A guide to successful CMI self-study · 2014-01-28 · Recently, I completed a Level 7 professional qualification myself by self study. I have undertaken a lot of courses and qualifications

“Thank you so much Barrie, you have been very supportive and very patient.

I couldn’t have done it without you!”

A guide to successful CMI self-study Hints and tips to help you achieve your qualification

Barrie Smale MA BEd CMgr FCMI FCIPD – Director of inspired2learn

E-mail: [email protected]

Call: 0044 (0) 1380 722309 or 0044 (0) 7970 022658

www.inspired2learn.co.uk

© inspired2learn 2012 www.inspired2learn.co.uk

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INTRODUCTION

I want this e-guide to help you have an excellent self study learning experience.

Recently, I completed a Level 7 professional qualification myself by self study. I have

undertaken a lot of courses and qualifications over the years, but this was the first time that I

had embarked on a self study programme. It was great, and I’m now committed to helping

others do the same. I also have over 15 years of experience designing, delivering and

assessing CMI qualifications to a wide range of clients.

Why did I do my latest qualification by self study?

There were three key reasons:

1. Primarily, I wanted to understand how to be an excellent facilitator of other peoples’

self study, by gaining the self study learner experience myself and ‘learn the ropes’.

2. I also wanted the qualification because I had decided that it was timely and relevant.

It would add value to my practice, and bring a return on investment for my business

3. I also believe there is always more to learn. I have always benefitted greatly from my

continuous professional development and from achieving recognised qualifications.

Why this e-guide?

Since completing my own self study successfully, I have really enjoyed helping many people

like you achieve their own CMI self study qualification.

I have gained valuable insights into the ingredients for success; both from my own self study

experience and from helping our clients.

I want to share with you what I have learned about being successful at self study, and help

you achieve the qualification(s) you want!

Barrie Smale BEd MA CMgr FCMI FInstLM

Director of inspired2learn

[email protected]

“I would definitely recommend this qualification route with inspired2learn to others”

Laura in Plymouth – on her successful completion of a self study CMI Level 5 Diploma in Management & Leadership


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CHAPTER 1 - PLANNING & ORGANISING

There is no doubt that when you embark on a CMI self study qualification programme, it is

crucial that you step back and take some time to plan your approach and get yourself

organised.

With a great many competing demands on your time and energy, the decision you take to

enrol on a self study programme will not be one that you take lightly. Although expert support

will always be available to you from a professional training provider such as inspired2learn,

you will still need to demonstrate a great deal of self-reliance.

This chapter covers the following key areas which I have learned from my personal self

study experience and from helping others to succeed:

Understanding the workload and commitment required

Prioritising the achievement of your qualification in your diary

Drawing up a schedule and sticking to it

Identifying sources for your learning support, plus other resources

Let’s have a look at each of these in a bit more detail.

Understanding the workload and commitment required

First, make sure that you understand the exact nature of the qualification you are doing.

Here is a useful checklist – use it to pause and reflect about whether self study is right for

you – jot down your answers as you read:

How many units/modules will you need to complete?

Are there any minimum and/or maximum time requirements that you will need to

comply with?

What advice is given by the qualification awarding body about guided learning hours?

This can help give you an idea about the amount of time you will probably need to

spend on each unit/module of study

How many assignments and/or other types of assessment activities will you be

required to do?

What rules are there about submission deadlines? What will happen if your

circumstances change and you are unable to continue?

Will you be required to attend any supporting activities at pre-set times, such as

SKYPE or telephone tutorials?


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Prioritising the achievement of your qualification in your diary

I believe that most of us have one thing in common when it comes to organising ourselves;

we usually find or make the time to do the things that are important to us.

I’m sure that you are frequently entering firm commitments into your diary to meet other

people, attend work and social events, go on holiday, participate in your hobbies and

pursuits, spend time with family, and attend to the dentist and so on. You diarise these

activities because they are important to you. Of course, things crop up that demand that you

change commitments such as those listed above from time to time, but I suspect that you

are usually reluctant to do this, and avoid it whenever possible.

