Guest Blogs

Guest Blogs, Home Schooling, Student Stories

Homeschooler Andrew’s experience of studying IGCSE Chemistry

Last year, we shared Andrew’s experience of how homeschooling was helping him to balance education and family commitments. We caught up with Andrew to…
General, Guest Blogs

National Extension College: Bringing education to you

For over 60 years, National Extension College (NEC) has worked towards the goal of transforming lives and opening up new educational possibilities for people…
General, Guest Blogs, Policy and Campaigns

Why study Classics as a teacher?

The Classical Association is offering five bursaries for state sector teachers to study A level Classical Civilisation flexibly with NEC. Bursary recipients will be…
General, Guest Blogs, Policy and Campaigns

The benefits of offering Classics to your students

The Classical Association is offering five bursaries for state sector teachers to study A level Classical Civilisation flexibly with NEC. Bursary recipients will be…
Guest Blogs, Lifelong Learning, Policy and Campaigns

Is education the answer to social mobility? The contribution of the National Extension College.

All political parties talk loudly about their commitment to social mobility and levelling up, but progress over the last decades has been dire and…
Guest Blogs, Our Courses

Why study A level Geography?

To celebrate the launch of NEC’s online interactive A level Geography, we spoke to lead tutor Alison Leadbetter about why she loves the subject…
Guest Blogs

National Poetry Day 2021: a whistle-stop tour through NEC English tutor Colin’s favourite poets and poems

Thursday, 7 October is National Poetry Day. To celebrate, we challenged NEC English tutor Colin to pick a favourite poem…  Phew! This is the…
Guest Blogs, Our Courses

How is bookkeeping done differently in the digital age?

Whether you are running your own business, wanting to develop skills for a career as a bookkeeper, or wanting to support your family business,…
Guest Blogs, Home Schooling

Working together for our students

In 2016 the National Extension College became Tutors & Exams‘ first learning partner. Since then we have been working together to make booking exams…
Guest Blogs, Student Stories, Study Tips

Finding the motivation to study

Anna Ellis completed A level Religious Studies with NEC this month and is currently studying with the Open University. She has qualifications in teaching…
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Other articles...

Home Schooling, Student Stories

A home-educator’s journey, part 1: selecting our course provider

This post was originally published on May 31st 2018 and updated on March 23rd 2020. Today’s post is both a guest blog and an…
General

NEC’s Art Techniques course

This post was originally published on Friday, 4 May 2018 and updated on Friday, 29 March 2019. This week’s blog is written by Jane…
General

Getting it right on exam day

You’ve spent months preparing for exam day and it’s almost here. We’ve put together some top tips on how to approach these final hours…
General

Writing the perfect essay

The word ‘essay’ is also a verb meaning ‘to attempt’. It still retains something of that meaning in it’s commoner sense of ‘a piece…
General

Who are the science and technology stars of tomorrow?

For years employers have warned that the UK faces a skills shortage in many STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) roles. For example, EngineeringUK…
General

Get ready for exam success

This post was originally published on Friday, 17 February 2017 and updated on Friday, 10 May 2019. It’s exam season! Maybe you have meticulously planned and…
General

‘Teachers shouldn’t confiscate pupils’ phones: they’re vital for learning.’

This week’s blogger is former NEC GCSE English student Naila Din. Now a freelance arts advisor and business coach, Naila turned to teaching as…
General

A lesson in innovation: Ángela Ruiz Robles

“Ángela Ruiz Robles with her Mechanical Encylopedia” by ITU Pictures / License: CC BY 2.0 As a distance learning provider, the NEC was founded on the…
General

What can we learn from Finland?

A Finnish Education No inspections, no tests, no uniforms and no fees. A valued teaching profession, shorter school days and starting school at seven….
General

Learning barriers facing prisoners

Today’s NEC Blog is written by Wendy Monaghan, who has considerable experience of working with distance learners in many different contexts and is currently at…
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