Frequently Asked Questions

Questions Asked Frequently about Courses from ACS Distance Education

Q. How Legitimate is ACS as an Online School?

A. ACS established in 1979, and has built a solid reputation as an independent and ethical provider of online education. It has a long history of engaging with and supporting industry worldwide, but particularly in Australia and the U.K.

ACS maintains various formal relationships with many industry bodies, and receives ongoing support from industry (eg. CIH and AIH offer free student memberships to our students; AILA, GMG, Greenlife WA, RHSV and others promote our courses to their members, we are a founding member of IARC).
We have always employed the very best, host highly qualified and experienced tutors. Tutors and course developers have a minimum of 3,000 hours of formal training in their discipline or related disciplines (equal to a Bachelors degree), plus at least 5 years of relevant industry experience. Many are recognised experts in their industry. They include former university professors, research scientists, successful business owners, published authors and others.
The founder and principal has been widely recognised as an expert in education, publishing and horticulture.

Q. How Flexible are the Courses?

Very.

Asynchronous study (study at your own pace). Unlike many colleges, no set finish date. Provided you stay in touch at least every few months, you can extend study with no extra fees for years, or complete a course very fast in just weeks - whatever pace suits you is ok.
Study guides set tasks in a way that allows students to make choices about how and where they undertake many of their learning experiences. We build flexibility into every course so that a student can relate what they study and learn, and the projects and assignments they undertake can be related to the individual's unique context (where they live & work, and what they do). Other schools can be tailored to the environmental, political or economic conditions where they live; but our courses are intentionally designed to be relevant in any region - and any environmental, political or economic context.
Every student is treated as an individual, with one to one interactions between you and real staff - both academic and administration staff located both in the UK and in Australia. Talk to people not robots.

Q. What Costs are Involved?

A. Course fees and optional exam fees apply, but that covers everything; and our fees are minimal for the services we provide.

We have always believed that the ethical approach to education services is to provide optimum service to students at a minimum cost. We don't compromise service, but we do all that we can to reduce your costs.
We compared our fees per study hour with those at public colleges and universities in the UK, USA and Australia, and found our fees were commonly around half what those public institutions charge. How do we do it? We have spent close to 50 years building up and improving our intellectual property,. We own the courses, texts, videos and software we use, so we don't need to charge students as much as colleges that buy in the rights to that I.P. Also we subsidise students by licencing our I.P. to other schools. We avoid unnecessary marketing and accreditation costs, which weigh down many other institutions. Just think about it. When you see a lot of advertisements for a university - someone needs to pay for those ads, and those costs are probably coming from their student's course fees.

Q. How do I find a course?

A. You can use the Search Tool (shown by the magnifying glass icon at the top right-hand side of all pages) or click here to view the disciplines that we provide courses for. Select the discipline of your choice and view the selection of courses currently available.

Q. When can I start my course?

A. You can start our courses at any time to suit you.

Q. If I do a shorter course first can I get credits towards a certificate or diploma later?

A. Yes. If you study one short course, then decide you would like to study in more depth, this is entirely possible. We aim to be flexible. For example, if you want to achieve a Certificate, you would need to complete six 100 hour modules. So if you completed a 100 hour course, then wanted to do the certificate, you would need to take five more. You can find more on how the different qualifications are made up here.

Q. Do we get a discount if two of us enrol together?

A. We can arrange bulk discounts for your course enrolment, please get in touch with us to discuss your needs.

Q. Can I pay in instalments?

A. Yes, you can pay in instalments. All courses can be paid in two instalments. Some of the larger courses can be paid for in more instalments. You can see details on this here. However, please be aware that paying in instalments is more expensive – paying the course fees up front is the cheapest option.

Q. Do we get a discount if we enrol in a second course.

A. Yes. You may claim a 5% fee discount when you enrol in a second course.
(This does not apply however to the second stage or part of the same certificate or diploma).

Q. What happens if I have to stop studying for a while? (For example, if you are ill, busy at work, take parental leave)

A. Apply for an extension. It's okay to take a break and start up your study at a later point in time. Just let us know.

Q. Do I need any extra books?

A. You are supplied with all "essential" references. Extra books are always useful though, but not necessary. Tutors will advise you what to buy if you decide you would like to get any extra books.

Q. How do I contact my tutor?

A. When you enrol, you will be given access to a student room where you can view your course and contact your tutor or administration staff.

Q. How long does a shorter course (i.e. 80-120 hours) take to complete?

A. Commonly no more than one year. Some students finish in less than 6 months. It really depends upon how much time you have available to study.

Q. I lost my certificate can I get a replacement?

A. If students require a reproduction of their certificate, an electronic copy can be provided at a cost of UK £18. Printed copies are not available.

Q. How long does a certificate take to complete?

A. A certificate requires approximately 600 hours of study. Generally, this will take around 6-9 months, if studying full time, or around two years if studying part time. With dedication, part time students can complete a certificate in one year. As mentioned above, it really depends upon how time you have available to study.