However, how often do you enter a firm commitment in your diary that involves just you,

doing something for yourself?

You will need to see your self study programme as something that is very important to you;

something that you enter into your diary, and then stick to like any other important

commitment you are usually very reluctant to postpone or cancel.

Enter your study time commitment into your diary and protect this time from other demands

and intrusions. Furthermore, highlight it either with a fluorescent highlighter pen in a paper

diary or use the ‘categorise’ function in MS Outlook (or the equivalent) in a similar electronic

diary – this serves as a reminder to do it, and also as a reminder to you that it is important.

If you ever need to change a self study commitment in your diary, reschedule it immediately.


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Drawing up a schedule and sticking to it

This needs to be done in order that you can enter your study time commitments into your

diary in advance.

As you draw up your schedule, the following checklist will be useful to ensure you make a

realistic commitment that you will have the best chance of sticking to – answer these

questions:

What else is likely to crop up that isn’t entered in my diary yet – based on your

experience of work patterns, family demands etc? This is an important consideration

in order to guard against over committing yourself

Have I chosen a study location where I’ll be protected from interruptions?

Do I need to inform anyone else about the importance of this diary time not being

intruded on?

How best do I work? Do I do better with long blocks of time, or does it suit my lifestyle

to undertake shorter bursts of work, maybe of 1-2 hours?

Here is an example of a schedule – you can decide what suits you best in terms of how far in

advance to schedule your commitment:

Unit of study

Self study times allocated

Activity

Assignment submission

deadline

Unit 5001: Personal development as a manager & leader

6.10.12

10.10.12

14.10.12

21.10.12

25.10.12

2pm-5pm

6pm-10pm

All day

6pm-10pm

3pm-6pm

Scoping and initial research

Reading and notes

Reading and first drafting

SKYPE tutorial

Final drafting

Proof reading, self assessment against criteria

31.10.12

Unit:

All of the above times and activities must be entered in your diary – always remember you

are making each activity and time allocation an important commitment that you will stick to.

Don’t forget to take

a break; maybe for

some fresh air

and/or a healthy

snack or drink!


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Identifying sources for your learning support, plus other resources

It is well worth spending some time at the outset of your self study programme to identify

where you can lay your hands on useful learning resources quickly and easily.

Make sure you understand about:

The Chartered Management Institute’s excellent Management Direct e-learning

platform – see pages 7-8 of this guide

The on-line resources inspired2learn can make available to you. Via our website log-

in facility

The CMI lending library and researchers you have access to

The opportunity you have to purchase value added resources such as psychometric

profiling tools, 360 feedback tools and published hard copy self study workbooks

Any other websites and blogs that are easily accessible and have good resources

relevant to specific units/ modules in your course of study. One example is

www.businessballs.com.

Any particular books that it would be worth you borrowing or purchasing

And finally, don’t expect your training provider to provide everything to you on a plate,

especially when you are studying for a higher level qualification. Some focused searching on

Google and other search engines also opens up a whole wealth of learning resources.

There is so much easily accessible information out there now that it can become

overwhelming and unnecessarily time consuming trawling through it all. This is another good

reason to identify relevant resources at the start of your programme and make them your

“must go to” points of reference – places where you know there will be great stuff.

Read on to Chapters 2 & 3 for some guidance on research for your learning and assignment

writing.


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Planning and organising a self study programme will help even the busiest of people

successfully complete their qualification programme.

We were delighted to receive this testimonial from a client recently.

This person had started the programme with significant concerns about whether he could

juggle the conflicting demands on his workload. We discussed this a great deal at the outset

and he took our advice about getting himself organised and he also made full use of the

tutorial support available to him.

This is what he says:

“Studying whilst working full time in busy demanding role is not an easy task. It had been

some time since I had completed any qualifications and I was a bit apprehensive about

embarking on the Level 3 Certificate in Management. With the support I received from

inspired2learn, I passed with flying colours. In particular, Clare was an invaluable source of

support throughout the whole process. Any queries or uncertainties I encountered along the

way, she happily answered, providing me with much needed encouragement. I learned a great

deal studying for this qualification that I intend to apply to my day to day work.”

