Your Questions Answered
Q. When can I start my course?
A. Any time - we have people enrol and start virtually every day of the year.
Q. How long does the course take - What does "a self-paced 100 hour course" mean?
A.
We leave it up to the student to decide how many hours they study, when
and where they study. You can do more hours one week than the next if
you want. You can take a break in studies, slow down, speed up, or vary
the amount of work you are doing if you need to. Some students will take
2 years to do a 100 hour course, others taking only a couple of months.
Some complete a 600 hour certificate in 6 months, while others take
many years. These courses are as flexible as you will get anywhere!
Q. If I do a shorter course first can I get credits towards a certificate or diploma later?
A.
Yes. We will assess previous studies to give you appropriate credits.
Doing it this way will probably take a little longer and cost more in
fees though.
Q. Can I pay in instalments?
A.
Yes, however full payment up front is the cheapest option. All courses
can be paid in two instalments, some can be paid in three or more.
(Please refer to fee schedule on enrolment form for more information.)
Q. Do we get a discount if two of us enrol together?
A. You may claim a 5% discount on fees if you both enrol in courses at the same time.
Q. Do we get a discount if we enrol in a second course?
A.
Yes, you may claim a 5% fee discount when you enrol in a second course.
(This does not apply however to the second stage or part of the same
certificate or diploma.)
Q. What happens if I have to stop studying for a while?
(e.g. Get sick, go on holidays, have a baby).
A. Apply for an extension. It's OK to take a break and start up your study at a later point in time. Just let us know.
Q. Do I need any extra books?
A.
You are supplied with all "essential" references. Extra books are
always useful though, especially for special projects. Tutors will
advise you what to buy if you decide you would like to get any extra
books.
Q. How do I contact my tutor?
A.
Generally students contact their tutor via mail or phone the school. Use our social media or student room; or access academic staff through chat facilities on www.acs.edu.au or www.acsedu.co.uk. Leave a message if your tutor
isn't available and they will contact you back within 24 hours.
Q. How long does a shorter course (i.e 80-120 hrs) take to complete?
A. Commonly no more than one year. Some students finish in less than 6 months.
Q. How long does a certificate take to complete?
A.
Commonly around 6-9 months, if studying full time, or around two years
if studying part time. With dedication, part time students can complete a
certificate in one year.
Q. What do I get as a student?
A.
You need to understand that a course is "an experience that makes you
into a different (more capable) person". If a course does it's job
properly; you will graduate with a different mind set, and a different
perspective on the subject you studied. To bring about these changes
involves presenting you with information of course; but it's a great
deal more than that. Some people enter study, thinking it's all about
collecting information; but that's not study (that's building a
library).
As a student, we provide you with things to read,
selected information about the subject -but not too much information for
the duration of the course. If we gave you too much, the important
things could not be emphasised as easily and you could not experience
the reinforcement and reflection which is critical to a learning
experience.
We also guide you through experiences,
whether observation and reflection; research; or practical tasks. These
experiences are designed with input from highly experienced
psychologists and educators; to achieve the learning which we aim to
develop.
We believe an important part of this whole
learning process is to provide support; whether through automated
services and extra resources (e.g. in the student room) or through
generous access to academic specialists who can guide and
mentor the student as needed. Your fees are paying not only for a set of
notes; but for a whole process of learning to be designed, maintained
and supported by having resources standing ready to support you whenever
we detect you straying off course; or whenever you approach us seeking
assistance.
Q. Do you offer Degrees?
A.
Courses are written to and delivered at a standard that is equal to or
higher than degrees offered by some institutions; however, being largely
applied or vocationally oriented studies, these cannot be called
degrees. Our diploma graduates however have been highly competitive with
degree graduates in the workplace. We often hear of graduates who have
been given exemptions from subjects in degrees by universities (in many
countries); but ultimately, the credit that is granted by any
institution is on a case by case basis at the time it is granted; and
nothing can be certain with us or any other institution, until that time
comes.
ACS is however
affiliated with some degree granting institutions including Warwickshire
College; a large multi campus government institution in the UK.
Q. How does recognition of the school compare with other colleges?
A.
Exceptionally well; but different. We are
internationally recognised by the International Accreditation and
Recognition Council (IARC). In addition, in many respects we are more
widely recognised, due to the fact that we have been established and
trained students for so long, through all states, and many overseas
countries. (Most other colleges tend to operate only in one state or
region, and may be poorly recognised outside that area.) Close
involvement with industry has seen many employers sponsor staff through
our courses, and many graduates develop strong careers as leaders in
their respective industries.
Consider
the following extract from the Higher Education Editor of the
Australian Newspaper (Wed Oct 27, 2010) - "A Skills Australia paper
released last week calls for a rethink on how the sector is funded,
managed and delivers training. It says completion rates are poor,
training is often poorly focused, and skills too often wasted in
unrelated jobs"
These are comments about mainstream, government endorsed education! Compare us to that?
