Author: Open College

When looking at studying courses, you may have noticed that some Diplomas include ‘Level 3 Qualification’ in their title, but you may not fully understand exactly what this means. Put simply, a level 3 qualification is an entry level course that has been designed to give a student a solid foundation understanding of any given topic. Equivalent to A-Levels or High School Leavers Certificates, Level 3 qualifications provide a basis for someone to either progress their studies at a higher level or enter into the workplace in a role related to the qualification they hold. Usually a year in length, the courses will cover the main aspects of the subject… Read More

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When you make the decision to carry on with your learning, you will quickly find that some of the courses can prove to be quite expensive. As a general rule, the higher the level of study you wish to do, the higher the price of the course, due to the amount of work and interactions with tutors needed to complete them. There are many options for finding ways to afford your course fees, some are straight forward and simple and others can be a bit more complicated. In some cases, students can apply for grants or loans from the Government to help them to afford their courses, however, this process… Read More

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When looking at continuing your educational journey, you will soon begin to realise there are almost endless options, from whether to study A-Levels or Diplomas, through to the subjects and fields of courses available. All these options are available for you to choose from before you even begin to consider the other aspects of returning to education. Once you have decided what you want you to study and in what format, the next thing you need to look at and consider is whether you want to study the course online or in a classroom. Both options of study, whether online or in a classroom, carry their own benefits and will… Read More

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Regardless of the level of your job currently, the option of upskilling yourself to make you more confident and capable within your role is always a good idea. But you may be wondering exactly what is upskilling and how to do it. Upskilling is the process of undertaking training in areas that relate to day to day skills that you use within your job. So for example, if you work daily with a team of people, then you may feel you need more effective leadership and management skills or better communication skills to help you better work with your team. The choice of courses you opt to study when upskilling… Read More

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Functional Skills are Level 2 qualifications (the same level of difficulty as GCSEs), unlike GCSEs, the courses are more modular in style and offer students the chance to learn the more practical and applicable side of the subject. So for example, if you were studying Functional Skills in Maths, you would be learning how to use a calculator to perform certain operations, rather than learning how to do algebra. If you’re currently looking for work or a change of career, you may have noticed a lot of the job adverts you keep seeing make mention of candidates needing to hold either GCSEs or Functional Skills qualifications in English, Maths or… Read More

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Whether you are studying A-Levels, GCSEs or Functional Skills, the use of past papers when studying really is invaluable. In fact, using past papers as part of your studying is invaluable for any course that has examinations at the end. Although you may think that using past papers when studying might be a form of cheating, it’s actually not. Each year the exam boards create and form new examinations for student to sit, these papers are a combination of old questions used previously and also new ones which relate to any syllabus changes. The thing that a lot of students don’t know (or realise), is that the same exam boards… Read More

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Professional Development courses (also known as Continuing Professional Development) are a great way for a professionals to keep fully up to date with their industry and sector. Often delivered as short courses in various areas such as Business or Healthcare, Professional Development courses are widely available both online and in person. Many jobs require employees to take part in Professional Development on a regular basis and often have a budget set aside for exactly this. For example, Doctors and Nurses are required to frequently partake in CPD to ensure their skills and knowledge is up to date. If you work within an industry with a Professional Development requirement, then more… Read More

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Functional Skills are Level 2 qualifications that are now available to students who don’t hold the more traditional GCSEs in English or Mathematics. Used as a way to fill the gap of the missing qualifications, Functional Skills are great courses to provide students with the ability to confidently use either English or Mathematics in their day to day lives. Widely accepted by universities as a replacement qualification for GCSEs, Functional Skills courses are rapidly becoming the more popular option for mature students looking to further their education on a higher level course. How are Online Functional Skills Courses Studied? With online Functional Skills courses now available, students are free to… Read More

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Whether you are returning to education or helping your child find their way, it’s important to know the levels of qualifications available and what they require. Levels of qualifications range from Level 1 through to Level 8 and we will explain here what each level relates to on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). Although you may be more used to seeing levels of qualifications relating to Diplomas, they actually also apply to GCSEs and A-Levels too. The level of a qualification actually relates to the difficulty of the course content, rather than it’s type and each level can offer hundreds of different subjects within it. Level 1 Qualification Level 1… Read More

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There are many reasons why students may be wondering if they can take courses at two different colleges. The main reason tends to be either the college they attend full time doesn’t offer their ideal course or they didn’t get the needed grades to study the subject at their current college. Whatever the reason for considering studying courses at two different colleges, it’s important to know the ins and outs of how you can go about this. The first thing to accept is that you’re not necessarily going to be able to study your additional course at a traditional college. Chances are, the classes for the additional subject will be… Read More

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