Welcome to ICS

Pioneers ofhome learningicslearn.co.uk

03 Welcome to ICS04 What we do06 How we can work together08 About us10 The education and skills landscape12 Our services14 Doing business with ICS

Published by:ICS1st Floor, Skypark 545 Finnieston StreetGlasgow G3 8JU

icslearn.co.uk

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Welcome to ICS Pioneers of distance learningSince we enrolled our first student in 1890, we have helpedmore than 13 million people achieve their aims. Today wepride ourselves on providing innovative and flexible learningopportunities at a time and place to suit our students’ needs.

We’re passionate about excellent service and high qualitycourses, a combination that creates a great experience for ourstudents and successful relationships with our partners,including FE and HE institutions, employers, awarding bodies,professional associations, funding bodies and governmentagencies.

Our strategy is to build sustainable growth through acombination of courses, products and services that enrichpeople’s lives and build the respect and trust of the manyorganisations we work with.

We create opportunities for adults to learn, enabling peoplefrom all walks of life to enhance their careers, improve theirknowledge and deepen their understanding of a widevariety of subjects.

What we do

Distance learning works with ICS. Ourflexible courses are backed by high qualitymaterials, knowledgeable tutors and helpfulsupport at the end of the phone or online.

Most of our courses lead to accreditedqualifications that are recognised andaccepted throughout the world. We have a stake in the success of everystudent and care about the outcome.

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Our course portfolio includes:

> Undergraduate and postgraduatedegrees

> A Levels

> GCSEs

> BTECs

> VRQs and NVQs

> Professional qualifications from bodiessuch as the Chartered Institute ofMarketing (CIM), the CharteredInstitute of Management Accountants(CIMA) and the Chartered Institute ofPersonnel and Development (CIPD)

> Hobby and personal passion courses.

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We have close partnerships with awardingbodies and pride ourselves on providing thebest possible service and support with thebest courses available. We do everything wecan to make success achievable for ourstudents, and have a particular focus onenhancing the learning experience throughthe use of new technology suited to theneeds to today’s contemporary learners.

We believe we can develop highly successfulpartnerships through our shared vision whichfocuses on skills and employability, and putsthe student at the heart of everything we do.

How we can work together

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ICS has extensive experience in developing and deliveringhigh quality distance learning qualifications to thousands ofstudents every year.

Examples of subject areas and courses youmay be interested in:

Health and Social Care> L2 VRQ Dementia Care (NCFE and EDI)

> L2 VRQ Safe Handling of Medicines(NCFE and EDI)

> L2 QCF Award in the Prevention andControl of Infection (NCFE and EDI)

> L3 VRQ Palliative Care (NCFE)

Professional and PersonnelDevelopment> ILM L3 Certificate in First Line

Management

> CIPD Certificate in Personnel Practice

> CIPD Leadership and Management

> CIPD People Management andDevelopment

> CIPD Learning and Development

> CIPD Employment Law

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£20mOur turnover between December 2006 and June 2008

>150Number of distance learning courses on offer

27,000Number of students supported every year by ICS

18Number of awarding bodies working with ICS

9,000Number of calls handled per month by our contact centre

2,700Number of student emails that we respond to every month

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About usICS is the leading privately owned distance learning companyin the UK. Our parent, the Cornelson Group, is an educationalpublisher with a 60 year heritage of helping people to learn;its motto: “The closer we are to our customers, the better”illustrates our own approach perfectly.

We are owned by Metaphora, a subsidiaryof the Cornelson Group, which is based in Berlin. Cornelson has a turnover of !400 million, around 3,000staff and a portfolio ranging from booksto multimedia, with more than 23,000titles in print.

We’re dedicated to quality improvement and ensure a continuous cycle offeedback and research to enhance ourprogrammes, products and services. OurAcademic Advisory Board, for example,ensures that we maintain leadership inour field.

As an employer ourselves, we’recommitted to equality of opportunity –for our staff and students – and conductbusiness with care for our environment.

Research and DevelopmentResearch is central to our business and we are continually developing our expertisein the specific needs of distributedlearners. We have secured a KnowledgeTransfer Partnership (KTP) with theDepartment of Educational Technology

of a leading university. This KTP is looking at specific elements of learningfor distributed learners including self-organised systems, student and tutorcollaboration, remote laboratory practice,numeracy and language.

We are also involved in a JISC fundedproject ‘Creating a Better LearningEnvironment’ in partnership with aHigher Education Institution. Ouraspiration is for distance and on-campusstudents to have broad parity ofexperience. This project is focused on thepre and post enrolment stages of thestudent lifecycle, with a view toimproving processes and communicationsystems.

International DevelopmentWe have seen growing interest indistance learning from students from allover the world. Our aim is to develop thisfurther in Asia, in particular within theemerging economies of India and China,giving students the opportunity toexperience first class UK education bydistance learning.

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UK Government policy continues to be heavily influenced by the Leitch Review, which identified demand-led skills and training as key to future economic growth. One tangibleoutcome has been Train to Gain, with funding of £925m in 2009-10, growing to more than £1bn by 2010-11announced in the 2009 Budget, Building Britain’s Future.

The education and skills landscape

Government continues to stress theimportance of skills, with initiatives likethe Economic Challenge Investment Fundto provide HE led support for employersand individuals, a new business supportprogramme for the creative industries,35,000 additional apprenticeships and50,000 new traineeships in the care sector.

