Since I left school I have worked in various jobs mostly on building sites hodd carrying and roofing which in the end resulted in severe back problems (sciatica), the last time I was laid off I decided I was never going back, so I started the IT course (A+,N+,CCNA) which I am doing at the moment, for someone of my age to dramatically change course has been difficult to say the least because after working in that environment for so long I'm always doubting if I can do anything else, I have now got a 12 week old daughter so finding study time has been difficult, but I have just passed the A+ exams(something I thought I would never do) which has given me new confidence,I have also diagnosed and fixed two of my wife's work colleagues PC's which made me feel great because it proved I was learning something, I know the hardest parts in the course are still to come but I now believe I can achieve them and can't wait to get to grips with them, these May seem like menial achievements to most but to me I'm halfway up everest this is something I never thought I would or could do, its never too late!.

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I have always been interested in a career in IT but after receiving a U in my GSCE's I lost confidence and thought I wouldn't ever have the opportunity to follow my ambitions in doing this type of work. Since doing this course it has taught me not to give up and that there are always opportunities available for everyone as long as you believe in yourself there is no limit as to what you can achieve. Friends and Family have already called me a' computer superhero' for fixing their computers!

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First of all I think it is hard to talk and to write about myself but the big change that happened in my life by starting this course encouraged me to do so. I came to live in the UK 3 years ago, my English still needs improving, but I work very hard to learn English and to look after my family and study my course material.
In my country I was working as an adviser to the minister of planning, I have a university degree,and more than ten courses in different subjects in IT, statistics ,public relations ,languages ,SPSS, GIS , and how to use the Remote Sensing to detect and solve problems in our land and undersea also to learn more about our atmosphere to reduce the pollution .
In this course I really developed my knowledge and learned how to fix computer problems and the most exiting moment when I finish the clean installation and the computer runs fast and now error messages appear.
Thank you

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I've only just started my computer training last month, you see I did not have much hope this time last year, but thanks to Skills Train I now have.
This time last year I was in jail for stealing Petrol and Diesel from fuel station's around the London area, this however was to support my lethal Heroin addiction. I did not wish to do this and I wished nobody any harm and nobody was, apart from myself, but I had got myself into a situation which I could not get out of without real help.

From the year 2000, I had no real help and proceeded to three terms of jail, but on the third case it was different because the CID officers who dealt with me understood and got me the help I needed and I got moved to Walthamstow. So far I have cracked my habit with the help of Subutex and the service W.D.P and have no intentions of going back to that awful life style as it is none existence for any one.

So, with my habit broken, my common law wife has also bettered herself and is now going to be a Drug KeyWorker. I've got the chance I've always wanted, a career in IT.

Many Thanks to Essex CID, WDP, and of course SkillsTrain.
My A+ is nearly completed.

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Firstly, I would like to thank the tutor team for a fantastic job they are doing. I really cannot believe those who criticise Skills Train because I have been studying with you since 2004 and I am very satisfied with everything especially the response by a tutor team if you are facing hardships with certain things with regards to your course work.

In the past months I have had difficulties in doing any work as I lost my Grandad and my mum was battling with heart problems. I found concentration and studying very difficult and even focusing on anything was a daunting task. I spoke to a tutor team and they encouraged me very well to get on with my work as well as helping me to access my LIVE Labs and Live Internet training.

So for the month of March I had to get my concentration and focus on line and tried to do my course work the best I could. I was amazed by the efficiency of the tutor team with regards to marking and sending TMAs.I managed to send four TMAs in one Month which was something I did not manage before and my average score for March was a massive 96% which made me feel proud of myself and to be a student of SkillsTrain and value for money. Things look very positive for me because I have managed to plan my work better than before because of the encouraging speedy response by your Team and I hope things stay the same.

from a very satisfied student...

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I am not trying to say that I am the only one that has gained from the college; all I am trying to say is that, " I have immensely gained from being a student of the college". I don't know of other people, but I guess I might be speaking for other students as well. First,I got my first major skilled IT job. Next, I was shifted to another department (SQL)-though I don't know much about it. But just for the fact that I already have A+ and N+-all completed from skill train college and studying CCNA in my company cv, I was chosen out of 5 staff to move to the new department.

Four days ago, my manager convinced me to apply for a new vacancy in a new department and new branch within the company. The money associated with the new post is 3 times bigger than what I am currently receiving. Quoting my manager, "You are a talented young man who has the right skills and the right qualifications. That position will suit you".
In two weeks time, one of my work mates will be registering with the college because they have found out my secret(skill train college).
I have made up my mind that once I finish my IT degree from university this year and equally finish the CCNP programme, I will enrol for further courses with the college. If the college could provide me with the training that helped me get to this level now, then, I want more(sorry that I sound greedy-but I want more training from the college).

"SKILL TRAIN COLLEGE"- tell me a better IT college other than SKILL TRAIN COLLEGE?

SKILL TRAIN COLLEGE,-You are the first in IT-KEEP IT UP

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They always say word of mouth is the best advertisement and it is true . My mother in law mucked up her internet connection not knowing what she was doing she deleted all the files needed to connect to the net. My wife very kindly offered my assistance to repair her pc. Ever since then I have now had several of her friends now contact me to either repair or up grade their computers. I even get my family ringing saying " HELP I have done this and the PC have done this and I can't return to what I was doing".

