National Extension College - Pre July 2010
Value For Money
National Extension College - Pre July 2010
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's how it works.
User Reviews
Value For Money
I Am Not Pleased With The Nec At All! My Tutor Is
I am not pleased with the NEC at all! my tutor is unhelpful, I've been misguided regarding marking coursework and she didn't even read it properly.
She said things needed doing to it that had been done! You only get two chances for your tutor to mark your work and on the second time you have to submit it regardless. She told me to send it in one go then I realised I'd missed out on her marking each part individually (less work for her).
What's more I told the NEC that I wasn't submitting my coursework this year twice before the cut-off date then they said they didn't know and I would have to pay another £40 per submission of coursework and I think there are 3 altogether that's another £120 on top of the £350 I spent on the course. I am thoroughly unsatisfied and will never do a course with them again, also I will make sure people know how useless they are!
Dear Tiger14,
I am a member of the student support team at NEC and I am really disappointed to hear that you were not happy with the service that you have received from us.
It is difficult to provide specific comments, given that I am unaware which course you were enrolled on, however, where a course has coursework as part of the assessment we provide a comprehensive coursework guide which walks students through the process of submitting coursework, including the number of opportunities for feedback you have. It also explains that tutors are limited by awarding body rules to the amount of feedback that can be given, as coursework is designed to be an accurate reflection of the students’ own work.
Tutors will only tell students to send the work all at once if there is not going to be enough time to give feedback and make the amendments in time for the deadline. NEC tutors are freelance and it is not in their interest in asking students to submit the work together as this means that they will actually be paid less.
With regards to submitting your coursework, I am confused as to what additional costs you are referring to. Where coursework is concerned, NEC mark and authenticate work for some subjects, however, the cost of this is included within the course and there is no additional charge for this.
We also make entries directly with the awarding body for all GCSEs that we now offer with coursework. We took the decision to do this ourselves to give our students a better service, as exam centres were often not willing to take responsibility for coursework.
The cost of NEC making the entries for GCSE is included in the course fee. The only exception where we would charge a student would be if they asked us to make the entry beyond the awarding body deadline and late fees were incurred (we would simply pass this fee on), or where the entry had been made in a previous session and withdrawn. Even in these circumstances the maximum charge to make the entry would be £40.
I am sorry that this information was unclear to you at any point.
Kind regards,
NEC Student Support Team
Value For Money
As A Home Educator For My Daughter, I Enrolled Her
As a home educator for my daughter, I enrolled her on a short GCSE ICT course with the NEC. As expected, we had to buy more books over and above the NEC folder. All seemed well 'til we 'spoke' to the tutor who, although obviously never met in person, seemed a 'typical' grumpy elderly schoolteacher! His written comments for the two assignments my daughter did were, apart from the numerous spelling mistakes, were hardly positive or helpful, just a list of what 'should' have been included. More 'positives' wouldn't have gone amiss for the excellent work she submitted. This was nothing 'til I endeavoured to find an exam centre for the course. The NEC list of centres was hopelessly out of date; some establishments 'withdrew' ther NEC interest years ago!!!!! We were offered a centre next to NEC, but for a one hour exam (x2) having a 200 mile round trip each time hardly seemed worth it. It seems that NEC have got so big, a lot of customer care has sadly been lost. We too, went to a similiar company in Oxford; much better customer service and exam centres, no problem. The exams officer at the centre we chose, as soon as we mentioned the Oxford company, had no hesitation in accepting my daughter as a candidate.
Dear Johnching1,
I am a member of the student support team at NEC and I am really disappointed to hear that you were not happy with the NEC ICT course you purchased for your daughter.
All NEC courses are written in house by our publishing department to the best specification available to distance learners. The course materials in most cases provide everything the student needs to complete the course, unless otherwise specified.
I am sorry to hear that you were dissatisfied with your daughter’s tutors teaching style. We have a broad range of tutors with different teaching styles, some which may suit different students better. We are always happy to provide an alternative tutor when requested. However, I am concerned about your reference to spelling errors, which is unacceptable.
The GCSE ICT course is particularly coursework heavy, and because the list of criteria for coursework, feedback can be very prescriptive. Tutors are allowed to give very limited feedback for coursework and are often cautious of being too encouraging where they feel this may mislead the student in terms of their grade.
With regards to finding an examination centre, NEC students have two options. Either student’s can find an exams centre independently, or alternatively, they can sit exams through NEC. Finding an exam centre locally varies in ease depending on where abouts you are in the country. As mentioned in your feedback, we do have a list of potential exam centres that have hosted exams for NEC students in the past. We try to keep this as updated as possible, however, this varies hugely and we provide this as a guide only.
Because we understand that finding an exams centre can be challenging, we have now expanded our range of partnership exam centres, and currently have three centres in Cambridge, County Durham and Reading where we can guarantee students a place to sit their exams. Due to popular demand we will also be expanding this provision further and hope to offer a nationwide service within 18 months.
Kind regards,
NEC Student Support Team
Could you possibly tell me the company in Oxford that you went through in instead?
I am trying to find a good distance learning provider for an A-Level in English Literature and all reviews are very mixed.
Many Thanks.
Value For Money
The National Extension College Has Allowed Me
The National Extension College has allowed me to take a course to progress my career whilst also being able to fit studying around my life and young family.The materials are well written and easy to follow and I like that I got the whole folder all in one go!.. I've done courses with other providers who send sections each month, or use materials that their college hasn't written, and that is not good in my opinion.The Customer Service staff are keen to give out a lot of information about the structural changes to A-levels and I felt this allowed me to make a fully informed choice and be sure that I knew what to expect from the course, without any nasty surprises later on!... The tutorial support is fantastic and I am really enjoying the course!
Sounds like either someone who works for the NEC or a friend of someone who works there etc...
I Wish I Could Say Something Positive About Nation
I wish I could say something positive about National Extension College. The advisors I've dealt with have seemed rude and unhelpful to me. Any assistance I have required from tutors or student services have apparently been met with a bad attitude.
I was keen to get through my A Levels but I have now signed up with another distance learning college from Oxford and finding the experience a million times better. I would not recommend this organisation.
Dear Jonny101,
I am a member of the student support team at NEC and I am really disappointed to hear that you were not happy with the service that you received from NEC advisors.
NEC is a small not-for-profit organisation and as we rely hugely on word of mouth for business, we take customer service very seriously and ensure that this is a priority at all times. The student support team at NEC consists of four people and Monday-Friday there is always someone within the team to speak to with regards to any course administration queries. We also aim to respond to all email communication within 48 hours.
As well as having a team on hand to answer any administration queries, each A Level subject has it’s own online page containing all course related supplementary information that students might need, including the assignment upload function, popular items to download, an extensive list of FAQs, forums to chat to student support and other NEC students, past papers and accompanying mark schemes etc. We also communicate proactively with students by regularly emailing information specifically relating to their course.
Where tutors are concerned we expect the highest level of professionalism. Tutors are expected to mark and return assignment feedback within 7-10 days and also respond to any queries related to the course content within 72 hours. Tutors are also available to speak to students at regular slots, outlined in their initial welcome letter.
Occasionally, students do not gel with their tutor and we will always be happy to transfer to an alternative tutor. All complaints against tutors are taken very seriously and investigations are always launched in to unsatisfactory experiences.
I would be interested to hear further about your complaint to investigate into this matter and allow us to improve the service we offer.
Kind regards,
NEC Student Support Team
Q&A
There are no questions yet.