(Mark, Coventry)

And finally, remember this:

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work”

(Peter Drucker, 1909-2005)

I like this quote more than the old chestnut “failing to plan is planning to fail”, but there, I

said it anyway!


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CHAPTER 2 - HOW TO RESEARCH

When you undertake a self study qualification programme it is important to step back and

check out the range of resources that will be available to you.

Sources for your learning will include:

The Management Direct e-learning platform provided by the Chartered

Management Institute

Other on-line resources

Observation of workplace management & leadership practice – and critical

reflection on what works well, mistakes made by managers and leaders etc.

Books

The following section will expand on these and provide some useful signposting for your

studies.

CMI’s Management Direct

Chartered Management Institute (CMI) website

Go to www.managers.org.uk

When you are registered with the CMI you will receive

membership details from them that will include directions on

how to access the Management Direct e-learning platform on

this site

There are a huge amount of excellent resources on this site

and it is well worth spending some time at the start of your programme to check out what is

available.

A useful summary is provided on the next page:

PRACTICAL SUPPORT AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

This excellent resource will be an essential source

of learning for your qualification programme.

http://www.managers.org.uk/

http://managers-uk.org/SYT-WQ5F-4K5N35-CSK27-1/c.aspx


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Main areas of the CMI Management Direct site Main menu tabs

Resources within the drop down lists of the main menu tabs

Concepts

Definitions – of a wide range of management terms

Self assessments – to analyse your competence and development priorities

Models – quick overview of popular management models

Thinkers – quick overviews of leading management and leadership thinkers

Creative tools – to help with decision making, analysis etc.

Multimedia


Leader videos – here what some leading business people and academics have to say

E-modules – bite-sized sections of interactive learning covering a wide range of topics including graphics and audio

Scenarios – interactive case studies with you playing a role

Web links

Learning journeys – pre-set mini courses using a selected mix of resources from across Management Direct to take you through a range of topics

Best practice

Checklists – useful ‘primers’ for an extensive range of topics

Document templates - e.g. for business case, communication plan and many others

Books and articles

E-books – to download a range of management subjects

E-journals on EBSCO – access to an extensive range of academic and business journals

Book chapters – useful extract from a range of books

CMI research – a range of research papers

Professional Manager magazine – search for subjects of interest in the back catalogue

My learning


CPD – log your CPD

A-Z

Subject search – across the whole of Management Direct

More

CMI qualifications – carry out searches specific to the Units your are studying in your qualification

Ask a CMI Researcher – a well-informed researcher who has gained expert knowledge and can save you time by digesting and summarising the CMI’s management library.

CMI library – borrow books


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Here are some useful navigation signposts to get you started:

In the menu bar on the home page go to:

Practical support & advice - then, go to

Management Direct/More/CMI qualifications – searches Management Direct for specific

resources for each unit in your qualification.

Management Direct/My Learning/self assessments –self assessment questionnaires

across a range of management topics

Management Direct/Multimedia/Learning Journeys – pre-set mini learning courses

(‘playlists’) on a range of management subjects, each course consisting of a mix of

resources such as videos, checklists, e-learning modules and journal articles

Other on-line resources

inspired2learn website - Go to www.inspired2learn.co.uk

Click on the grey RESOURCES tab in the top menu

and this will take you to a log-in page

Then enter (case sensitive):

User name: tbc after registration

Password: tbc after registration

Here, you can access folders containing resources for you that can be read and/or

downloaded, mainly as PDF files.

The following websites are also worth a look:

www.businessballs.com www.mindtools.com www.managementhelp.org www.valuebasedmanagement.net And, of course, Google (or any other search engine of your choice) will find you a huge array

of management & leadership learning resources.

http://www.inspired2learn.co.uk/


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Observation of workplace practice

This will be a very important source of learning; both from reflecting on your own practice,

and reflecting on the practices of other managers and leaders around you.

You will need to ask yourself questions such as:

What examples of good management and leadership have I observed? Then ask:

Why was it good?