Until this time I had put the course to the side for a while due to our first child coming along. and taking all my time. I must admit it is so easy to stray away and get interested in something else but I have got myself back on to doing the course with the help of my wife. I have boosted me TMA scores up with two of my latest results being 100% . I have even upgraded my own PC by putting another stock of RAM in as well as getting a bigger graphics card and fitting it.
At work I have been successive. They brought in a new computer system to help us to complete our work faster and easier. Every department has had some one selected as a system champion ( Someone who knows the system and can sort out any problems ). Due to this course I have been chosen to do this task for my area.

To anyone who is slowly loosing interest in doing their course. My advice is keep plodding on, set yourself a goal and try setting up a study time table. I lost at least nine months and fell well behind. I am now regretting it and am now trying as hard as I can to catch up.

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I have been studying PC maintenance for a year now, and have had to put studies on the back burner as I worked hard to help establish the charity I work with in the UK. The summer months I have been working part time to recover lost finances from the years voluntary work, but have made the time in between shifts to crack on with my course. In the past month I have worked my way through a substantial chunk of my course achieving grades between 80 and 100%. It just shows that with a well organised and disciplined structure to your week you can excel in more than one endeavour. Enjoying the course and look forward to completing the course, now sooner than I thought possible.

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I have a degree in Computer Science but I applied for the CCNP course because I just wanted the certificate to land myself a good job. I did not expect it to be very different from what I covered during my degree and just after two months into my course I found this really bad review of the training online. I actually thought I had just lost my money but I just thought I should continue with my studies since I had already registered.

I am now a year into my course, I am about to finish CCNA. Sticking with the course is probably one of the most brilliant decisions I have ever made. The course content is brilliant, far from what I covered during my degree, the live labs are fantastic and make me confident to face real world situations. The support that I get from the tutors is marvelous; the work gets marked really fast and the emails are replied to almost the same day I send. This has encouraged me a lot. Combining full-time work and studying has not been very easy, I really appreciate your encouragement. My average mark since Network + is above 87%. I will be sitting for my Network + exam next month and I am sure I will do very well.

My boss is very supportive and because she knows the course I am doing she lets me sort computer related problems for anyone in our team before she refers the problem to our IT team. I am confident that after this course I will get a better job than I have now, I am working as an Information Room Assistant at the Careers Service of Oxford University.

For all those who have come across bad reviews and feel discouraged, don't lose heart, the courses are exactly, May be more than, what you are told before you start, just concentrate on your studies, submit your TMAs, ask your Tutors when something is not clear and you will find that the course is all you were looking for and you are on your way to a brighter future.

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This last week my course material has come in handy on 3 occasions. 1st, at work we needed a new user account setting up on the server due to a new member joining us. I called the help desk and under the contract they do not support new user accounts free of charge. So I decided to log on to the server computer myself, access the Active Directory and create a new user template and e-mail account. I then went to the new terminal, logged on then went through the motions of telling the computer that it would need to be logged on via a domain not a workgroup. This worked a treat and so far is working 100%.

2nd, My old PC would not power up and after reading the section on motherboards and CPU's I narrowed the power up issue to be with one of the two. I purchased a new motherboard installed it, put my old CPU in and connected it all up, and it powers up well, But I needed to reinstall Win XP so I had to go into the start up menu before the XP logo is on screen to tell it to boot from the CD drive. I now have a spare fully working PC.

3rd. This morning I arrived at work to find that the e-mails were down. The internet would connect but not the mails. I told all users to log out so I could reboot the server. This fixed the problem and we had emails working before the IT support company got back to us with possible solutions.

All in all I am really pleased with myself and it just proves that if you want to learn something anything is possible.

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I enrolled with Skillstrain believing that I already knew what I needed to know in Information Technology as I already had a Diploma Certificate in Information Technology and was on an ICT Degree Course with the Open University, but I was proved wrong. I had been struggling to get a skilled job since, but now, I am proud to say that I just got employed by one of the biggest energy companies in the UK and worldwide. All thanks to Skillstrain for helping me to brush up my IT skills. I was able to pass both the written and oral interviews, which were mostly IT based. I am currently undertaking the N+, and soon, I will be starting the CCNA and CCNP. I intend completing them and sitting for the professional exams. Keep it up Skillstrain.

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When I started with this course, I lacked directional focus and couldn't submit my assignment regularly. With an ardent determination to finish the course within the normal stipulated time, I resolved last month to submit at least one assignment within a week. Currently, I am doing just that and now have to wait on my tutors to finish marking the previous assignment before submitting the next one which has been done few days ahead of submission.
I am completing the first part of the course this week, passing each of the assignments with good grade and with only one attempt!
I am so excited about this.

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I moved here from South Africa last year and got work in a warehouse. One night I was sitting and thinking to myself how much in life I took for granted. When the opportunity to study was there I never took it. Now I am thirty two years old, married and have two children. Life is going past me and I have nothing, but then I got the skillstrain leaflet throught the door and I signed up for the CCNP course. The beginning was hard but now I have done seven assignments and it is going very well. I always thought that a working man will have trouble studing, but to my suprise its not. It is more fun to study than to sit in front of the telly. Thank you skills train for giving all of us working people the chance to make some thing of our life and for showing us that there will always be a opportunity.

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