Why study?
Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to study. It may be that you want to take a course to:
- Help improve your prospects at work
- Gain a qualification to show what you can do
- Learn a new skill
- Get out and meet new people
- Make up for opportunities you feel you’ve missed out on.
What courses and qualifications are available?
Adults can study for any qualifications – there are usually no age limits. It depends on what you are interested in doing and whether that course is available at a place and time to suit you.
You can study in many different ways:
- Full time
- Part time
- Distance / open learning
- Through courses at work
Qualifications
There are hundreds of qualifications you can do. Here you will find some details about the different types of courses plus links to find out more information.
Need help with reading, writing and maths?
Skills for Life courses can help you improve your skills. You learn at your own pace in small friendly groups and work on the areas you need to improve.
Your nextsteps adviser can tell you more about these courses and put you in touch with your nearest local centre. Call 0845 068 1400 to find out how we can help you.
Want to study a qualification related to work?
You can take a qualification to train for a specific job or that helps you find out more about a broad area of work. Vocational qualifications are available in a huge range of subjects from engineering to childcare, computer skills to building. These courses are offered at different levels depending on the skills and qualifications you have already.
NVQs are job related qualifications that show you have the skills to do a specific job. There are 100s of NVQs in subjects such as childcare, catering, engineering and IT. They come in five levels and where you start depends on your skills, knowledge and experience.
You might prefer a vocational qualification if you want a qualification linked to the job you do, you want to train for a specific job or find out more about an area of work.
You can find out more about vocational qualifications on:
More interested in academic qualifications?
An academic course might suit you if you've no clear job in mind or you want to get a qualification that shows you've achieved a certain educational standard. These can help develop your analytical and critical skills - skills you'll need in most jobs.
Qualifications available include GCSEs and A levels where you study separate subjects such as English, maths and geography for example or you may be able to take more applied courses such as business studies, IT and health and social care.
Find out more details about qualifications on:
www.directgov.gov.uk/Topics/Learning/AdultLearners/fs/en
You can find out more about qualifications offered locally on www.camlearn.net
Thinking about higher education?
You can study for a degree, foundation degree or HND as a mature student. These courses tend to be offered by universities, colleges of higher education and further education colleges and may be full or part time. Entry requirements for adults vary. Further education colleges run access courses to help adults prepare for higher education.
You can find out more about these higher education qualifications on:
Studying for pleasure
There are many courses you could take for interest or pleasure. You can see the range of courses available in the local area on www.camlearn.net
learndirect
learndirect offer access to hundreds of online courses in subjects such as IT, office skills and self-development. You learn at your own pace at home or in learning centre.
Call 0800 100 900 for more details or click on this link: www.learndirect.co.uk