Journey - UK Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership

[OtterDen]

Post #1: Introduction to My Study Journey

Hello everyone,

As I embark on my journey with the OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership, I'm excited to share my experiences, insights, and the overall progression through this program. The diploma will serve as a ladder towards an MBA top-up program in the future.

This thread will serve as a living document where I'll update each phase of my studies, from the initial enrollment to the final assessments.

---

I've recently completed my registration and made the initial payment (despite the high handling fees via international credit card—something I hope the institution will address by considering alternative payment platforms like Wise in the future). The enrollment process was straightforward, and I am now gearing up to start the course.

What to Expect From This Thread:

• Course Structure: I'll detail how the courses are structured and the ease of navigating through the program’s platform.
  
• Tuition Fees and Payment Options: Insights into the cost-effectiveness of the program and potential financial advice for prospective students.
  
• Material Quality: Evaluation of the learning materials provided during the course, including textbooks, online resources, and additional reading materials.
  
• Workload: Discussion on the actual time commitment needed to succeed, balancing studies with personal and professional life.
  
• Personal Progress and Challenges: Regular updates on my progress, including challenges faced and how I overcome them.
  

I'll be updating this thread regularly with new posts reflecting each significant phase of my education journey. Stay tuned for more detailed posts as I progress.

Feel free to share your experiences or ask questions.

---

I'm back to discuss an important aspect of pursuing education—navigating tuition fees. 

As many of you know, the OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership is accredited by OTHM but delivered by various education providers, each setting their own fee structures. This diversity in pricing underscores the importance of doing thorough research and engaging in negotiations before finalizing your enrollment.

When exploring tuition fees, it's crucial to compare the offerings of different education providers. Each institution will have its own set of fees, which can vary based on several factors including additional services or support they provide. While I won't dive into specific numbers, as these are sensitive and can fluctuate, I want to emphasize that there is often room for negotiation that could benefit your financial planning.

In my experience, I found it extremely beneficial to reach out to the institutions directly via email to discuss tuition fees. Rather than simply pressing the online purchase button, engaging in a conversation about the costs can lead to significant savings. For instance, by presenting the competitive rates of other providers, I was able to negotiate a more favorable tuition fee that was adjusted to match my financial capabilities and the value offered by competing programs.

Don't shy away from asking about scholarships, grants, or early payment discounts which can further reduce the financial burden. Education providers are often willing to offer these incentives to attract committed students.

[David1477]

Hi!

I am glad you want to share your experience. I started my OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Accounting and Finance last week. I finished the study material for the first course and am in the middle of my first assessment.

The study material was incredibly basic and more like an overview of what is expected. As a comparison, the readings I have at my UoPeople bachelor courses are far more advanced and maybe 5-15x as long. I have previous knowledge in the field, so it wasn't much of an issue for me, but I still had to rely on my own research to a great extent. So, my experience is that the materials you are provided with won't get you very far, and you need to be good at researching and learning on your own. BUT! There is a detailed syllabus, which tells you what you need to learn. This has helped me a lot.

My course assessments are all roughly 4500 words in length and require Harvard referencing. So far, I feel like there are 5x more formal requirements for assignments than at UoPeople.

Also, I didn't receive any example papers or templates to work with, so I had to figure out how to implement these formal requirements on my own. What I do get, however (I am pretty sure this depends on the course provider), is a formal assessment prior to my final submission. That will allow me to gain feedback and make changes before submitting my final paper.

How does my experience differ from yours? I'd be glad to hear about your first-week experience.

[OtterDen]

I have been figuring out a better deal in the past few days. A better deal was negotiated and it has just been finalized.

The course platform uses Moodle. I have just started the induction phase.

Here is the text transcript of the induction video. It provides some guidance for new learners starting an online course. It covers the following key areas:

1. Course Structure: The course is entirely online with flexible deadlines, allowing learners to study at their own pace. There are no live sessions unless specifically requested by the student.
   
2. Learning Environment: All course activities are conducted through Moodle, a virtual learning environment.
   
3. Course Access and Navigation: Instructions are provided on how to access course materials, including an initial induction and quiz that unlock the first unit. Each unit must be completed in sequence to progress.
   
