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

[MowldyStupidAndAssive]

I see FB adverts pop up every now and then for the Centre Of Excellence which offers diplomas/courses in things ranging from useful sounding (SEN law, or sign language) to utterly random shite (herbalism for witches, or CBD oil for animals, for example).

Several friends have parted with money and recieved fancy certificates to try and improve their CV but none seem to have any proper accreditation. The certificates don't have grades on, they just say stuff like "X has participated in blah blah course". I think they're wasting their money.

AIBU to think it's just bollocks, and that I bet everybody who pays up gets the certificate, and that employers will not be impressed by these "qualifications"? Or should I be less cynical...

Meh...I know a lady who is a 'reiki master' through this company- means nothing to me but it works for her and her customers?

It's probably ok for a certain type of person/course....not so much for formal employment.

I have occasionally considered doing one of their courses - I am interested in medieval, Plantagenet and Tudor history, and would like to learn more - but I would only be doing it for my own interest, and wouldn't expect to end up with any meaningful qualification.

I haven’t tried them so far, because I reckon I can probably learn what I want to know by reading books by serious historians.

Surely people know that this isn't a fast-track route to employment? I suppose no knowledge is useless but it would be unfortunate for people to be duped into parting with 100s of pounds only to end up disappointed if they're using it as a career spring board.

They offer all sorts of "psychic" courses including dragon energy and tea leaf reading. www.centreofexcellence.com/shop/psychic-development-courses/

One of their "partners"is the Complementary Medical Association. Which is run by the errr...interesting Jayney Goddard.

I saw they offered one on conspiracy theories.....

Hmmm....

I started one on knitting. Did learn some stuff and will finish it one day but I am under no illusions that I am going to become the next Kaffe Fassett through my online endeavours

Surely people can learn these skills for free from you tube?

I'm tempted by ancient magic just to see what on earth they actually teach!

I prefer Udemy. I'm doing a drawing one.

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

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 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

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

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.

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.)

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.

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😀

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.

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 🤔

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.

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

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

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

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

Please can this be put into plain English?

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