I'm not knocking your post at all, woldranger.

As you wanted facts:

1. Taking a Shaw Academy course is a legitimate way to get an NUS card
2. Shaw Academy has been continuously offering totally FREE courses ever since they started (i.e. the "expires in 24 hours" bit is false scarcity and a complete joke.)
3. Most of Shaw's traffic comes from discount sites (like Groupon) where they sell the same courses they give away for as little as a couple of quid
4. None of Shaw's courses are formally accredited qualifications i.e. Shaw creates a course and then provides its own "Diploma", which doesn't actually prove anything at all (it's no different to me giving you a Diploma in advanced neuroscience - it means jack didley)
5. Having said that, Shaw's courses are generally very well put together and a great introduction to a subject. So, you probably will learn useful stuff - just don't think the "Diploma" will look great on your CV (because if anyone does a Google search on Shaw, it may harm you rather than help you)
6. Shaw makes its money by trying to get people to buy a £300 subscription to all its courses. It also makes a huge amount of cash by charging £15+ for a printed (worthless) Diploma (yes, they are selling a pretty piece of worthless paper for £15 - gotta admire that, lol)
7.If you get an NUS card, you can genuinely save a small fortune in discounts and offers etc.

HTH :smiley:

Where have you been?

The NUS is currently haemorrhaging "real" students due to their ultra-left stance. Nowadays, ANYONE can get an NUS card just by choosing a University & course at random and paying the NUS card fee.

The NUS doesn't check applications at all any more, and even accepts cr.@ppy courses like this for an NUS card.

Welcome to today's capitalist student society. Just with an ultra left-wing perspective :wink:

Just read this bit of information I found:

You may receive a certificate of achievement - this isn't a nationally recognised qualification - you will not find the qualification on the Ofqual register. Those types of courses will not make you 'qualified' to work in a certain role.

They are mainly useful for people who want to learn something new without committing to a more substantial programme of study - and those types of courses are good for that because they're generally designed to be studied at home, in your own time, without deadlines.

If you're wanting a regulated qualification, you need to look for those which say QCF or NVQ in the title (or that are Alevels or GCSEs depending on what you are looking for).

Don't assume that because a provider has put 'diploma' in the title, that it is a qualification.

If the description says you'll receive a 'certificate of achievement' or an 'award certificate of achievement', it's not going to be a qualification.

If you're unsure, ask the provider for the qualification number and then search for it here: register.ofqual.gov.uk

JUST REGARD THIS AS A COURSE THAT WILL GIVE YOU SOME INSIGHT AND KNOWLEGE ABOUT THE SPECIFIC FIELD

Follow this link: http://www.shawacademy.com/learning/?product=goodeed&lang=en

2 pounds each. Still good :smiley:

Loads of free uni courses as part of the future learn programme and these are taught by real universities.

Thanks

Bit tricky. Same courses for free or for 2 pounds. Hmm hmmmm

Looks like it's only ONE course per person/account.

Click on the link in #1, it says you can have 1 FREE COURSE. Pick the course that you want and it's FREE!

I just enrolled onto two courses with same details