What benefits and positive impact did this practice result in?

What behaviours and management tools were used that helped?

How does this relate to some of the theory and concepts I am learning?

How can I use this learning to improve my own practice?

What examples of poor management and leadership have I observed? Then ask:

Why was it poor?

What negative impact and consequences did this poor practice have?

What behaviours and methods were used that caused problems?

How does this relate to some of the theory and concepts I am learning?

How can I use this learning to ensure my own practice is better?

Work through an example of each of the above now and jot down your answers.

Books

As a studying member of the CMI you will be able to borrow books from the Management

Library for FREE.

From the CMI website homepage go to:

Practical support & advice/Management Direct/More/CMI Library – here you can search

for books and borrow them from the CMI library.


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One of the challenges you will face when studying for your qualification is filtering the wealth

of information and ideas you will come across into learning that you can apply to improve

your management and leadership practice.

You will need to be clear about what you want and need to learn. You will also need to

decide how you will then use your learning to write your assignments (see Chapter 3).

I like the following quote:

Maxwell, James Clerk – “There is nothing more practical than a good theory”

I think this is a useful way of thinking. If you find yourself reading about a management and

leadership concept, theory or model that resonates with you (maybe because you can

understand it and see how you can use it to help your own practice) then stick with it and

use it!


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CHAPTER 3 - WRITING YOUR ASSIGNMENTS

Your assignments will be a great help in reinforcing your learning. They will be assessed

against the learning outcomes and assessment criteria of the qualification.

The following guidelines are designed to help you with the preparation, presentation and

content of your written assignments. If anything is unclear, make sure you also seek

further advice and guidance from your tutor(s) well in advance of submitting your first

assignment in particular.

This chapter covers a guide to:

Understanding the requirements of an assignment

Assignment structure

Assignment content

Weighting of learning outcomes and assessment criteria

Understanding the requirements of an assignment

Section 2 provides some guidance about how to research the many management &

leadership learning resources available to you.

Before embarking on your reading and research for an assignment, it is very important to

step back and understand exactly what knowledge and understanding an assignment

requires you to demonstrate.

Remember you will need to carefully answer the task that is being asked and to check that

you are addressing the assessment criteria listed below each task. If you are asked for some

something specifically you will need to make sure you do it – e.g. construct a plan

This will enable you to keep a clear focus on the tasks set and the assessment criteria

against which your work will be judged as you read and research.

During your research for an assignment on the CMI’s Management Direct you may well, for

example, be reading an article, checklist or book chapter, viewing a leader video, completing

an e-learning module, analysing a model or checking out a Thinkers viewpoint. You need to

‘capture’ this learning as you go along and focus on what will be useful to answer the

assignment questions and meet the assessment criteria.


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TOP TIP: It can be useful to have the assignment to hand and as you learn, note down

against each task and assessment criteria your references and the key points that you

intend to use in your assignment.

You might want to use a tool such as mind mapping to help you organise the information you

have gathered from your research – you can find some great advice on this at

www.mindtools.com – go to: Toolkit/Learning Skills.

Assignment structure

1. A good readable format is 1.5 spacing of text

2. A good readable font is ARIAL 11 or 12

3. Use headings and sub-headings to reflect the tasks and assessment criteria –

make these bold and/or underlined (this also helps the assessor!)

4. Stick to the word guide – you must not be more than 10% over or under

5. Use figures, diagrams and tables to support your text and help show your knowledge

and understanding (not included in word count). Keep them relevant and not

‘padding’ – something that helps to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding

6. It is not usually necessary to add appendices to assignments – a valid example of a

useful appendix might be something like a plan if you have been asked to devise or

construct one

7. Each assignment must include:

Title page – with the assignment title and your name (not included in word

count).

Introduction – 100-200 words (not included in word count). Not your career

history, but briefly describe what you do in your job that is relevant to the

module you are writing about. State whether you are a manager or not in

order to help the assessor understand how you will be approaching the

assignment

Sections - relating to the tasks set and associated assessment criteria

Bibliography – a list of all the sources referred to in your assignment – i2l

course materials, websites, books etc. – this will not be included in the word

count. (not included in word count).


