Incorporating examinations with the course fee then including an exam guarantee is popular with a good many training companies. But let's examine why they really do it:

We all know that we're still being charged for it - it's obviously already in the overall price charged by the training provider. It's certainly not free (it's just marketing companies think we'll fall for anything they say!) We all want to pass first time. Going for exams when it's appropriate and paying as you go makes it far more likely you'll pass first time - you revise thoroughly and think carefully about the costs.

Isn't it outrageous to have to pay a training college up-front for examination fees? Hold on to your money and pay for the exam at the time, rather than pay marked up fees - and sit exams more locally - rather than in some remote place. Huge profits are made by many companies who incorporate exam fees into the cost of the course. For quite legitimate reasons, a number of students don't get to do their exams and so the company is quids-in. Amazingly, there are training companies who rely on that fact - and that's how they increase their profits. Also, 'Exam Guarantees' often aren't worth the paper they're written on. The majority of companies won't be prepared to pay for you to re-take until you're able to demonstrate an excellent mock pass rate.

The cost of exams was 112 pounds or thereabouts last year when taken at VUE or Pro-metric centres in the UK. So why pay hundreds or thousands of pounds extra for 'Exam Guarantees', when it's obvious that the most successful method is a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools.

In first place for the most common difficulty for IT students is often the 'in-centre' workshop requirement. A lot of training companies extol the virtues of the 'benefits' of going in to their classes, it's almost certain though that you'll find them a major problem because of:

- Multiple centre visits - often 100's of miles.

- Mon-Fri availability for events is typically the case, and getting two to three days out of work can represent quite a problem for most working students.

- Don't forget lost holiday time. Often, we get twenty days annual leave. If half of that is used up on workshops, then it doesn't leave much for us and our families.

- 'In-Centre' workshop days fill up quickly and often end up larger than is ideal.

- Often students are trying to maintain a quick pace, but some like to take it easier and not be pushed beyond their comfort-zone. This generates tension and difficulty a lot of the time.

- Quite a lot of students talk of the high costs involved with getting to and from the centre while covering the cost of accommodation and food becomes prohibitively expensive.

- We all enjoy our privacy. We wouldn't want to run the risk of losing any advancement at our current place of work because of our studies.

- Posing questions around our class-mates will sometimes make us a little self-conscious. Would you admit that you've occasionally avoided posing a question because you honestly thought you might seem thick?

- There are those of us who occasionally work elsewhere in the country for several days at a time, imagine the increased difficulty in making the necessary classes, as time becomes even more scarce.

The perfect situation is based on viewing a pre-made workshop - enabling you to learn any time of the day that suits. Study can happen anywhere that suits. Got a laptop?... Then why not take in a bit of sun in your garden while you study. Any issues that arise just get onto the live 24x7 support. Repeat any of the classes at any time you need to brush up - memory is aided by repetition. And you can say goodbye to note-taking - everything's ready to go. What could be more straightforward: Time and money is saved and travelling is avoided altogether; plus you have a far more comfortable training atmosphere.

Not too long ago MS brought up-to-date their main qualification paths. They upgraded from their former 'MCAD/MCSD' ('Microsoft Certified Application/Solutions Developer') exams to the 'MCTS' (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) and the MCPD (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer) exams. Before you deal with the complete MCPD examination, you should complete 2 MCTS programs initially. When programming is going to be new to you, it seems sensible to get going on a programming introduction course first - despite the fact that MS entitle their 1st module a foundation module. You should also gain a really good idea of software environments and software-support before any of it, so consider starting off your studies by doing a support-course. This will also help with obtaining your first job within the IT sector. A full career track will need somewhere around 600-700 hours of study time, which means if you're training part time you will be able to complete within around twelve - eighteen months.

Interactive Home-Study Commercial PC Training For MCSE Network Technical Support >>