Authorised exam simulation and preparation packages are a must - and must be supplied by your course provider. As many IT examination boards come from the United States, you must be prepared for the way exams are phrased. It's no use just going through the right questions - they need to be in the proper exam format. 'Mock' or practice exams can be enormously valuable for confidence building - so when it comes to taking the proper exam, you don't get phased.

The classroom style of learning we remember from school, involving piles of reference textbooks, is an up-hill struggle for the majority of us. If you're nodding as you read this, check out study materials which have a majority of interactive, multimedia parts. Memory is vastly improved when multiple senses are involved - experts have been clear on this for as long as we can remember.

Search for a course where you'll get a host of CD and DVD ROM's - you'll be learning from instructor videos and demo's, and be able to hone your abilities through virtual lab's. Always insist on a look at some courseware examples from the school that you're considering. The package should contain demo's from instructors, slideshows and fully interactive skills-lab's.

You'll find that many companies will only provide training that is purely available online; and while this is acceptable much of the time, think what will happen if you lose your internet access or you get intermittent problems and speed issues. A safer solution is the provision of DVD or CD discs that will solve that problem.

One interesting way that course providers make a big mark-up is through up-front charges for exams and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams. This looks like a great idea for the student, till you look at the facts:

These days, we are a bit more aware of hype - and most of us know that for sure we're actually paying for it (it isn't free or out of the goodness of their hearts!) Those who take exams one at a time, paying for them just before taking them are in a much stronger position to qualify at the first attempt. They are conscious of the cost and take the necessary steps to make sure they're ready.

Isn't it in your interests to find the best exam deal or offer when you take the exam, not to pay the fees marked up by a college, and to do it locally - instead of miles away at the college's beck and call? A great deal of money is made by many companies that incorporate exam fees into the cost of the course. For quite legitimate reasons, a number of students don't get to do their exams and so they pocket the rest. Amazingly, there are providers who actually rely on students not sitting all the exams - as that's how they make a lot of their profit. It's also worth noting that 'Exam Guarantees' often aren't worth the paper they're written on. Most companies won't pay for re-takes until you have demonstrated conclusively that you won't fail again.

Average exam fees were around the 112 pounds mark twelve months or so ago through Prometric or VUE centres around the United Kingdom. So don't be talked into shelling out hundreds or thousands of pounds more to get 'an Exam Guarantee', when common sense dictates that the responsible approach is a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools.

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