.
The testimonials I read shamed me for almost giving up, but my sons picture on my desk makes me read just one more page of my studies every time!
Thankfully I feel I am getting back on track again, I May not finish this course in record time, but I will complete it and to a standard to be proud of...lets hope the old grey matter can keep up.

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As I come nearer to the end of my course and my friends and family know of what I am doing, the word is spreading that soon I will be able to design, create and manage websites and because of this I already have three people who are waiting for me to finish my course and create manage or design their website. I know that this is a skill that I will be grateful that I have, and the great teaching method behind it which gave me that knowledge. I continue to work at a fast pace and still maintain excellent tutor marked assignment scores, in the last section all my scores were above 85%.

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