4. Resources and Support: Various resources such as user guides, policy documents, and discussion forums (forum is empty when I checked) are available to aid learning. Students are encouraged to utilize these resources thoroughly to avoid common pitfalls and to understand their rights and obligations.
   
5. Assignment Submission: Detailed instructions are given for submitting assignments, including the steps to upload and submit work through Moodle. There is no limit to the number of times a student can resubmit assignments, and there are no penalties for multiple submissions.
   
6. Referencing and Academic Integrity: Proper referencing is stressed as crucial for avoiding plagiarism. The Harvard referencing style is recommended, and resources are provided to help students learn proper citation practices.
   
7. Certification Process: Upon completion of the course, assignments are assessed, verified internally, and then checked externally. Successful students receive their certification via email and post.
   
8. Enrollment and Compliance: Completing online enrollment is mandatory as part of regulatory requirements and for registration with the awarding organization.
   

Here is the full text of the induction video:

The course is fully delivered online, and there are no live sessions unless arranged specifically by the tutor on your request. There is no deadline for completing the course, so you can study at the pace and time that suits you best. In case you need help from your tutor through this platform, we will shortly show you the process to follow. If you are looking to fast-track the completion or wish to study part-time, you do not need to inform us or ask for any special permission. You will simply adjust your own pace of studies and submission of coursework so that you can finish sooner or later than the estimated completion time. For example, let's say you have six units to complete in your course and wish to complete the course in 4 weeks. You will aim to complete each unit within five calendar days so that all six units can be completed within 30 days, leaving the final two weeks for editing and finalization of your portfolio.

This course will be delivered through our virtual learning environment called Moodle, where you are logged in right now. Please make sure that you have saved the login details for Moodle in a safe place so that you can easily log in again in the future. If you do forget the login details, please visit mood.braniaeducationgroup.co, press login, and then click on the "forgot password" button to retrieve the login details. We recommend that you save the login page as a bookmark. 

Let's explore what you will come across after you log in. Once you log in, you will land at this page where you will view your tutor messages, your profile, and grades. Scroll down a bit to find the course that you have subscribed to. Click on the course to access the resources. On the course content page, the first link is to attend the induction, which will be followed by a quiz that you must pass to unlock your first unit. The next option is user guides where you will find the BEEG Moodle guide for students and some video guides for referencing. We will discuss the referencing part in the later half of the video. For now, we encourage you to carefully read the Moodle guide for students since this explains how to use the various features on Moodle. 

You can find some relevant policies in the next option, that is, downloads policies. Going through these policies will help you better understand your rights and obligations as a learner at [Education provider company name]. The discussion forum is an optional feature to ask questions publicly that can be answered by other learners or a member of the support team. The study resources option will reveal the various resources available in order to attempt the assignment tasks. You are more than welcome to search for further resources on your own through a Google search. Under the tab "Course Guides," you will find some useful guides on how to pass your coursework in the first attempt. This is really crucial, so please do spend some time going through these guides, especially the guide to undertaking the tasks, as many as half of our learners end up wasting many days of effort simply because they think it's a good idea to save a few minutes by not going through the course guides. The word count given in this guide is merely suggestive; writing more or less is absolutely fine as far as the assessment criteria have appropriately been covered. 

In the section "Templates," you will find all the useful templates that you might need to submit your coursework. You do not need to look at the templates right now, but remember the option is there on Moodle if any coursework requires that you submit evidence using the templates provided. 

Finally, let's talk about the units. The units you need to do in order to complete the course are listed below. You will complete the units in the order presented in order to ensure effective learning. You will only be allowed access to one unit at a time. Completing a unit will automatically unlock the next unit, so there won't be any delay or interruption in your studies. To start working on your first assignment, all you have to do is to click on the respective unit, download the assessment brief, and a guide that comprises relevant topics of discussion that would help you sufficiently cover the assessment criteria of each unit. You are required to write your responses in the assessment brief file. This document details what tasks need to be performed and how you must follow the instructions in the provided assessment guide document and submit your assignments alongside any pieces of evidence that the brief requires you to submit. Please submit the brief in a Word document so that your tutor can provide you with formative feedback in order to meet the passing criteria. 

