Rhiannon works for the NHS as a Business Manager and prior to enrolling with NEC was supporting a senior Director of Nursing who was due to retire. This prompted her to start planning more for her future and desired career progression.

“I needed to gain some qualifications that would support the on-the-job learning I have, demonstrate my continued investment in my own development and broaden my academic understanding of key management activities, and how these can be applied to real situations.”

Not all providers offer a wide range of modules on their leadership and management courses, making it a more complicated decision. Rhiannon’s research brought her to NEC. Having contacted us to get some insight into how the programme would be delivered, she found that she loved our learning platform, learn@nec. 

“I really loved the learning portal, it made it very clear what I had to complete, where the resources were, how to get in touch with my tutor and how to interact with other students.”

Prior to studying with NEC, Rhiannon hadn’t experienced online learning. She completed GCSEs and A levels in school and then went on to complete a Bachelor’s degree which involved time studying abroad. She gained a lot of work-based experience in the years that followed but felt the need to compound this with a qualification to support future progression.

“The flexibility to study at my own pace was invaluable, but the added level of support when I needed to extend my programme to accommodate maternity leave, and reminders about key deadlines was invaluable. The Student Support Team was always really helpful too!”

Rhiannon has now completed CMI Level 5 in Management and Leadership and received her certificate. This qualification has supported her application and appointment into a Senior Business Manager post in the coming months and will more broadly help her progress her career in operational management functions within the NHS.

With a full-time job and two pre-school children, how did Rhiannon find time to study?

“Studying around work was complicated, not least as I have two young children, but due to the flexibility of the programme I was able to take advantage of opportunities where I had some free time, and it didn’t matter so much if I then had a spate of being unable to move on with my studies. My employer was happy to support the programme of learning through releasing me for a couple of hours a week if needed and as they had paid for the programme itself, the support from them to finish the qualification was really key.”

Through over 55 years of distance learning experience, we have seen thousands of students achieve their goals through gaining additional qualifications and learning new skills with our courses. Rhiannon offers some sage advice to those considering a return to education whilst juggling other commitments:

“Really consider if you will have the time to fit it in, how will you accommodate the learning, what are the demands of the course, are there any more flexible options to gain the qualification if that is what you need, or would it be more convenient to complete the learning more quickly in a face-to-face setting? Does the study need to fit around your life and give you plenty of time in which to complete it, or do you have a particular deadline in mind for when it needs to be completed by? So many different factors to consider, but the decision is such a personal one, only you will know the answers!”

For Rhiannon, the answer was learning online with NEC and completing her CMI Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership. We wish her all the best for her career progression and any future studies she may undertake.