A+ and N+ courses. cost?

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Hi all,

Just been made redundant. But as part of the "package" I've been given a training allowance. Think it might be a good idea to do the A+ and N+ (already have the S+). Anyway, had a look at a few training providers but am unsure of how good they are. This is partly caused by my rushing into to do another cert course a couple of years ago and being tottally let down byt the training company who didn't provide what they had offered.

Anyway, I'd like to ask which training providers you, or anyone could recommend. Also how much would I be looking to pay to do both the A+ and N+ courses, either together or on their own.

TIA.

Rob.

 

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local college/ self study best way to go.

 

I wouldn't recommend any.

I self study as its easier, cheaper and you don't get a time limit and you can make sure you have the most relevant materials.

If I were you I would find out if the training money could be use on purchasing the books and maybe a little lab to practice on + exam costs then I would self study.

If self study isn't for you then I would recommend having a look at your local college/uni

 

I've twice had a positive experience with Firebrand Training. I'd recommend them highly, but be prepared for incredibly fast paced learning. They knock out a course (Includes accommodation and food etc, along with all the materials needed) that covers A+ and N+ in 7 days. It'll cost £2k-3k, but I think it's money well spent personally. And it was well spent for me, because I didn't pay for it -the business did. An excellent experience.

 

If you are actually unemployed now just sign up in september free of charge at college for the A+,it's a free course for the unemployed.

If you want to pay for it at college costs are under £400 for the course,and £128 for the exams.

If you want to pay a training provider expect to pay around £1500 and another £250 for exams.You may get no personal tuition at all with a training provider,that is the down side.
You do get personal tuition at a college.

You won't get many on this forum recommending training providers,most people appear to be going to college or studying the subject themselves.

I did the course at college,and it was an excellent course.I was going to pay a training provider,but the quality of course they offered was quite poor really in my view.

 

London_exile, if you are interested in colleges locally, then I know that Tresham are certainly Northants' best choice. They do the A+, Network+, an array of Microsoft and Cisco and various other bits and pieces. Very reasonable prices. Have a browse of their part time IT Courses here.

It is a bit of a journey for you, but so much cheaper than a training provider. Still, personally I don't begrudge parting with large sums of money when I feel assured that I'm going to get a good service, and that the certs are going to be useful to me.

 

Self study, both exams are quite easy. Maybe a course for some MS qualifications?

 

My mate self studied his while in university. You can get the A+ & the N+ book for about £50 of amazon. Some come with a voucher for discount if you shop around.

Im going to look on ebay aswell when I take my course. I'm going to be learning at home because it suits me as I work full time.

I've also been advised that books published by Mike Myers are the reading material. I don't know if this is true though.

 

I would normally recommend self study and pick up the set of Mike Meyers OR Sybex books, but be warned that whatever you do that both exams are going to change to new objectives the very near future so whatever you do, do it now or wait a few months before getting your study material.

 

I can give you an average figure that I gathered in my research last month: Training Providers will charge for both courses £1000.

Dont know what they all offer but I have choosen SeekLearning that uses Skillsoft courseware worldwide renowned among three other TPs choices. Basically I read in this forum about skillsoft reputation and they offer access to a huge online library. (Amazingly Myke Meyers book is not there maybe because its too good).

I have posted here to start self study 2 weeks ago but after getting Sybex and Myke Meyers books I was wondering if I could cope with such a huge volume of information. Well, I must tell you that Im happy with both my TP and doing my self study on books. As a start I think it is working better this way and Im picking up things quickly though my good user skills are helping a lot. Basically I feel more confident about what Im learning and I am doing chapter by chapter assessment papers and exercises that otherwise I would have to buy/get somewhere and have a small lab to practice. Im not using menthor facilities as courseware and Myke Meyers book together are really explanatory. (Myke Meyers book drawback: black & white printed)

Its not an easy choice. It depends on each one. If you can afford it, I can only teel you it is worthing (until now).

Good luck and read as much as you can in here and Im sure youll make a good choice.

 

My detector's pegging.

 

Thanks for all the replies. For some strange and as yet unknown reason I'm now feeling more confident about doing some certs. I've deceided to go down the self study route (i'm going to have a lot of spare time on my hands soon - so might as well make the most of it!). Though I might be able to get the exam vouchers paid for by work.

Having a sort through of some old books etc, I found the All-in-One book for the S+, so based on that I'm probably going to purchase both the A+ and N+ books. And form what i've seen here they seem to be the book of choice.

 

you can buy discount vouchers for the A+ and N+ from www.gracetechsolutions.com they cost £214 for the two A+ exams with no VAT to pay as opposed to £260 if you paid for them directly. Just make sure you buy international vouchers.

Also the S+ isn't an entry level cert so hold of until you get a bit of experience

 

GBL,

Thanks for the heads up on getting cheap(er) exam vouchers, duly noted.

I think I may have clouded the issue about the S+ exam. I was referring to the Security+ plus exam rather than the Server+ exam, which I will have a look at after I have the A+ and N+ exams safely in the bag. The point I was trying to make was thayt the book I had when i did the Security+ was good and having a look through it again I found that It suited me better than other resources.

Apologies for not making that clear in my earlier post.