Q. Why Do People Choose to study with ACS?

A. There are many reasons:

Service – We put the student first: tutors and administration can be contacted 5 days a week, 50 weeks of the year, by phone or email.
We Provide Better Learning – We’ve been delivering distance education for over three decades, and we understand how people learn by home study. Our methods are unique, developed through trial and error - always with our focus squarely on helping you learn.
Up To Date – We are continually revising and updating courses. We listen to our students’ feedback and we always improve the course if a change is identified that will help significantly improve your learning.
More Choice – Today, people need a set of skills that will set them apart and give them an advantage over competition in the world after study. We have a wide variety of study choices, and give you lots of options to choose different paths throughout a course. Doing this has meant that completing an ACS course makes you different. No two students at ACS are alike. This is what makes students who complete our courses so successful.
No Short Cuts – You can’t take short cuts in learning, and that is why our courses are often longer than what you find elsewhere. Anyone can study a short course, quickly sit an exam (while the information is fresh) and pass, but if you want to really understand something and retain it, that takes time. Our courses require time, effort and enthusiasm from you to achieve what you want from the course.
More Than Just Learning Facts – We understand that success in the workplace or business requires you to not only learn things, but also build networks, understand the commercial world, be able to solve problems, communicate with people, and have an attitude that will function in your chosen industry.

Q. How important is a Degree?

A. Not as important as most people think. Country Life Magazine in the UK commented: "We have too many under educated students at too many second-rate universities." "For years now, we have subscribed to the myth that at least half the population needs a university education. Yet, in the real world, employers long ago discounted degrees from many institutions."

We believe learning is critical for a successful career: - what you know is 100 times more important than the qualifications you hold.

A qualification might get a little interest from an employer on a job application, but when it comes to selecting an employee, a prospective employer will make their choice based upon presentation in an interview, communication skills, problem solving skills, networks the person has developed, knowledge of their industry, etc. In other words, what they learned and how they have been able to apply their learning is far more important than a qualification alone: - Studying and Learning are the most important factors.

Q. How does recognition of the school compare with other colleges?

A. Exceptionally well, but different. We do have a range of different accreditations, but avoid government accreditations (as they greatly increase costs and limit the emphasis we can place on learning). We are internationally recognised by the International Approval and Recognition Council (IARC). In addition, in many respects we are more widely recognised, due to the fact that we have been established and have trained students for so long throughout the world - most other colleges tend to operate only in one state or region, and may be poorly recognised outside that area. Close involvement with industry has seen many employers sponsor staff through our courses, and many graduates develop strong careers as leaders in their respective industries. We have also developed links with colleges in a number of countries through an international affiliates’ network. Many of these articulate studies, giving cross recognition to each other’s students. See the affiliates involved by clicking here.

Like most things in life, you get what you pay for, and government funded education that is under government interference and funding cut backs will inevitably have problems. We give you what you pay for. Compare us to that.

Q. What do people think of this school?

A. We receive many comments from our students – follow the link to view a selection of Student Testimonials.

Q. How can I get practical experience?

A. Some people are lucky enough to find paid work, but everyone has the opportunity to get experience by volunteering. We can help you and often give you an introduction to somewhere to get started with some experience eg. Friends of Botanic Gardens, Friends groups at zoos, Volunteers at historic properties & landcare groups, clubs and societies - all of these and many others welcome volunteers. That initial volunteer experience together with your formal learning can often be all that is needed to kick start a career.

Some courses require you to undertake workshops. There are various options available for how you can do this. Follow the link to the Workplace Projects page for further details.

Q. Why people prefer to employ students who complete our courses?

A. We aim to develop a stronger theoretical foundation than many other vocational colleges, but at the same time encourage more interaction with the real world than is often found at universities. This approach puts graduates in a stronger position, enabling them to adapt more quickly to a rapidly changing world than either traditional university or vocational education.

Our courses are different to the standard courses run by the vast majority of universities and colleges. This gives our graduates a different mix of knowledge and skills and this makes them more competitive than other graduates.

Unlike most colleges and universities, we do not depend on public funding so the quality of our service does not deteriorate when government funding comes under pressure.

We maintain uncompromising standards of service and student support which are increasingly being degraded in many other colleges.

Q. Who writes courses at ACS Distance Education & how are our courses developed?

A. Many people make the false assumption that we operate like most universities or colleges, assigning just one person to write courses in a particular discipline. This is not the way we operate though - all of our courses are written by a team!

People who are involved need to be on the same wavelength - and that sometimes poses a problem. I've found that it takes a fair bit of time to get someone to the point of being able to work with us as part of a course development team. They usually start out as a tutor, then move onto course counselling after perhaps 6 months, they then have an understanding of how we approach things.

When we start developing a course, there are always at least three people involved (a coordinator, an external academic specialist in that discipline from Australia, and another academic from the UK). Sometimes there are more. We focus first on getting lesson structure and lesson aims set down and approved by those three or more people. After that, we move on to set tasks and assignments, again with more than one person being involved. After that we extract relevant material from our database (over twenty million words - books, articles, courses etc.) which we own. We then assign different lessons to different academics to work on, instructing them to leave gaps where they encounter things that would be better handled by another staff member. The whole course grows organically like this until we have a first draft. This is then worked over by an academic in Australia, and another in the UK. After that we launch the course, but we continue to seek feedback from students, staff and affiliates, and assign the course for reviews and sometimes expansion of notes, as we go along. For example, after a few years, there may have been twelve different horticulture experts who have contributed to a particular horticulture course.

This development process is unique, and we believe, a real strength with our school.

You can see the current academic staff by clicking here. But remember, over the years, others who no longer work for us have contributed to the development of our courses - over 300 different academics have worked on our courses to date.

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Or contact us here - COURSE COUNSELLING

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