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Assignment content

1. You need to demonstrate in your assignments that you know and understand about

effective management & leadership. Remember that you are on a development

programme, so we need to hear about YOU as much as possible in the assignments.

If you are not a manager, avoid phrases such as “a good manager would .....” Instead

say “If I was a manager in that situation I would ........” and/or “a manager I work with

often ......”

The completion of your assignments is an extremely useful part of your learning because

it requires you to:

reflect on what you are learning and what you (and/or others) are doing at work –

remember your observation checklist of page 17 of this pack

draw conclusions – what works well that I need to do/continue doing? what is not

working well that I need to change or stop?, what am I not yet doing that I need to

start?

commit to what you will actually do as a manager going forward – the diagram below

shows how you can follow a typical learning cycle in your assignments.

•Critically reflect on practice and use the tools & theory learned to help assess practice & performance

•Draw conclusions on things doing well, not so well, what needs to be done the same and/or differently and/or new

•Understand assignment requirements

•Reading & research

•Observation of workplace practice

•Commit to what future management practice will be like

Act on learning

Do

Reflect Conclude


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2. You need to refer to and apply theory, tools and techniques that you are learning.

However, you will demonstrate your knowledge and understanding better if you

briefly summarise the key points of a model or concept and then explain how you

and/or other managers have (or could) applied it in your work. This is much

more effective that great chunks of descriptive text of a model or concept.:

For example: imagine there is a task in an assignment that requires you to explain

about effective delegation and how it can help a manager’s performance.

Your answer could be structured as follows:

An explanation of what you have learned about delegation, referring to tools,

techniques and theory – perhaps the need to implement a delegation model

and follow a set of delegation ground rules.

Some critical refection – how do you delegate currently? Do you implement

the whole delegation model? Do you follow all the ground rules? What are

your strengths, weaknesses and areas for development?

Conclusions – What do I do well in terms of delegation? What am I getting

wrong? What don’t I do at all that I need to start doing?

Action going forward as an effective manager – what will I do differently as a

result of the reflection I’ve done? What are the conclusions I’ve reached?

What difference/impact will this have on my performance as a manager?

How might this look in an assignment?

On the next page is an extract of an assignment to illustrate this:


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Armstrong (1) suggests that effective delegation should follow a cycle as summarised

in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: Armstrong’s delegation cycle (1)

The planning stage involves …………… [Go on to very briefly describe key features

of each stage].

Clayton (2) has also provided a set of ‘ground rules’ for delegation:

give worthwhile work

check capability of the person to whom you are delegating

check the current workload and priorities of the person to whom you are

delegating

provide support

agree level of responsibility the person to whom you are delegating you will

have

agree level of authority the person to whom you are delegating you will have

It has been useful to reflect on the extent to which my own delegation practice

reflects what Armstrong and Clayton both propose is needed.

I know that I tend to lose sight of monitoring and reviewing progress when I get busy

and sucked into other things. I also realise that I need to pay more attention to

clarifying the level of responsibility and authority I’m delegating.

For example, recently I delegated ......... to ............. and it didn’t go to plan because

[go on to give examples]

PLAN

AGREE

IMPLEMENT

MONITOR & REVIEW

BUILD ON CAPABILITY


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At the end of your assignment, your bibliography will then include the following:

Bibliography

(1) Michael Armstrong How to be an Even Better Manager Kogan Page, 2008

(2) Susan Clayton Cited in inspired2learn’s Diploma in First Line management

handouts, 2010

3. You must use a referencing system to acknowledge your sources. If you know

how, you can use Harvard referencing OR a more simple system will suffice.

I have used a simple system in the extract about delegation above.

Marking of your assignments

Your assessor will hold professional qualifications in assessment and management

development and will play a key part in your development.

They will assess your work against the CMI standards for the qualification (specifically the

assessment criteria) and make judgements on whether your work meets the standards.

They will also provide you with constructive feedback.


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Weighting of assessment criteria

Each assignment is made up of a series of tasks. You will be given the word guide for each

task in an assignment.