Despite recession, forward thinkingindividuals and employers invest in thefuture now, a future in which skills andqualifications will take on growingsignificance when the economy recovers.The Learning and Skills Council estimatesthat half of all businesses in the UK dosome form of off-the-job training –training that could embrace distance

learning, which we believe has a key roleto play in building new skills. Thenotional size of this market for wasaround £736m in 2007.

Our own research with employers hasfound a willingness to fund distancelearning if it is relevant, cost effective,beneficial and delivers accreditedqualifications. We can deliver on allcounts. Employers like the flexibility itoffers and our own survey of distancelearning students found that more thaneight out of ten rated this flexibility veryhighly; more than three quarters weredoing a course related to their work.

Distance learning is very suitable because we canwork and study our lessons through at our own pace.It can be useful for improving our job and confidence.Education employer, South East England

A lot of colleagues have young children, so they canstudy in their spare time after work, and fit thestudying around their quality time with their family.Public Sector employer, South West England

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Tutoring and mentoringOur tutors are recruited for theirspecialist, subject and topic-basedknowledge. We support our tutors andthey support our students, providingquality help and support that makes themmore likely to succeed. For our degreecourses, we also provide personalmentors, who help students to staymotivated.

Product and content developmentWhether you need course content todevelop a specialist skill, or an entireprogramme, we can deliver. We knowthat many organisations have tighttimescales and we commit to meetingthem with customised materials thatdeliver success. We can market test andproduce the end product in whateverformat you need - online, on paper or asa DVD or CD.

Student recruitment and marketingWe can promote single programmes or anentire portfolio throughout the UK andworldwide, helping to boost studentnumbers, profile, awareness andreputation. Our UK-based helpdesk isstaffed by dedicated course advisors, whoare experts in recruiting and supportingstudents.

Our servicesWorking with ICS provides a range of benefits. If you need apartner to help you deliver distance learning, develop newcontent, recruit more students or create bespoke trainingcourses, we have a track record of success. Wherever you’recoming from, we’ll try to take you where you want to be.

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Development and alumni servicesIf you want to build links with your formerstudents, we can help to develop andsupport them through a range of digital,contact and print solutions, as well as ourdedicated outbound team.

Training and professional developmentWe can provide bespoke training andcontinuous professional development(CPD), offering good value for money. Wedeliver sector specific training, tailored CPDand work based learning packages,supported by distance learning.

Student servicesOur students benefit from a high qualitylearning experience that puts them at theheart of what we do. This includes up todate learning materials, an online studentcommunity and tutor support via email,online and telephone.

Examples of our partnerships

For Aberdeen College we have developed a number of distance learning courses tosupport work based learning. These includehealth and social care, risk assessment andfood hygiene.

We have linked up with Anglia RuskinUniversity to promote postgraduate andundergraduate distance learning coursesthrough email and web-based marketing,targeted advertising and the developmentand cultivation of relationships in keymarkets abroad.

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Doing business with ICS We’re a company that makes things happen. We aim toexceed the expectations of our customers, students andpartners, setting ourselves challenging but achievable goals.

Helping HEICS is a Higher Education specialist andcurrently works with a number of UKUniversities, including Anglia Ruskin,Edinburgh Napier and the University of EastLondon. We have evolved our HE offeringwith our students at heart – they trust us todeliver to the highest standards and ouruniversity partners do too.

Furthering FEWe provide learning materials and studentrecruitment services for a number of FEcolleges under the trading name of Ethos.These include Aberdeen College, GranthamCollege and Aylesbury College.

In a market where staleness spells stagnation,we innovate to improve the quality of ourproducts and services and enhance theexperience of our customers.

We work with a wide range of organisationsto provide memorable distance learningopportunities. If you value your reputation asmuch as we value ours, then we can dobusiness.

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Enabling EmployersWe can develop distance learning packagesthat mean employees can learn in their owntime, gaining essential skills and qualificationsto improve their performance andcontribution at work.

Supporting Sector Skills CouncilsWe have experience in delivering professionaland practical skills and qualifications across anumber of sectors and can partner withrelevant SSCs to ensure that employers havethe most effective service to suit their needs.

Promoting professional bodiesWe aim to be the partner of choice forprofessional bodies that require distancelearning packages for their members. Wealready deliver courses on behalf of a numberof professional groups, including theChartered Institute of Purchasing and Supplyand the Institute of Leadership andManagement.

Student quotes“I have received assistance whenever I haverequired it. The website makes submissionof assignments, test papers etc. verysimple. When I have telephoned ICS, Ihave always had my queries answered andcustomer service has always beenexcellent”.Employee in Food Manufacturing,North East

“The coursework is easy to understand andwritten in plain English, without anyjargon.” Public Sector Employee, South West

“I am very satisfied with ICS because I havehad the flexibility to study at my own timeand I have got the help from the tutorswhenever I have had a query.”Health Sector Employee, North West

“I commend ICS and its tutors for thequality and quantity of the feedback theyprovide to each student. All significantaspects of assignments are identified andexplored, using language that is helpfuland constructive. In my view the ICSsystem is a model of its kind and catersparticularly well for its distance learningstudents.”CIPD Chief Examiner

To find out more, contact us on 0141 306 1198

PCRED1009

ICS1st Floor, Skypark 545 Finneston StreetGlasgow G3 8JU

Tel: 0141 306 1198

icslearn.co.uk