When you are ready to submit the brief, please click here to submit the coursework. Here are the four quick steps to follow: add submission and drag the file in the box, click save changes, click submit assignment, check the box declaring it's your own work, and click continue. Your assignment is now submitted for grading, and your next unit has been unlocked. You do not have to wait for the grading of this unit to start the next unit. Your assessor will now provide you with the feedback and allow you to resubmit the work after making the suggested changes. We recommend you to open the feedback file on your laptop as most mobile devices and tablets use a simplified version of the word that do not display feedback and comments. There are no deadlines, and you can resubmit coursework whenever you are ready. An important point to remember is that there is no fail, so you can resubmit coursework as many times as you need to without any consequences on your results or further costs involved. Resubmissions do not impact any aspect of your performance, so you should not worry at all. Remember that you cannot submit handwritten assignments, as any changes required to your coursework will be very difficult to make on handwritten responses, images, or pictures. Only use the word file templates and assignment briefs to respond to the tasks. 

It is important that you appropriately reference your work. Referencing is used to tell the reader where ideas from other sources have been used in an assignment. There are many reasons why it is important to reference sources correctly: it shows the reader that you can find and use authentic sources to create a solid argument; it properly credits the originators of ideas, theories, and research findings; it shows the reader how your argument relates to the bigger picture. Failure to properly acknowledge sources is called plagiarism. Since plagiarism is an academic misconduct, this might result in the learner being expelled from the course without any refund of the course fee. Fortunately, plagiarism is easy to avoid by referencing your work. We strongly recommend using the Harvard referencing style to reference your work. Please watch these videos available in the user guide section to learn more. 

After your final submission, your work will be thoroughly checked by the assessor once again, then it will be internally verified by the IQA, and finally, it will be externally checked by the EQA of the awarding organization. You will then receive the PDF copy of the certificate via email and will finally receive the hard copy of the certificate by post. This is industry standard for any accredited course. You should be alarmed if anyone promises a shortcut alternative. 

As part of your welcome email, you were asked to complete the enrollment online. This is a regulatory requirement that we must follow to complete your file.

[David1477]

Which school did you pick for your studies?

[HogwartsSchool]

I have some questions about your planned MBA Top-up.

1. Will your degree and transcripts say "MBA Top-up" or just "MBA" ?

2. How do employers and the community view a degree that is a "Top-up" vs just MBA?

[bjcheung77]

1 & 2, it's the same thing, MBA is exactly that, an MBA anywhere else. Top up just indicates they've transferred classes into the degree, you finish with the same degree everyone else gets when you graduate. Here's an example, you do a level 7 UK diploma, top up to an MBA from a UK university, you get the MBA from that uni. If you don't go the top up route, you get admitted directly at the uni and complete the same degree, but in a longer time frame.

[HogwartsSchool]

1 & 2, it's the same thing, MBA is exactly that, an MBA anywhere else.  Top up just indicates they've transferred classes into the degree, you finish with the same degree everyone else gets when you graduate.  Here's an example, you do a level 7 UK diploma, top up to an MBA from a UK university, you get the MBA from that uni.  If you don't go the top up route, you get admitted directly at the uni and complete the same degree, but in a longer time frame.

The reason I ask, some UK universities have said their degree and transcript will indicate "MBA top-up". I fully understand the transfer aspect, similar to the US, take courses with study, sophia, SL and transfer into TESU, UMPI, etc. However, their degrees don't say "top-up" under the official degree title. Back to my original question, how do employers and the UK community view "top-up" degrees?

[OtterDen]

Which school did you pick for your studies?

I am not sure mentioning the "school" (actually it is an education company) name is the best idea. I am afraid this post will be considered as an AD post. That's why I keep the name only as a placeholder name in the previous paragraphs.

Additionally, I don't see why this matter at all. I just chose the cheapest one, after several rounds of price comparison, and bargaining with multiple education companies at the same time.

