Posted By Mark Crowther Dear all, I am moving from a production management career to a health and safety career an aim to start a distance learning Nebosh Diploma now in time for the exam in March. I work shifts at the moment in the food industry, allowing me free time to complete the work. My question is for those who have completed the certificate - am I setting myself realistic targets based on your experiences? Thanks, Mark.

Posted By Mark Crowther Thanks for the response Jonathan, It's the certificate. I want to do this so I qualify for obtaining parts 1 & 2 of the diploma. The estimated study requirements for the certificate is 130 hours. I can manage 60+ hours per month because I currently work shifts. The success rate you quote...is that for the diploma or certificate?

Posted By Jonathan Breeze I suggest you go to the "branches" link on the left of this page, find out where your local IOSH branch meets and get in touch with their Education Support Officer (or whatever they're called). They should be able to provide the mentoring links you will need. Get involved at branch level early, don't wait 'til you've got the qualification before you join.

Posted By Steven ooops as i was saying the cert is a good start and i found that doing a 2 week intense course very good having passed the september exams, if you can do this then i would recomend the intense course. good luck for the future steve

Posted By Paul Hay I also did my certificate with RRC and found the quality of materials, support etc. to be excellent. At the time (a few years ago now) one of my colleagues was doing his at college and the quality of materials he was provided with was very poor by comparison. The most difficult thing is doing a days work and then having the motivation to sit down and study when you would probably rather be sat on the sofa with a beer watching the football! If you can handle that then I think distance learning can be a very good thing. Paul

Posted By Mark Crowther Dear all, Thanks for the advice. You've convinced me that providing I use help offered by others, put the work in and avoid excess temptations from TV and beer, I can be one of the 20% that succeed in getting this qualification by distance learning. The application went in the post this morning. Thanks again! Mark