ALL assessment criteria have to be covered in an assignment. However, some criteria need

more detailed responses than others.

You will notice that the tasks set and the assessment criteria often ask you to do different

things such as ‘identify’ or ‘describe’ or ‘discuss’ or ‘explain’ or ‘evaluate’. In the table below I

have shown how the number of words expected when you are asked to ‘evaluate’ something

will be far more than when simply asked to ‘identify’ something:

Question

beginning with:

Nature of response

Number of

words

Identify

Briefly state or list things to recognise something.

Least words

Most words

Describe

Some detail to say what someone or something is like.

Explain

Make something clear to understand by giving reasons for it

existing and/or how it works.

Discuss

Talk about a subject in detail including your own and others’

ideas and opinions about it. You might start discussing

differences; comparing and contrasting.

Evaluate/Assess

Talk about a subject in detail. Start to make judgements

about the quality and importance of something. Start

making value statements; give the advantages and

disadvantages; good and bad, whether it’s fit for purpose,

how useful something is. Also, come to a conclusion(s).


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You will come across other words such as below:

Construct - this will usually mean you have to include something ‘real’ – e.g. construct a

personal development plan

Devise - as above – e.g. devise a process for assessing your performance

Develop - this will usually require you to produce something – e.g. develop a business

case for.....

The assignment writing component of your qualification plays an important part in the

reinforcement of your learning.

Sandi, a recent participant completing a hard earned Diploma with us sums this up very well

in her final reflective statement of learning.

She says:

“I found the recommended reading and research interesting and stimulating. It was

during those reading sessions that I felt I was learning something new.

Having to then write this up in assignments has been really beneficial.

This is because it made me reflect on how I was applying my learning at work, and

how my practice measured up to some of the models and techniques I had been

learning about. I have done management training before without doing assignments,

and when I got home it was mostly forgotten.

The assignments this time have forced me to reflect more and think about how I can

apply what I have learned.”

When asked the secret to finishing his 500 page masterpiece, The Power of One, author

Bryce Courtenay growled, “Bum glue!”

If you are struggling to get settled down to that assignment you might want to follow his tip!

Also, a blank piece of paper (perhaps a touch of writers block) can be intimidating. Start

writing down your ideas – it is surprising how this can help to get things flowing!


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CHAPTER 4 - MAINTAINING MOTIVATION TO STUDY

In my experience, the most successful participants in self study qualifications programmes

are people who have a “why?” – a reason for achieving the qualification that serves as a

powerful motivator to keep going and complete the qualification in the face of all other

pressures on their time.

It is important that you enrol on a self study programme that will help you achieve what you

want.

When you start a self study qualification programme, you will want to finish it and enjoy the

learning experience and sense of achievement.

This chapter covers a few useful things for you to think about and reflect on your level of

motivation:

What are your reasons for enrolling on a self study programme?

How committed and prepared are you to succeed?

Do you demonstrate the personal characteristics needed to succeed?

Let’s expand on these a little.

Reasons for enrolling on a self study programme

Why are you seeking the qualification? It is useful now to pause and reflect. You will find the

motivation to succeed if you have one or more of the following reasons driving you:

To increase your capability and confidence as a manager through gaining further

knowledge and understanding of management & leadership theory, concepts and

best practice

To achieve professional recognition and credibility through gaining a reputable

internationally recognised qualification

To strengthen your CV and boost your career prospects by giving yourself a

competitive edge in the recruitment process

To enhance your ability to exploit new career opportunities

To meet an employer’s requirement to hold a qualification in order to secure a new

job or promotion

To meet a Professional Body’s requirement to demonstrate continuous professional

development


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Commitment and preparation for success

It is also important to reflect on the extent to which you are prepared to:

Fully commit to the time and space you will need to make in order to succeed. This

will also involve considering the impact your commitment might have on others such

as family, friends and work colleagues, whose support you will need.

Be curious about exploring a range of learning resources that will be available to you.