---

1 & 2, it's the same thing, MBA is exactly that, an MBA anywhere else.  Top up just indicates they've transferred classes into the degree, you finish with the same degree everyone else gets when you graduate.  Here's an example, you do a level 7 UK diploma, top up to an MBA from a UK university, you get the MBA from that uni.  If you don't go the top up route, you get admitted directly at the uni and complete the same degree, but in a longer time frame.

The reason I ask, some UK universities have said their degree and transcript will indicate "MBA top-up". I fully understand the transfer aspect, similar to the US, take courses with study, sophia, SL and transfer into TESU, UMPI, etc. However, their degrees don't say "top-up" under the official degree title. Back to my original question, how do employers and the UK community view "top-up" degrees?

From those I've seen, the Certificate usually doesn't say MBA Top-up, but the transcript will clarify.

The transcript would state that it's a top up course, and the number of credits recognized as prior learning. In this situation, Level 7 diploma is considered as the prior learning part. Then, the dissertation or the project in the MBA top-up program will be recognized being accomplished in that University.

[bjcheung77]

That's what I believe as well, the diploma doesn't indicate it's a top up degree, only your transcripts will indicate you've transferred in your first series of classes and completing the final portion at the university. It's exactly what I mentioned earlier, educational institutions, employers, etc, will see it as a Masters from where the diploma comes from, that's it, they don't need to know or worry you've done a top up program as that won't really matter at all, the final product does indicate a Masters, and it's not coming from a diploma/degree mill.

[OtterDen]

I have been figuring out a better deal in the past few days. A better deal was negotiated and it has just been finalized.

The course platform uses Moodle. I have just started the induction phase.

Here is the text transcript of the induction video. It provides some guidance for new learners starting an online course. It covers the following key areas:

1. Course Structure: The course is entirely online with flexible deadlines, allowing learners to study at their own pace. There are no live sessions unless specifically requested by the student.
   
2. Learning Environment: All course activities are conducted through Moodle, a virtual learning environment.
   
3. Course Access and Navigation: Instructions are provided on how to access course materials, including an initial induction and quiz that unlock the first unit. Each unit must be completed in sequence to progress.
   
4. Resources and Support: Various resources such as user guides, policy documents, and discussion forums (forum is empty when I checked) are available to aid learning. Students are encouraged to utilize these resources thoroughly to avoid common pitfalls and to understand their rights and obligations.
   
5. Assignment Submission: Detailed instructions are given for submitting assignments, including the steps to upload and submit work through Moodle. There is no limit to the number of times a student can resubmit assignments, and there are no penalties for multiple submissions.
   
6. Referencing and Academic Integrity: Proper referencing is stressed as crucial for avoiding plagiarism. The Harvard referencing style is recommended, and resources are provided to help students learn proper citation practices.
   
7. Certification Process: Upon completion of the course, assignments are assessed, verified internally, and then checked externally. Successful students receive their certification via email and post.
   
8. Enrollment and Compliance: Completing online enrollment is mandatory as part of regulatory requirements and for registration with the awarding organization.
   

Here is the full text of the induction video:

The course is fully delivered online, and there are no live sessions unless arranged specifically by the tutor on your request. There is no deadline for completing the course, so you can study at the pace and time that suits you best. In case you need help from your tutor through this platform, we will shortly show you the process to follow. If you are looking to fast-track the completion or wish to study part-time, you do not need to inform us or ask for any special permission. You will simply adjust your own pace of studies and submission of coursework so that you can finish sooner or later than the estimated completion time. For example, let's say you have six units to complete in your course and wish to complete the course in 4 weeks. You will aim to complete each unit within five calendar days so that all six units can be completed within 30 days, leaving the final two weeks for editing and finalization of your portfolio.

This course will be delivered through our virtual learning environment called Moodle, where you are logged in right now. Please make sure that you have saved the login details for Moodle in a safe place so that you can easily log in again in the future. If you do forget the login details, please visit mood.braniaeducationgroup.co, press login, and then click on the "forgot password" button to retrieve the login details. We recommend that you save the login page as a bookmark. 

