The Student's View
Name		Darren Ashcroft
Age		20
Current Position		At Oxford Brookes doing a Computer Systems modular honours degree
Course		Advanced GNVQ in Information Technology
College		Reading College of Technology
Why GNVQ?
"I began by doing A levels in Accounts and Law but there was a high student dropout and the courses were discontinued. So I got a job at my local Argos store and planned to re-start college with A levels in Computing and another subject. When I heard about GNVQ, I was interested in the more ‘hands on’ approach. I had also enjoyed Maths at school but didn’t have a high enough GCSE grade to do the A level. GNVQ allowed me to pursue that interest through a different avenue."
The course
"When I started at college my IT knowledge was confined to using the Argos stock control systems, but the GNVQ gave me wide-ranging practical experience and an understanding of the underlying principles. We covered business and general IT applications, programming languages, how software is structured/configured and the architecture of computer hardware. We also learned network theory and then put it into practice by setting up a network for the college. There were a couple of team projects which really developed our management skills – learning to work together and organising the phases of the projects and the outputs. The assignments really forced you to work, which was a good thing. I had felt I wasn’t fulfilling my potential with A levels because I wasn’t applying the knowledge. Overall, I suppose the single most useful thing was learning to use all the different software because I will have to do that whatever job I do."
Moving on
"I had several options at the end of the course and originally I wanted to go straight into a job. I was advised, though, that my long-term career options would be better if I went on to a degree. After GNVQ, I found that the first year at University was relatively easy but the work is becoming more challenging now. I’ve got a year and a half left and will probably travel in the USA for a while once I graduate. I feel quite happy with the career prospects beyond that."