Q. What if I want your course by want government recognition.
A.
ACS is affiliated with several other institutions in both Australia and
the UK, who are government recognised, and can offer our courses (WE
have developed the courses but license them to these institutions). Each
of these institutions will offer a different mix of support services to
what ACS does. Some offer different qualifications. The modules can
however be done with these if that is your specific need. Ask if you
need to know this.
Q. What do people think of the school?
See our student feedback on this site. Click here
Q. How do your diplomas compare with other Australian colleges, such as RTO's, TAFE's or our Affiliates?
A. Our courses tend to be longer than many other colleges; teaching you more than what a certificate or diploma might offer elsewhere.
Some of our affiliate colleges offer the same courses (which they license from us); but the fees and services they offer can be different to what we offer. Generally you will be getting what you pay for with most of our affiliates. Course content and notes can be the same with two colleges, but one may have lower fees, because it has lower costs and offers less service to the student. For some students, price can be more important; for others certain services can be more important.
In the past, accredited diplomas involved well over 2000 hours of
study, however, under the governments new Australian Qualifications
Framework, many TAFE diplomas can be completed in much less time. We
believe that the time you spend studying is important to the quality and
long term recognition of a qualification. As such, we are maintaining
old standards and distinguishing our graduates from those undertaking
diplomas in this new system. Short qualifications from other Colleges
may in the long term prove meaningless.
Q. How do I do workshops if I reside outside Australia?
A.
We've now developed workshop modules that can be done in any place in
the world. The "workshop"modules have highly specified, very practical,
projects (Problem Based Learning Projects), which have been designed to
achieve exactly the same outcomes as were approved by industry
committees established and operated in the past by the school. The
concept is one that has been tried and proven in leading universities in
the USA, Canada and elsewhere. Alternatively we can appoint an
appropriately qualified person anywhere to work through curriculum
documentation supplied by us, to satisfy the requirements set down in a
course.
Q. How is Practical Work Done?
A
lot of people find it hard to understand how a distance education
course can be anything more than reading and answering questions. Some
are, and if that’s your experience with distance education in the past,
this is unfortunate. In reality, distance education has a great deal of
flexibility and today can be more practical and relevant to real life
than classroom education.
People today are better networked
than ever, and more exposed to visual images than ever (e.g. In the past
if someone was studying an animal they had never before seen, the
options to see an image of that animal would be virtually nil, unless
supplied by their teacher in the classroom. Today people are bombarded
by images of virtually everything they could imagine through cable TV,
YouTube, web sites, magazines, etc.
Be aware that no
course will ever teach you everything! Wherever you study, your course
should lay a foundation and framework for you to build on. It should
open up opportunities for further learning –to further develop your
practical skills, problem solving skills, knowledge, networking,
communication abilities etc, within your field of study. Some courses
focus heavily on the information; some on assessment more than learning,
others focus heavier on the problem solving, and others perhaps on the
practical, etc.
No course can have it’s emphasis on everything; because to emphasise one thing is to de-emphasise something else.
Our
courses are “experiential” learning (i.e. a concept in education that
focuses on learning through experience). Over more than 2 decades, these
courses have been developed using feedback and suggestions from both
staff and students to create a variety of different ways of building all
sorts of learning experiences into the courses. Some are integral and
compulsory experiences within a course, others are optional facilities
(such as student interaction through the student room directory), which
some students use, while others do not use.
We get our students to do all sorts of hands on and observational tasks throughout courses. Examples may be:
- To
visit a farm and observe things (for students who have a problem with a
real farm, they might take a “virtual tour” on a web site or using a
video).
- To study the anatomical structure of a bone or piece of meat obtained from a butchers shop.
- To collect pieces off a plant, and from those pieces, create and propagate cuttings.
- To
undertake a well structured PBL project. (NB: PBL is a highly
structured, tried & proven learning system based on dealing with
hypothetical problems. This system is widely used world wide in medical
schools, and increasingly in other disciplines.)
- To undertake a role play.
- To interview someone from industry.
- To video or photograph things performed or created by the student.
…There are of course many other things that could also be added to this list.
Q. What level is a certificate?
A. We do not use levels on certificates.
Levels
I, II, III etc are systems used for Competency Based Training in both
Australia and the UK. (The levels also mean different things in
different countries.)
We operate with a more sophisticated system: experiential learning.
E.g.
Level III for instance means you are competent to perform certain tasks
under limited supervision. Our certificate develops a foundation within
the discipline that enables you to develop and grow your capacity to
work and solve problems within the discipline. You learn through
experience as you study; and the study sets you on a path that
encourages ongoing learning through experience after graduation. Our
graduates are better prepared to advance in their career, to work alone
or with others, etc. This concept is more in keeping with some of the
more cutting edge education systems around the world. This contrasts
with the CBT system which was popular throughout the 1980's and perhaps
90's but is often criticised today by leading educators around the
world. We take this approach because it works better; and on all
reports, our graduates are in fact very successful.