RYA Correspondence Courses?

[StugeronSteve]

SWMBO is looking to do nav theory this winter and local night schools are booked solid.

Any recommendations for courses with efficient marking and support etc?

There was a particular school recommended on the forum some time ago, but I can't find the thread.

Steve.

<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.

 

[iangrant]

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.cmonline.co.uk/cmohomedom1.html?1IE5+1095360645796>http://www.cmonline.co.uk/cmohomedom1.html?1IE5+1095360645796</A> Excellent -

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[david42]

I did my Day Skipper and coastasl Skipper/Yachtmaster theory with National Marine Correspondence School in Birkenhead (NMCS)

Good materials, efficient marking, I enjoyed both courses.

David

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[BrendanS]

second that. Superb material, and equivalent tutor support and marking. tcm has posted that he rates them too (tcm and I both did YM theory)

online rather than true correspondence though

<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni

 

[John_N]

Thirty years ago, National Marine Correspondence school were excellent but very strict. If their standards are still as high I reckon you could not do better.

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[Uisteach]

I did both the Offshore and Ocean Yachtmaster through correspondence courses with different schools (three - I withdrew from one). You'll find the quality of the material sent very variable; from excellent to truly awful. One thing they all had in common is the lack of teaching support (being on the end of a phone doesn't mean creative teaching support is available). Essentially they work by rote marking of assignments you send in. By which I mean there is an inflexibility of approach in that the courses are structured almost entirely through assessment rather than learning, If you have innovative questions about your work IMHO (and experience) you won't get very far. You pass each assessments or fail, and mostly you'll be self-taught.

Buy the right books and work away and you'll get the certs but frankly you are giving these schools money only because the RYA insists that you can't enter directly to the exam (and whose interests does that serve?).

Frankly, how some of these courses have RYA approval is beyond me (I've been a teacher for very many years). There is clearly a total lack of quality control.

And does the RYA actually do anything for ordinary sailors? There's far too much "we tried but couldn't do anything to stop (insert here) .... . But that's another subject.




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[ChrisE]

Well, I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience. I have done 3 RYA courses through NMCS and was impressed by both quality of material and personal feedback form the tutor. I have no commercial interest in NMCS but would recommend it to anyone who wants a thorough understanding of the course.

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[jimi]

I did YM theory with NMCS about 5 years ago and would not hesitate to recommend them.

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[Marsupial]

Yes I agree, the RYA is evolving into another publishing house and self appointed training provider, but its not another subject its strongly related. In the former a bit like the AA 20 years ago. They are I my experience very ineffective and far to "establishment" for my taste. Government consults with them to refine the stick (law) they will hit us with - its not right. The relationship between the "authorities" and the RYA is to cosy, us members are just wallets.

BUT

They have a strangle hold on the sport, like it or not they either make the rules or cobble them together with some revenue collecting agency (TAX) at oue expense. So "TRAINING" is the one way they know to make money and keep themselves in beer. Correspondence courses can convey knowledge but not skill, and even then they are not good at assessment as previous contributors have noted. And who says the work submitted through the post or via email belongs to the candidate? In the end these courses are inapproriate, expensive and in the mostpart ineffective for an outdoor activity.

For my sins - which must have been great - I teach as well

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[Althorne]

SWMBO is about to do one of their courses for pilotage only as it will suit our type of sailing better and give her better skills in coast hopping. Check and see if there is something suited to her needs before diving straight into RYA courses.

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[Uisteach]

S/Steve, notwithstanding personal recommendations (which should always be treated with caution without supporting evidence - not because of any dishonesty, but because we are all different in our learning requirements) be aware that none of these schools is the Open University. And I still maintain that you could pass the, say, Yachtmaster Offshore from just working with the RYA Yachtmaster booklet and Price and Ouvry's "Yachtmaster" (Adlard Coles). Given that the RYA assessment if entirely based on the final exam (ie, no credit in the final pass mark is given for course work. Pass all the course work and fail the exam and you fail) I can see no valid educational reason for insisting candidates spend a great deal of money taking a course. If you want or need to, that's a different issue, it should be an option not a requirement. So, once again, whose interests are being served here?

And, Marsupial, another related issue. I think some of this complacency comes about because we don't have a campaigning sailing press. When did you last read anything in any magazine that offered real criticism of the RYA or anything else, like, say, a boat. Ever read a report that described a boat as being c**p. Motoring mags do - where's the sailing Clarkson? And why do we have a system that can classfy both a Contessa 32 and a Dufour 34 as Ocean category? Because neither the sailing press nor the RYA can or do represent the interests of ordinary folk like us. And we have the highest marina prices and used boat prices in Europe. What we actually need is a campaigning consumer organisation. A boating Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth. Anyone fancy starting a "Friends of the Boater"

Sorry for hijacking this. I'll go away now.

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[BrendanS]

You've been unfortunate in that none of the schools you used showed any innovation or creative teaching.

The material provided by Chichester Maritime online as mentioned in the link earlier in the thread is excellent. The material is in the forum of downloaded modules, rather than paper, and include things such as animations of weather systems etc which are extremely clear and understandable. This is backed up by excellent tutor support.

<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni

 

[StugeronSteve]

Thanks guys. It looks like she is going to choose one of the NMCS courses. SWMBO is a teacher herself and would have preferred attend a "live" course, but that hasn't proven to be possible. Hopefully, in my humble way. I will be able to provide some of the back up and immediate support that she would have received attending a night school.

Although she has had little involvement with nav, she has obviously a lot of experientially gained knowledge concerning the application of pilotage and routes, IRPCS etc. My own opinion is that she should dive straight in at the Coastal Skip / YM level, rather than Day Skip, any thoughts on this would also be appreciated.

<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.

 

[jimi]

Yup straight to CS/YM, biggest difference is the weather stuff

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