Learning & Development Student Stories:
CIPD Student Stories: Fern Adams | CIPD Level 3 Certificate Review

Fern decided to start studying a CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate in L&D to develop her learning and development skills and was pleasantly surprised about the reality of studying online. 

I left school at the age of 17 and went on a search for a business and administration apprenticeship, the thought of an apprenticeship appealed to me very much as I was able to learn and gain the work experience at the same time.

After a year I completed my business and administration apprenticeship with Azets Holdings Limited and I knew I was not finished with learning and developing within my role.

After speaking with my manager my role changed from Learning and Development Apprentice to Learning and Development Administrator and we spoke about myself studying towards a professional qualification in Learning and Development.

After doing research on different providers ICS Learn stood out to me a lot, the different reviews from both students and companies who previously used ICS Learn attracted me to using them as a training provider.

Even though I had heard many reviews about ICS Learn there was always the factor of it all being online. Through my apprenticeship it was all face to face and regular catch up with my mentor and so to move from a face to face environment to all online it was quite daunting.

Now after nearly 15 months with ICS Learn I can confirm that there is nothing to fear within studying online and in fact I would prefer to use this method going forward if I was to study even further with Learning and Development. 

The tutor support within ICS Learn is like no other, the live chat which is available near enough all day every day is 10/10 , they are so quick with responses and that is the same with the one-to-one conversations you get to have with your tutor.

All the tutors I have had throughout my experience with ICS Learn and studying towards my professional qualification has made this experience so enjoyable and there was no point during this time I have felt stressed or lost, someone has always been there to support me.

The course itself that I have been studying towards is the CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate in Learning and Development.

Going from an apprenticeship solely based on Business and Administration to moving onto studying a qualification that is based around my job it gave me a better insight on how Learning and Development helps individuals and organisations within many sectors of business and not just accountancy, which is what my organisation covers.

I have been able to adapt my learning and use it within my current role and have a better perspective of situations and how to handle them differently because of what I have learned throughout my course.

Going forward for the future, I would love to continue studying and learn more about Learning and Development, since studying I have been given more responsibility within my role within the organisation and I hope for when I qualify that I am given more and get to continue to support all members of staff within Azets.

For anyone wanting to study towards a professional qualification, I would recommend ICS Learn as a provider, the communication from everyone within ICS Learn is amazing and the support they give you really does make the experience so much better.

Inspired by Fern's story? Develop your Learning and Development career today with a CIPD qualification.