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Impact Of Coronavirus On My Training Course

Paul Naybour Paul Naybour

Published: 17th March 2020

Update 8th April

The APM have now launched their online exams. You can read about it in this post Taking your APM PMQ Exam Online. It’s a new system that to me looks quite robust. This is great news because it means that we can continue to offer all of our planned virtual and distance learning courses.

BoK6 Exam Extension

The APM has also extended the date by which you need to complete BoK6 exams. We have decided to run BoK6 exam prep and exam days until the 17th July 2020, after then we will migrate to the new BoK7 exams.

BoK 7 New Course Materials

We are very excited about our new BoK7 materials, everyone who has to seem then so far say they are fantastic. You can read about them in this post APM BoK 7 – What Does it Mean for me? So we have decided to launch these as planned very soon, and the first BoK 7 courses will run from the 6th May. We have decided to give everyone registered on our e-learning platform free access to our BoK7 material in the next few weeks, with the option to purchase a BoK7 study guide.

Below is a sample from our new BoK7 training material.

Update 2nd April 2020

The APM has just announced that from Monday 6th April you will be able to book online examinations for the following qualifications:

  • APM Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ)
  • APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ)
  • APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ) for Prince2
  • IPMA Level D 
  • APM Risk 1 Qualification

We are waiting more information from the APM on the process and the technology involved.

Update 17th March 2020

We have just heard from the APM that they are working on an on-line solution for the APM PMQ exams. We will let you know when we get more information.

Also they have extended the deadline for the Completion of BoK6 exams to 31st December.

Update 13th March 2020

As I write this, the Prime Minster has asked everyone to avoid “non-essential” travel and contact with others to suppress the spread of Coronavirus. This could mean that schools, public buildings and universities close and people are encouraged to work from home. Clearly, under these circumstances, offering face-to-face public courses is going to be a real challenge.

BUT do you know what… Parallel has over 10 years’ experience of delivering fantastic distance, blended and virtual training to many clients with lots of happy and successful customers. We have a demonstrable ability to offer flexibility without compromising quality and we want to help project professionals to development their skills and capabilities in these difficult times.

APM Project Management Fundamentals

For the APM PFQ qualification, the APM already offer the facility of an online exam. We propose to offer a virtual live class with an experienced tutor in a virtual learning environment called Adobe Connect. This will be on the dates and times already planned for the current classroom courses.

We will run the course as normal with time for you to ask questions and discuss issues with other course participants and complete the course exercises, but don’t worry, you won’t have to sit at your desk for the whole day; we will break from virtual learning to give you time to complete courses exercises and practice questions. At the end of the course we will register you for the online APM PFQ exam which you can take in your own time. As In delivering a virtual course we will save money on venue hire and trainer travel costs we want to give something back, so we will offer existing APM-PFQ delegates a refund of £200 plus VAT if you take up this virtual option. 

We want you to get the fantastic training you signed up for without having to wait for classrooms courses to start, but if you would like to wait you can defer your course and we will move you free of charge to a future course. Any future deferrals will also be free of charge. 

We will refund anyone who wants to cancel, but what better use of your time than training for the recovery.  

APM Project Management Qualification (APM PMQ)

For the APM PMQ, we also plan to offer you a virtual course. You can do this either on your original dates or transfer (free of charge) to one of our highly successful and acclaimed 6-week virtual courses. Either way, we will offer you a discount of £400 plus VAT to stick with us. WE ARE WITH YOU ALL THE WAY. The virtual course will be delivered by an experienced tutor using exactly the same structure and content as our classroom courses, with lots of chance to ask questions, complete exercises and practice exam questions. Even with a virtual course we need to organise an exam for you. Our approach to this will depend on government advice as we move forward. If some travel is possible, we will book a great venue, with a large room, with plenty of space that you can drive to. We will do our best to maintain good separation between students of at least a meter in the exam and hygiene standards will be the best we can achieve. We are also exploring options for an on-line exam with the APM. If after the virtual programme you would like to wait, we will arrange to defer the exams to an appropriate time. We regularly run one-day exam prep and examination sessions

What is a virtual classroom like?

Our virtual classrooms use Adobe Connect ; this is an extremely powerful and interactive tool, which we have been using for the past 10 years and is one that we think is the best you can get. Some of the comments on our virtual programme say 

“I felt that the presentation and approach to the material helped get an understanding of the concepts beyond the understanding I would have gained from the book alone. The Podcasts were also extremely helpful in reiterating the points made in the webinars.” 
 
“I would like to highlight that regardless the fact that it is a remote session, Paul makes the session very interesting and he is able to maintain the attention of the attendees and engage like in a face to face workshop!” 
 
“This was a great programme. Distance learning helped me to do this course and juggle child care. The combination of learning sessions, homework practice and podcasts available was really helpful to learn the subject.” 
 
“A great course, very engaging and good presentation.” 
 
“Very good programme and delivered in bite size, easier to assimilate.” 

Of course we are disappointed that we won’t meet you on a face-to-face course, but given the current restrictions and concerns we want to keep our clients, sign up some more and delight everyone with a great event.  

We do hope you will take the opportunity of working from home to catch up on your learning, if you are worried or would like to find out more take a look at our test page (we strongly recommend doing this well in advance of the course starting) 

There is a setup guide her https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aogTc3ybVvQ If you have problems due to the security setting on your work computer we would recommend trying a home computer or turning off your corporate VPN software. 

Go to http://meet56029951.adobeconnect.com/rynzbqluexqq/ and enter as a guest – it will be great to see you – virtually. 

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