For many years in the UK, people working in a range of professions have organised themselves into groups to learn from each other, to support each other and to share good practice. These groups, known as professional bodies or institutions, have developed training courses and qualifications, partly as a means to develop their members, but also as a way to maintain standards amongst their members; to build professional reputations. They also provide the range of support in the way a trades union might offer. Many of these institutions are now international bodies, with their qualifications recognised across the globe. Amongst these we could include accountancy, human resources, marketing and management, to name just a few.

The benefit of getting a qualification written by a professional body is that it will certainly help you develop your career in that trade or profession. The qualification has been written by people with experience of doing that job so it will be very relevant. It will be recognised and respected not just by other people within the profession, but by other professionals who understand what it signifies. This has been proven in recent years when we have seen more and more new apprenticeship standards adopt existing industry qualifications.

Professional qualifications can boost your income and create job opportunities you might not have thought possible before. Believe it or not, but studying can also be good for your physical and mental health; an active brain tends to be a healthy and longer-lived brain.

So, what professional qualifications are available to study part-time?

This is not an exhaustive list, but a quick survey of just some of what many colleges and providers offer to give you a flavour of the wide range that is available:

• Accounting (AAT/ACCA) – Level 2, 3, 4

• Beauty Therapy and Make-up – Level 2, 3

• Business – Level 2, 3, 5

• Counselling – Level 2, 3, 4+

• Customer Service – Level 2

• Dental Nursing – Level 3

• Health & Safety – Level 3, 5

• Human Resources (CIPD) – Level 3, 5

• Insurance – Level 6

• Law/Legal Executive (CILEx) – Level 3, 4, 6

• Management (iLM or CMI) – Level 5

• Marketing (CIM) – Level 4, 6

• Motor Vehicle – MOT Tester Training

• Plumbing – Level 2, 3

• Teaching/Teaching Assistant – Level 3, 4, 5+

For more details

If you know what vocational area you are interested in, a really good place to start would be the professional body for that area. Search online for the ‘Accountancy professional body’, for instance.

Another route would be to talk to your local college or university and find out what professional courses they can offer. There are also lots of part-time leisure courses available, too, so parttime study could be a route to a new hobby as well as a new job!

Our tips to succeed in studying part-time

Get organised:

Working, studying and having a life can make you feel rushed off your feet so learn to prioritise, manage your time and occasionally learn to say no!

Build your supporters:

Family, friends and colleagues can be a big asset in helping you stay on track. Even little things like explaining to your workmates why you always need to leave promptly on Tuesdays, or getting your family to give you some time to work on assignments, will make a big difference to how you feel about your course.

Work in bite-sized tasks:

Sometimes, completing a full qualification can feel very daunting so it might help to just focus on the next task and the next deadline. You can climb the mountain, but you only have to do it one step at a time!

Remember why you’re doing it:

Keep your motivation up by remembering why you decided to do the course in the first place. Whether your ambition is a promotion at work, being able to look after your family or simply learning a new skill, hold on to the vision of you doing that. And, perhaps think about how you might reward yourself when you’ve been successful!