About ACS Distance Education
Established in 1979, ACS Distance Education is a leading Australian Distance Education provider which offers over 350 courses via Correspondence, online or on CDs. The Institution has offices in Australia, United Kingdom and is operated through Affiliates in the United States. Its head office is located on the Gold coast.
ACS has educated thousands of full and part-time students, many of whom have gone onto successful employment, both in industry or in their own businesses. Others have used their courses to develop a hobby, or simply broaden their general education. We currently have over 3000 students enrolled from Australia and around the world. The school employs staff in 3 states of Australia, plus the U.K., U.S.A and New Zealand. As such our courses and service have a truly global focus. Courses have been developed with strong industry input from around the world and are continually updated on the basis of surveys undertaken by both current students and graduates every month of the year.
The school holds high the ideals of practical education, emphasising in all courses those things which are relevant to "real life". Courses offered cater for hobby interest through to formal training in industry and the professions.
Education PhilosophyWe believe that by providing a different education to main stream vocational colleges and universities, we are able to differentiate our graduates and give them real life advantages over graduates from more traditional institutions.
These differences however must be (and are) pursued without compromising academic excellence in any way whatsoever.
In principle we tend to favour experiential learning and problem based learning rather than CBT (Competency Based Training).
We believe learning is more important than assessment. For us, assessment should be provided more to enhance the learning experience, and less to rank students,
More Than a School The school and its tutors have always been active in industry. We believe strongly that maintaining an awareness of current information and trends enables us to keep our course notes and services to students up to date and relevant. When you study with this school you are learning from people who are doing what you are studying on a daily basis.
Staff come from varied backgrounds: with both teaching and hands on vocational experience (including ex university, vocational college and training staff; research academics, etc). Courses cover e learning or traditional studies; flexible education options for career (jobs), self improvement, professional development, life skills or general adult education.
AFFILIATES: Courses developed by ACS are now licensed to, and used by a network of affiliated colleges around the world. ACS programs in fact form an international education system which is known and respected by leading educationists in a number of countries.
SYNDICATED ARTICLES: The principal and staff of ACS provide articles on a regular basis, to a range of publications including Landscape Contractor Magazine, Garden Guru Newspaper and Queensland Homes. Our ongoing involvement with the publishing industry allows us to bring a "real world" relevance to the courses we develop and deliver.
LOTS OF SUPPORT!
Often the problem with correspondence study is that you feel you are on your own, and have limited access to resources, to ask questions and obtain assignment feedback.
ACS provides the highest level of support possible. Students can:
- Talk directly with tutors by phone.
- Fax or email questions and quickly receive a phone call, email or fax back.
- Access additional notes whenever needed from an educational database of more than 350,000 pages and 15 million words.
- Borrow videos (free if you pick them up, a small handling charge via mail in Australia).
- Visit our office to use the library or make an appointment with a tutor. Borrow videos through the video loan library.
- Use the mail order bookshop to get a wide range of excellent books.
- A unique 'students only' website that includes a chatroom, forums, student directory, assignment submissions and more
COURSES ARE CONTINUALLY UPDATED
- We're always learning new things, from conferences, magazines and journals, internet searches, colleagues and of course student's assignments.
- Staff at the school are continually researching and writing new books, magazine articles and video scripts
- This gathered information is used to update course notes.
- We offer you more up to date information than you are likely to get from many other schools.
- We encourage feedback from students through newsletter questionaires, and contact with tutors.
WHAT YOU GET AS A STUDENT
- All necessary course notes and required reading materials
- Free Tuition
- Assignments marked
- Questions answered
- Careers and business advice
- Access to our Resource Libraries
- Newsletters
- Bookshop & Workshop discounts
- Video Library membership
- Free listing on our internet web site directory, upon request
- Access to the 'students only' website that includes a chatroom, forums, student directory, assignment submissions and more
NOTE: Your course is a comprehensive learning program involving all of those things above. You're not just buying glossy books! Notes come mainly from our exclusive computer files, printed on a laser printer and bound into booklets.
If you have already learnt things which are taught in a course, either through previous study or work experience, you may be able to obtain credit towards your chosen course, eliminating the need to repeat material, and thereby reducing the time taken to complete your course.
Credit can be obtained by completing a
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) form
BEFORE commencing your course.
- To apply for RPL, contact the school for an application form. Complete the form and submit it together with photocopied documentation.
- A nominal fee of $100.00 incl. GST is charged for Certificate courses or $150.00 incl. GST for Diploma courses, to make a standard RPL assessment. A higher fee may apply for more complex submissions involving large exemptions. The RPL fee will be deducted from the total cost of your course, plus discounts for any exempted studies, upon enrolment. However, if you complete an RPL and choose NOT to enrol in a course, this fee is non-refundable.
Click here for more info on RPL
- Short courses (ie: Any course below 150hrs duration) - Anyone can enrol, there are no formal pre-requisites, though year 10 or equivilent is preferable in most instances
- Certificates & Advanced Certificates - See each course, usually Year 10, 11 or equivalent, or mature age
- Diplomas & Advanced Diplomas - Year 12 or Mature age.
- There are no set starting dates. Start when you want at any time of the year.
- We allow students to work at their own pace. There are no deadlines for assignments.
- Cancellation of a registration will only occur if you haven't contacted us for over 6 months
- See schedule of fees for estimated hours of study for each course.
- Extensions and deferments may be requested if needed. Please contact the school for more details.
- If your studies are supported by someone else (eg. Government or Employer), they may require you to finish within a specified period. In such cases check with the supporting agency before enrolling.
As our courses run via correspondence, students can start when they wish; at any time of the year.
The task of choosing a course can be daunting.
- The courses menu lists courses according to subject area. Look through the subject area that interests you and choose the particular course that most appeals to you. The fees for each course are listed on the top right of each course page.
- If you need further information, you can take advantage of our free Course Counselling service. Alternatively you can fax, phone, write, visit or email the school for further advice or information (click here for contact info).
- Select your course, and fill in the enrolment form and forward it to the school with the appropriate fee.
- When a new enrolment is received at the school, the course notes are printed, compiled, bound, and along with any other relevant texts, posted to you. (This normally takes up to 28 days.)
- When you receive your course package, commence work at your own pace:
-The subject guide shows you what to do.
-If you have difficulty with any parts of your course then please contact the school for help. Guidance and further information are provided as needed.
-As you complete written & practical assignments, submit your work to the school for comment. Your tutor provides guidance where needed, and the work is returned to you to keep.
Multimedia presentation:
How Courses at ACS Distance Education Work.
Multimedia presentation:
Services You Receive as a Student.
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