FAQ

No. You can study entirely in your free time, fitting the course in to suit you and not having to fit yourself in around the course. You choose how many hours per week you wish to study.

 

No. Only enthusiasm. These are sailing courses, so no academic qualifications or advanced mathematical knowledge is necessary. Basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are all that are needed.

 

Yes. You will be individually taught and therefore you can start your course at any time of the year.

 

This will vary according to the time you have to devote to it. The average time taken is given with each course description and is based upon five or six hours study per week. This is only a rough guide as we all work at a different pace and some will have more time than others to study. You are under no pressure to return work at set intervals.

 

We cannot continue courses indefinitely, nor is it in your interest to prolong studies unnecessarily. The allowed duration for each course is normally more than sufficient time to complete a course, but where study is delayed (and we are notified) due to unforeseen circumstances such as illness, accident, re-location of job or home, etc, free extensions can be arranged. In all other cases, extensions can be granted on payment of an extension fee.

 

Yes. The school will keep you well supplied with study material and your tutor will assess and correct your work as soon as you return it to us. If you would like to complete your course quickly our full-time staff are only too willing to assist. However, it is not always an advantage to complete a course in record time and if your tutor feels that you are progressing too quickly at the expense of fully benefiting from the course you will be advised accordingly. Throughout the course your tutor will keep you aware of the standard required.

 

Yes. The principles of navigation and seamanship remain the same throughout the world and although you will be taught on charts of British and European waters these same principles will apply to charts of your own waters.

 

Yes. All the NMCS/RYA courses more than cover the prescribed RYA syllabus and provided that you complete the course and reach the required standard in the final RYA test assessments you will be issued with a standard RYA certificate.

 

Enrolling for a correspondence course is not the same as buying from a shop where you can compare exactly the same goods and subsequently shop around for the best price. Although similar, no two schools will be presenting identical courses in terms of quality of material (our Day Skipper course alone builds to a reference text of over 600 pages and 500 illustrations), tuition and administrative support. We have emphasised the importance of these three elements and we have shown that the possession of a certificate in itself is not as important as the manner in which it has been obtained. We are confident that in combining these two factors our courses, though initially more expensive than some, provide better long-term value. A course that is incomplete or a course that fails to achieve the purpose for which you enrolled provides little or no value.

 

Every NMCS course carries the guarantee that if you are not entirely satisfied with your initial batch of study material, you may return it within 7 days (21 days for overseas students) and have your fee refunded.

 

Yes. Provided that you use the same address and are prepared to share some of the study material, we can offer a discount by way of a joint course. Each person will receive their own charts, assessments, individual tuition and certification. We can also offer a discount should there be two or more of you who would like to enrol for different courses. Please contact us for a specific quotation.

 

Certainly. We are always pleased to answer any questions that you may have regarding all aspects of our courses. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you require any further advice.