"Centre Of Excellence" - it's just bullshit courses with meaningless certificates, isn't it?

I'm doing a genealogy diploma. It's not a recognised qualification and the course material is very out of date. The terms and conditions say, 'The content is not a substitute for formal qualifications, licensure, or regulated training required in your country.'
'Therapy-based courses are for CPD and enhancement purposes only. They do not qualify you to diagnose or treat others without appropriate credentials and compliance with local laws.'

I was feeling restless with the start of the new academic year approaching and not much happening in my personal life, so I've just taken the plunge and signed up for Chemistry For Beginners, using this month's promotional code to reduce the course fee from £170 to £25.

Ive completed 2 courses now and i bought the year bundle for £192 which for 12 courses and 12 audio courses is a BARGAIN! i am pretty certain i will renew it as i have about 60 courses on my wishlist! I am not after employment after this as i have been self employed for 13 years so i am doing courses in interests or things that will benefit my business in some way social media marketing and website design...and some for personal health....cortisol healing.... yoga... face yoga...anxiety management ...that sort of thing and hobbies i have always wanted to do.... sewing, learning spanish and connecting to spirit guides! So i see no harm in learning new and random things!
Youtube is just annoying when it comes to learning. Too many annoying people WAFFLING ON for too long with loads of noise before getting to the info you need. These courses are no waffle and straight to the point. I am really enjoying them and at 16 quid a month.... 8 quid a course. Pretty cheap if you ask me.....

I have just completed a Film Studies Course and Completed it with a Distinction Pass Mark at 93% I'm 47 with a 7 year old, I also work, so doing these courses in my spare time is good for me... It gives me and probably others a great sense of achievement, some of the courses are a little 'out there' but if you pick courses wisely they can really help someone overcome self doubt, also I think for added learning it would be a great addition to add to any C.V I have a few more courses I would like to do... so will continue my studying with them, Also I can't soak in information sometimes with youtube. so having the materials in front of me helps me soak in all the information needed.

If you aspire to be a formulator and you study to be a formulator and you act like a formulator then are you not a formulator????

I am just reacting to a few comments here - notably from ClytemnestraWasMisunderstood - I myself am in the process of doing several courses - pesonally speaking, I find them well laid out, challenging, thoughtful and intrinsically of great value. I have been asked to do them as well by prospective employers, to add legitimacy to employment that will be secured upon completion of the courses. I find your comments unhelpful - not because that you yourself might have had bad experiences with them, I don't know, you don't say - but you offer nothing as an alternative course provider in comparison as a way to redress your concerns. All I can say is, that these CoE courses are working for me, and there seem to be opportunities and possibilities opening up for me . As for you, I can's say. A sure fire way, though, of gauging your reaction is for you to send a message back here to dismiss my comments with cynicism and disdain. No course or course provider is perfect. No institution is. Some make attempts in my humble opinion to provide high quality, challenging material based on commitment on the students part. I believe the Centre of Excellence is one of those organisations.

Well you managed to bitch here lass I think yer understanding quite well made yourself look like a right imbecile

Yes, this works because the people who go to reiki sessions won’t know any different so to them it looks impressive. Just like any layperson might be impressed by a professional looking certificate, they aren’t going to know the ins and outs of awarding bodies etc.

Add to that Reiki is a con anyway so it’s even more likely that people who use that service aren’t going to be especially diligent and could be easily convinced of things.

I have done a few of their courses because its been stuff I am interested in. Enjoyed them and learned quite a bit. Never paid more than £29 for one. That's less than an evening out so I see it as good value for an enjoyable activity

Sounds like you haven't done much self improvement come here bashing people's interests just cause your sitting back batching

Please can this be put into plain English?

Fools and their money are soon parted
I think it's hilarious that people think they are suddenly a professional 'x' without doing a professionally accredited training and education programme, when all they've done is a 2-weekend course in a dodgy front room on the North Circular.