Let's explore what you will come across after you log in. Once you log in, you will land at this page where you will view your tutor messages, your profile, and grades. Scroll down a bit to find the course that you have subscribed to. Click on the course to access the resources. On the course content page, the first link is to attend the induction, which will be followed by a quiz that you must pass to unlock your first unit. The next option is user guides where you will find the BEEG Moodle guide for students and some video guides for referencing. We will discuss the referencing part in the later half of the video. For now, we encourage you to carefully read the Moodle guide for students since this explains how to use the various features on Moodle. 

You can find some relevant policies in the next option, that is, downloads policies. Going through these policies will help you better understand your rights and obligations as a learner at [Education provider company name]. The discussion forum is an optional feature to ask questions publicly that can be answered by other learners or a member of the support team. The study resources option will reveal the various resources available in order to attempt the assignment tasks. You are more than welcome to search for further resources on your own through a Google search. Under the tab "Course Guides," you will find some useful guides on how to pass your coursework in the first attempt. This is really crucial, so please do spend some time going through these guides, especially the guide to undertaking the tasks, as many as half of our learners end up wasting many days of effort simply because they think it's a good idea to save a few minutes by not going through the course guides. The word count given in this guide is merely suggestive; writing more or less is absolutely fine as far as the assessment criteria have appropriately been covered. 

In the section "Templates," you will find all the useful templates that you might need to submit your coursework. You do not need to look at the templates right now, but remember the option is there on Moodle if any coursework requires that you submit evidence using the templates provided. 

Finally, let's talk about the units. The units you need to do in order to complete the course are listed below. You will complete the units in the order presented in order to ensure effective learning. You will only be allowed access to one unit at a time. Completing a unit will automatically unlock the next unit, so there won't be any delay or interruption in your studies. To start working on your first assignment, all you have to do is to click on the respective unit, download the assessment brief, and a guide that comprises relevant topics of discussion that would help you sufficiently cover the assessment criteria of each unit. You are required to write your responses in the assessment brief file. This document details what tasks need to be performed and how you must follow the instructions in the provided assessment guide document and submit your assignments alongside any pieces of evidence that the brief requires you to submit. Please submit the brief in a Word document so that your tutor can provide you with formative feedback in order to meet the passing criteria. 

When you are ready to submit the brief, please click here to submit the coursework. Here are the four quick steps to follow: add submission and drag the file in the box, click save changes, click submit assignment, check the box declaring it's your own work, and click continue. Your assignment is now submitted for grading, and your next unit has been unlocked. You do not have to wait for the grading of this unit to start the next unit. Your assessor will now provide you with the feedback and allow you to resubmit the work after making the suggested changes. We recommend you to open the feedback file on your laptop as most mobile devices and tablets use a simplified version of the word that do not display feedback and comments. There are no deadlines, and you can resubmit coursework whenever you are ready. An important point to remember is that there is no fail, so you can resubmit coursework as many times as you need to without any consequences on your results or further costs involved. Resubmissions do not impact any aspect of your performance, so you should not worry at all. Remember that you cannot submit handwritten assignments, as any changes required to your coursework will be very difficult to make on handwritten responses, images, or pictures. Only use the word file templates and assignment briefs to respond to the tasks. 

It is important that you appropriately reference your work. Referencing is used to tell the reader where ideas from other sources have been used in an assignment. There are many reasons why it is important to reference sources correctly: it shows the reader that you can find and use authentic sources to create a solid argument; it properly credits the originators of ideas, theories, and research findings; it shows the reader how your argument relates to the bigger picture. Failure to properly acknowledge sources is called plagiarism. Since plagiarism is an academic misconduct, this might result in the learner being expelled from the course without any refund of the course fee. Fortunately, plagiarism is easy to avoid by referencing your work. We strongly recommend using the Harvard referencing style to reference your work. Please watch these videos available in the user guide section to learn more. 

After your final submission, your work will be thoroughly checked by the assessor once again, then it will be internally verified by the IQA, and finally, it will be externally checked by the EQA of the awarding organization. You will then receive the PDF copy of the certificate via email and will finally receive the hard copy of the certificate by post. This is industry standard for any accredited course. You should be alarmed if anyone promises a shortcut alternative. 

As part of your welcome email, you were asked to complete the enrollment online. This is a regulatory requirement that we must follow to complete your file.