This may involve accessing resources you are not familiar with from your previous

studies such as: on-line e-learning courses, podcasts, telephone and SKYPE

tutorials.

Personal characteristics needed for success

Your success will depend on an effective partnership between your chosen training provider

and yourself. We have found that people who have been successful in achieving their

qualification through a self study programme possess the following personal characteristics

in abundance.

They always:

Demonstrate a high degree of self motivation and self reliance

Demonstrate a high degree of self organisation and commitment to meeting

deadlines

Enjoy undertaking learning and self development – it is not just a chore in order to be

able to tick the boxes for achieving a qualification

Show a willingness to actively engage with their training provider and seek tutorial

advice to keep their learning and assignment writing focused and relevant.

How do you score against these characteristics?

And finally, it is worth remembering the value of achieving a management & leadership

qualification.

In recent research (Dr R. McBain et al – The Business Benefits of Management &

Leadership Development, Feb. 2012) it is stated: “managers clearly rate accredited

learning and qualifications as having the most impact on their management abilities”


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MORE ABOUT inspired2learn

You can find out about our distance learning self study programmes – what we offer and our

approach - at www.inspired2learnselfstudy.com

Recent self study testimonials:

I had previously completed a CMI Level 5 Diploma on an in-house course with my previous

employer in the UK. When I decided to look into studying a Level 7 Diploma I had to choose

a self study option as I live and work in Abu Dhabi in the UAE but wanted a UK based

course provider. My research into course providers back home came up with a few options

and I chose inspired2learn after making contact with Barrie Smale. I felt reassured that

inspired2learn had the experience I was looking for in delivering CMI courses. I am glad I

made this choice, I have had full support when I have needed it and swift responses to

questions I had when completing the workbooks and assignments. I would wholeheartedly

recommend inspired2learn to anyone.

Provided by Tom, United Arab Emirates

Inspired2learn have made this an easy process as they understood what was needed from

the assignments and my situation. They have been extremely helpful in advising about

learning materials to help with the assignments, and have marked my assignments promptly

with helpful feedback. I would definitely recommend this as a route for other people”

Provided by Laura, Plymouth, UK

Studying whilst working full time in busy demanding role is not an easy task. It had been

some time since I had completed any qualifications and I was a bit apprehensive about

embarking on the Level 3 Certificate in Management. With the support I received from

inspired2learn, I passed with flying colours. In particular, Clare was an invaluable source of

support throughout the whole process. Any queries or uncertainties I encountered along the

way, she happily answered providing me with much needed encouragement. I learned a

great deal studying for this qualification that I intend to apply to my day to day work.

Provided by Mark, Coventry, UK

http://www.inspired2learnselfstudy.com/


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Inspired2learn has given me an opportunity to do a long distance course and making the

best use of my time after working hours. Especially when working in the Developing World

and with less night life distractions, I can be more concentrated in my self-study and not

feeling my time is being wasted. My tutor, Barrie Smale, has been very helpful in my journey

to achieve my CMI qualifications. I consider him not only my tutor, but also a mentor and a

friend. He answered my questions, not limited to the course syllabus alone but anything

related to the topics. We even discussed hot topics in the social media. I have broadened my

views on management and I believe it is definitely a valuable journey where you have

somebody supportive to walk along with you. I have just achieved my first CMI Award in May

(2012) and currently I am studying for the CMI Level 5 Certificate. My goal is to become a

Chartered Manager and I hope inspired2learn will always be next to me.

Provided by Hoi from Hong Kong, working in Nigeria

The Diploma has strengthened my confidence and has definitely helped me become more

reflective as a practitioner – I have realised that this brings much more satisfaction and

meaning to my work. I really did feel inspired to learn, a cheesy comment which you no

doubt hear often, but true!

Provided by Lisa, South Gloucestershire, UK

Find out how you can achieve your self study qualification with

inspired2learn’s personalised attention & support

E-mail: [email protected] or Call: 0044 (0) 1380 722309

Documents

A guide to successful CMI self-study · 2014-01-28 · Recently, I completed a Level 7 professional qualification myself by self study. I have undertaken a lot of courses and qualifications