Purchasing and supply courses
Purchasing and supply are the two aspects of making sure that the right thing is in the right place and at the right time for the right price, and to the right quality standards. This is central to modern life as our expectations increasingly focus on better, faster, cheaper, more reliable, and more choice.
The jobs open to people working in purchasing and supply reflect this new emphasis, too. They are more varied, carry greater responsibility, require more skill, and have the potential to be more satisfying than ever before.
We run courses based on the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's qualifications; the Institute awards qualifications that anybody involved in purchasing and supply (including, for example, procurement, distribution, storage, contracting, operations, and logistics), at any level and in any capacity can study.
You should be able to find all the information you need about our purchasing and supply courses in this part of our website. If you have any questions that we don't answer here, please contact us to discuss them.
You can also download a full information pack if you prefer.
Why you should study with us
There are many good reasons to talk to us about studying for your CIPS qualifications. You improve your chances of a pass – our most recent CIPS inspection visit in August 2007 noted that our May 2007 pass rate was 91.3 per cent across the entire CIPS programme.
We work hard to provide every CIPS option. We already offer:
- work-based assessments – we are a pilot centre for this project-type alternative to taking exams.
- public sector options – we are accredited for the CIPS public sector options at Advanced Diploma.
CIPS have also awarded us “Highly Commended” status for the third time in a row, with the following comments in our 2007 visit report,
- “The College is an excellent example of how distance learning should be conducted. The [College] has a strong grasp of the issues which face students and works hard to ensure that these are minimised. The policy of allowing students to work at their own pace without the threat of running out of time is a considerable incentive for recruitment, the excellence of the tutor package ensures a high level of success for those students who complete their course.”
- “Provision of the CIPS [courses] by distance learning has continued to progress successfully under the excellent stewardship of [the College].”
- “The [College] continues to improve on its high standards of course promotion... and the information pack sent to prospective students is excellent.”
- “The initial contact process continues to remain at a high standard...”
- “The induction procedures are carried out by e-mail and telephone.They are good with the emphasis placed on managing student expectations.”
- “The College uses its own workbooks which are written by experienced practitioners. This allows the workbooks to be kept up to date and in line with the CIPS syllabus.”
- “Tutors’ performance is monitored by spot checks on marked assignments and by student feedback.”
- “All tutors are highly experienced professionals in their field.”
- “The workbooks continue to be upgraded regularly. A CIPS background reading book list is provided, together with additions made by CTC, but the workbooks supplied for each module are self-contained and further reading is an optional extra.”
- “Course reviews are based on exit questionnaires. The [College] analyses all feedback and takes steps to address areas of concern... These show a commendably high level of student satisfaction in most of the areas covered.”
- “The UK [course] fees are comparable with national averages.”
- “Students are content with the level of tutor assistance provided and general support from CTC.”
We also received the top grade in 49 out of 61 CIPS measurement areas, including:
- fully committed and dedicated course leader with continuity,
- suitably experienced, qualified, dedicated and committed course team,
- current or recent purchasing practitioners teaching the specialist subjects,
- all teaching staff have a teaching qualification or are assessed as competent by observation,
- readily available and knowledgeable point of contact for dealing with enquiries,
- good briefings for potential applicants about workloads, timetables, costs etc. and good filter procedures to ensure the applicant is guided to the most suitable course for him/her,
- teaching staff follow breadth of relevant CIPS syllabuses and refer to CIPS study guides,
- all teaching staff assess progress by marking assignments/mocks and providing feedback,
- course leader takes immediate steps to redress student concerns/complaints about delivery,
- and all five measures of student contentment – with tuition (lower and higher levels), initial contact, enrolment and induction, the organisation, and the overall level of customer care.
Getting around this part of the site
If you know which part of our site you're looking for, then the quickest way of getting around is to use the navigation menu to the left.If you've not been to this part of our site before, you'll find that most pages have links leading to others so that you can learn about our courses in a logical way. For example, on this page you can use the links below to discover more about:
- Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply
- exams
- our tutors
- past students and their exam results
- qualifications
- when can you start and where do you study
Whichever parts of our site you visit, make sure you go to the distance learning section of the site, where you'll also find a sample course, and make sure you find out about our fees, too.
