Springboard course

Vrinda · 28-03-2021 6:53pm #1

Hi, I signed up for a course recently but I feel that I wont be able to complete it. I successfully completed the first semester but I don't think I will be able to continue and finish the course. What happens if you cant finish a course that was offered through springboard? Will I get fined or something for not completing it, I feel anxious about it as I have joined the course after academic studies gap of nearly 15 years

Hobgoblin11 · 31-03-2021 10:46pm

Vrinda wrote: »

Hi, I signed up for a course recently but I feel that I wont be able to complete it. I successfully completed the first semester but I don't think I will be able to continue and finish the course. What happens if you cant finish a course that was offered through springboard? Will I get fined or something for not completing it, I feel anxious about it as I have joined the course after academic studies gap of nearly 15 years

no fine, you just lose your registration fee and can't do another one for around 5 years

bubblemassage · 06-04-2021 11:07am

I did a Springboard course in 2016 and dropped out in 2017 near the end of the course, after falling behind and not being able to get an extension. I was told I was banned from Springboard. To be honest, the course was pretty sketchy and through a college that doesn't even exist anymore. I was back and forth with Springboard and they said that you simply ring them up and ask for the ban to be taken off your account. Which they did and was no problem. I was surprised at how easy it was.

Then I undertook another Springboard course in 2018, which ended up being a massive workload too and couldn't be completed alongside employment. I fell behind about 2/3s into it and couldn't catch up because there was no extensions in that course either.

Now I'm in a course that I paid for, and I really enjoy and am 3 weeks away from finishing. On reflection, I didn't think I was able for the Springboard courses because the time commitment for them is quite long, especially for people in precarious employment. Having flexibility on assignments is really important. My own case was that I was employed in seasonal work throughout and found it so hard to complete deadlines when my employment was expecting a really big commitment.

That said, I do think the 6 month long courses are really good, and I'd be more inclined for short intensive training courses than year long PGD or masters programmes. The skills I learned when I was on the courses are skills I use every day, I simply don't have a piece of paper to prove them. And they did get me employed and off the dole, so don't lose hope!

Hobgoblin11 · 08-04-2021 9:19pm

bubblemassage wrote: »

I did a Springboard course in 2016 and dropped out in 2017 near the end of the course, after falling behind and not being able to get an extension. I was told I was banned from Springboard. To be honest, the course was pretty sketchy and through a college that doesn't even exist anymore. I was back and forth with Springboard and they said that you simply ring them up and ask for the ban to be taken off your account. Which they did and was no problem. I was surprised at how easy it was.

Then I undertook another Springboard course in 2018, which ended up being a massive workload too and couldn't be completed alongside employment. I fell behind about 2/3s into it and couldn't catch up because there was no extensions in that course either.

Now I'm in a course that I paid for, and I really enjoy and am 3 weeks away from finishing. On reflection, I didn't think I was able for the Springboard courses because the time commitment for them is quite long, especially for people in precarious employment. Having flexibility on assignments is really important. My own case was that I was employed in seasonal work throughout and found it so hard to complete deadlines when my employment was expecting a really big commitment.

That said, I do think the 6 month long courses are really good, and I'd be more inclined for short intensive training courses than year long PGD or masters programmes. The skills I learned when I was on the courses are skills I use every day, I simply don't have a piece of paper to prove them. And they did get me employed and off the dole, so don't lose hope!

which course did you complete that you enjoyed so much?

Saint_Mel · 13-04-2021 11:02am

Vrinda wrote: »

Hi, I signed up for a course recently but I feel that I wont be able to complete it. I successfully completed the first semester but I don't think I will be able to continue and finish the course. What happens if you cant finish a course that was offered through springboard? Will I get fined or something for not completing it, I feel anxious about it as I have joined the course after academic studies gap of nearly 15 years

Not sure how definite the rules are and I'm guessing they vary depending on who you talk to and circumstances, but when I was on a SB course (2019) we were told that dropping out would exclude you from getting accepted on a SB course again.

It was an MSc course and towards the end they offered a Grad Dip exit award for people who didn't want to complete a Thesis. They were told at the time that by taking the exit award they would be liable for the full fees and excluded from future SB courses as it would show on the SB system that they had not completed the course they started.

Could have just been scare tactics to get people to complete as SB is worth a chunk of cash to colleges. AFAIK they get all the money up front but then the college may be liable to pay back the fees of people who don't finish.

Shark7 · 16-08-2021 12:49am

Thinking about doing one to

Shark7 · 16-08-2021 12:49am

Thinking about doing one to

Springboard course

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