What is distance learning?

Distance learning, also known as home-study is a type of study that is available anywhere and anytime of the day – making it more flexible for you without needing to attend school or college. This may take place in the comfort of your own home, office, garden, travelling to and from work – the options are endless provided you have access to the internet. The flexibility provides you with that extra time to work to your own learning plan and working around other commitments such as your career and hobbies.

If I choose to study at a distance does this mean I will be alone?

You may think that if you choose distance learning then this means you’ll be on your own and you won’t receive much support, but that isn’t the case. At NEC, we assign individual tutors to students and our tutors are on hand to help support you for the duration of your course. The flexibility means you can work to your own learning plan and contact your tutor by email or phone. They’re there to answer your questions and to mark assignments.

Where do I sit my exams?

If you study with NEC, we have ten partnership exam centres where you can take your exams. The great thing about sitting your exams at one of our exam centres is that we handle the admin side leaving you with less stress of dealing with the examination bookings.

What are the benefits of distance learning?

Studying through distance learning gives you greater flexibility compared to if you were to attend school or college. There are no deadlines for submitting assignments, which makes it a lot easier to fit in study around work and other commitments. You can study for as many hours as you like, wherever you like (bus, train, garden, home, in your lunch break at work, by the swimming pool – anywhere you have access to the internet). You can even be your own boss and work to your own deadlines and create your own learning plan to adhere to. This style of learning makes it more flexible, approachable and puts less pressure on you to work to timescales, because there are none. You can either complete your course/s in six months, a year or even two years, it’s entirely up to you and by working at your own pace this is achievable. Enrolling on a course/courses also don’t have any deadlines so you can sign up at any time depending on when you wish to sit your exam.

Taking the distance out of distance learning

With today’s technology, distance learning isn’t as distant with the use of forums where you can talk to other students on your course as well as talking to your tutors, meaning it isn’t as daunting and you’re not alone. With the use of online learning, you are able to submit assignments for your tutor to mark and all of your course materials are accessed online as well as some courses offering short quizzes, videos and podcasts.

At NEC, we offer a range of different qualifications such as GCSEs/IGCSEs, A levels, CACHE and CMI which help you on your way to building a successful career. All of our courses are taught online through our learn@nec platform where you have access to forums, submitting your assignments, e-books, quizzes and online materials. We have a new Guide to Courses which you can download for free on our homepage, or if you’d like us to send you a copy via post, please fill out the form request. To stay up to date with the latest about distance learning and to join in the conversation, please use #lifechanginglearning on Twitter.