This course has been designed to help prepare you for successful academic progression into university and will help you gain confidence in your essay writing. Whether you want to advance your ability to create an effective argument, or you’re needing to improve your writing skills, NEC’s Critical Thinking course will open your mind to different ways of thinking. You will learn how to think, not what to think, allowing you to develop lateral thinking skills.
Applying for Cambridge or Oxford? This course is designed to help students prepare for:
This self-study course includes around 20 hours worth of interactive online learning materials and quizzes designed by subject matter experts. Your enrolment will give you access to the course for 12 months, meaning that you can revisit topics as and when you need a refresher, even if you have completed the course.
Want to develop your logical and mathematical problem solving skills? Learn more about our online Problem Solving course.
The course is divided into two sections with an online assignment in each to help you track your progress.
Learning outcomes
When you have completed this course you will be able to:
Topic 1 What is critical thinking?
Topic 2 Argument
Topic 3 Drawing an inference
Topic 4 Identifying implicit assumptions
Online assignment 1
Topic 1 Assessing the impact of additional evidence
Topic 2 Identifying appeals to external evidence
Topic 3 Identifying flaws in reasoning
Topic 4 Matching arguments
Topic 5 Applying principles
Online assignment 2
There are two online assignments in this course which are computer-marked and will give you feedback.
Everyone studies at a different pace but we recommend that the course will take approximately 20 hours to complete. You will have access to the course for 12 months so you can study at your own pace and revisit topics if you need to.
If you gain 50% or more on the two online assignments, you will receive a digital certificate.
This course is designed to help students prepare for:
These tests are administered by Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing: https://www.admissionstesting.org/
Would you like to talk to our Course Advice Team about the best route for you? Visit our Contact Us page, fill in the form and a member of the team will get back to you!
learn@nec is our virtual learning environment, the gateway to your course and the NEC community. All the resources you need to study are here and you have the flexibility to access them wherever you want, whenever you want
A general education up to GCSE level, or the equivalent, is advisable.
As part of NEC’s mission to widen participation our team is happy to discuss payment options unavailable online. Please contact our team on 0800 389 2839 or email info@nec.ac.uk