Courses - Civil Servants

direstraits

Hi, does anyone know if any government department offer courses (management, IT etc..) to civil servants or is there tax relief on particular courses?

I was looking at the ; https://www.ipa.ie/management-development/diploma-in-management.2279.html

Cost is 2,950e. Would a government department pay for this if it is deemed it will be relevant or is there free courses (not springboard) offered to CS?

Cheers

Augme

There is a refund of fees initiative within the civil service. Obviously different departments will run it slightly differently. Generally if you can make a good business case for why the course is relevant to your current role or else relevant to the organisations work and might help on a future role you'll have a good chance, from my experience anyway.

Like with everything civil service, I am are there are some departments who run it terribly though.

redmgar

direstraits wrote: »

Hi, does anyone know if any government department offer courses (management, IT etc..) to civil servants or is there tax relief on particular courses?

I was looking at the ; https://www.ipa.ie/management-development/diploma-in-management.2279.html

Cost is 2,950e. Would a government department pay for this if it is deemed it will be relevant or is there free courses (not springboard) offered to CS?

Cheers

Varies within departments, some will pay 100% as long as you pass. Some pay nothing. Check with local HR.

Meathlass

All Government Departments operate a Refund of Fees scheme. Typically you make a business case to your manager as to how this course will benefit your work and the work of your section. THey approve it and send it to HR. In my Deptartment the senior management group sign off on all these applications. It's fairly standard and there should be information available from your HR section on it.

direstraits

Cheers it was for a friend of mine, I will pass the info on, thanks

SouthWesterly

Worked with a guy who wanted to do a legal course relevant to his job. His manager refused it based on him being off 1 day a month for classes.

He left the department soon after. Couldn't blame him

Awkwardstroke

That’s a pity. It should also be noted that civil servants can get some study & exam time off for certain approved courses.
In general, my experience of the CS on this matter is quite positive yet you do need to make a business case as others have stated earlier. It’s also a challenge to balance work & study sometimes.

SouthWesterly wrote: »

Worked with a guy who wanted to do a legal course relevant to his job. His manager refused it based on him being off 1 day a month for classes.

He left the department soon after. Couldn't blame him

AndrewJRenko

SouthWesterly wrote: »

Worked with a guy who wanted to do a legal course relevant to his job. His manager refused it based on him being off 1 day a month for classes.

He left the department soon after. Couldn't blame him

Just to be clear, looking to do a course in work time is a different scenario to looking to get your course fees refunded, as in the OP. It is a different ask.

In my experience, most managers look favourably on training and development of all kinds, and any PMDS without some element of training planned for the year ahead is likely to get knocked back.

SouthWesterly

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Just to be clear, looking to do a course in work time is a different scenario to looking to get your course fees refunded, as in the OP. It is a different ask.

In my experience, most managers look favourably on training and development of all kinds, and any PMDS without some element of training planned for the year ahead is likely to get knocked back.

Just to be clear, the op never specified if the course was during work time or not.

Plus I don't see the issue with doing a course directly related to the job and which would benefit the department during working hours.

thenightman

Get in touch with your learning and development department or HR. Civil service offers the refund of fees scheme. Good few in my place have completed management and law degrees via evening courses. Hard slog all the same, especially if you have kids or a decent commute etc.

AndrewJRenko

SouthWesterly wrote: »

Just to be clear, the op never specified if the course was during work time or not.

Plus I don't see the issue with doing a course directly related to the job and which would benefit the department during working hours.

I'm not disagreeing with you.