Sounds like you haven't done much self improvement come here bashing people's interests just cause your sitting back batching

So here's the tea then you can decide if you are going to be a proactive member society get off the couch

Centre of Excellence courses are endorsed by the Quality Licence Scheme, which is part of the Skills and Education Group. This endorsement means that Centre of Excellence has undergone an external quality check to ensure that its courses meet defined quality criteria.

If you don't like this post then it'll teach you not to judge peoples life and what they want to achieve remember key word is they..not You!!! Have a nice day in turning your life around and not to be a birch another day

Centre of Excellence courses are endorsed by the Quality Licence Scheme, which is part of the Skills and Education Group. This endorsement means that Centre of Excellence has undergone an external quality check to ensure that its courses meet defined quality criteria.
Not sure where the person that posted this information got theirs from but they were ill informed Centre of Excellence is one of the few course provider recognised outwith college and universities

I hadn't heard of the Center of Excellence. Are these courses what we used to call evening classes? I used to love doing those

I mean... the Open University has no formal entry requirements for it's undergrad degrees anyway, so that's not saying much. But if you're enjoying it then that's what matters.

If I didn’t know any better I’d say it almost sounds like you’re bitter about your friends trying to better themselves 🤔

Im doing COE in cosmology and I can assure you it’s not a brief skim over.
I have already had confirmation that this course will count as a foundation to start an open university degree in astrophysics.

As for putting these courses on a CV…. Yes it absolutely makes a difference!.
An employer will see that as a desire for self improvement and motivation, more so than if let’s say you were sitting at home bitching about your “friends”.

I wonder if COE do a course in how to be happy for your friends 🤔

personally i enjoy the courses that i have done on coe, i have learnt about greek mythology, the witch trials, and vampirism folk lore all very interesting. i have paid for two more courses fairy tales and fairy lore and egyption mythology.
im a mental health suffere and have agrophobia so dont really get out so its been nice to do something and receive certificates for them.

I've loved all my courses with the Centre of Excellence no time limits to finish your course which worked really well for me studying around looking after my 3 children, they have a great study group too where you can meet other students and study buddies doing the same subjects which is aways handy when studying from home. They have lots of free courses on their Free Courses page too that you might want to check out and these get updated every few months. I've just finished the free Crystal Healing Course and they have a free promotion on the Dinosaurs for Kids Course too atm which is amazing, my 6-year-old loved it, this course is free using the code FREEDINO at the checkout, a great little free course, my son was very impressed... and what I don't know about dinosaurs now! Definitely worth signing up for😀

The information given is often outdated, erroneous or just nonsense. There is no academic quality to these courses and as such they have zero value (wonder why they're not all accredited by serious organisations). All you do is memorise a bunch of factoids and spew them out again to pass.

Not everyone learns well from video. I struggle horribly to focus on video especially youtube - my attention goes for one minute whilst they advertise random crap and whoops its twenty minutes later and I forgot what I was doing.

Whereas if you give me a text to read I can work through it.

(This is becoming an increasing problem in a world where all how tos seem to be on youtube.)

It would depend on which course/ diploma you are taking with the Centre of Excellence , some are accredited, others are not, and some do have grades on and others do not. It’s up to you to do your homework . The CPD ( continued professional development) certification will enhance your CV .

You will find that even universities will have degrees these days in subjects you may deem as meaningless , it’s up to the student what they choose to study.

If you have to pay a chunk of cash it's generally shit for old rope.

i did one on witchcraft as its something im interested in it gave me something to do during lockdown and was only £29 so not that much money it was quite interesting there are lots of free ones as well from other sources im doing a holocaust one at the moment through Yad Vashem in israel as i retire next year i just do them to keep the old grey matter going not for career or Cv enhancement my real degree didnt do that much for me either and as i was part time and working that one did cost me big time in cash

You can learn stuff from YouTube if you have an idea what it is you need to learn but sometimes you need a more structured course to follow.

I did one on double entry bookkeeping and found that I enjoyed it and definitely felt confident and ready to take on a proper sat course. I put it on my CV but I dont think it counts for anything