What are the questions people often ask?

How old are the other online students?

Some are recent graduates from university, although others may have graduated ten or twenty years earlier. The average age in 2005/2007 was around 30-35, with the youngest aged 23 and the oldest aged 62.

Where do your students come from?

Students on the online courses come from all over the world. We normally have students living across the major time zones, which makes scheduling for group lectures and tutorials an interesting process. Groups may be split in order to keep students within similar time zones.

What happens on the course?

Teaching consists of lecture sessions, small group tutorial sessions, and personal study and research assignments - all of which take place online. Go here for a fully detailed syllabus.

What hours will I have to work?

Every student is different. The online course probably will take up between 6 and 10 hours of your time each week - although this an average, rather than a maximum. You may take a break between modules, so long as all four modules are completed within four years of your initial enrolment.

What is the difference between the attendance course and the online postgraduate course?

The basic core material is the same for both courses - the printed course notes and texts are identical. The attendance course allows us to set times for outside visits, and trips to local courts which are timetabled within the groups schedules. TV and Radio work, using equipment on the school's premises, cannot be included in the online course.

The online course is broken into four separate modules, each with an exam at its conclusion, whereas the attendance courses have all the exams in the last week of the term. Online students can take individual modules as and when they choose within a four year time-frame, which gives more flexibility than is available to attendance students, who must complete the course in its entirety once started.

The qualification is the same, and the same diploma is received by all students, regardless of which type of course they took.

How do students fund their courses?

The majority of our students fund this course from their own resources - most are working full time, and others working part-time.

Can you get me a job when I have finished?

We can't 'get' you a job, but we can advise you as to what kind of job is likely to be suitable. Your personal tutor will work with you to build your portfolio, and will give you the benefit of his knowledge and professional contacts. If you are in the UK, the school is constantly approached by organisations looking for newly trained job applicants - at any time, the jobs board may have a list of twenty or thirty companies looking for people like you.

Many of our online students are, or have been, working within the professions. Some look to improve their job prospects, some are looking to improve their existing knowledge and skills - and, perhaps most often, others are looking to use their newly acquired skills to create an earning capacity which can take place in the home, allowing more time to care for children or relatives, while still having financial independence as a freelance writer.

The track record of our students in the jobs market is very good - and very often former students are able to help with openings within the organisations where they currently work. Ask your tutor if any of his or her former students can help you.

Do overseas students pay more than English students?

No. All students are taught exactly the same, so they are charged exactly the same, regardless of nationality.