CAD Qualification online?

Is there such a thing as an online CAD course where you can complete modules that lead to a certificate or qualification (or an exam etc)?

I have found training videos etc but not a specific course that leads to a certificate.

I was thinking Open University or similar, but they don't seem to offer a course.

Cheers

I believe Penn Foster offers a certificate. For more info see:

http://www.pennfoster.edu/autocad/index.html

Thank you. Looks like the sort of thing I need... but I am in the UK and would prefer a UK course. Sorry should have made that clear! A UK version would be brilliant.

Have you looked at City & Guilds?

You can take the official Autodesk certification tests even if you are completely self-trained http://autodesk.starttest.com/

City & Guilds offer evening courses but I am struggling to see how I can fit that in with my current work etc as their nearest college is some distance away.

I have used CAD at Uni but would not be good enough to take certification tests without training. I suppose I could self train, but was hoping to find a course.

Is it possible to get training through your present employer?

Have you searched for private firms that offer training on the weekends or over the Internet who are UK based?

Mr present employer will not fund anything unfortunately.

I have searched all over the web but haven't found anything! This great idea of mine doesn't seem very likely now.

May have to find the time to get over to the college.

If you are looking at the OU you need to do a Foundation Course in the first year and then one or two modules a year. Each module is either a half or full credit and you need six credits for a degree (BA) and eight credits for a Honours degree (BSc(hons)). The modules you do is your choice, but some modules require others as prerequisites, so you need to carefully plan out what you want to do. You need to attend local centers at regular intervals and most modules have a summer course at a university that lasts one or two weeks. For two modules you can reckon with at least 20 to 30 hours of study per week for 40 weeks between October and July. It's hard work, I know I've done it, but its great fun and when it was all over I really missed it.

At the end of it all you have a degree, but not a CAD qualification and for the CAD modules are not aimed at specific software programs such as AutoCAD. You learn about the theory of CAD and the mathematics of CAD. There are also programming modules, but once again it is very theory based and not specifically for one programming language. We used UCS Pasacal, but studied others too, such as FORTRAN, ADA, BASIC, etc.

It's not for everyone and you need to be absolutely sure that you want to it before you start, breaking off mid way can be expensive.

If you are looking at a CAD qualification for AutoCAD or other similar software then what ReMark said is the best way. Do a City and Guilds at a Technical College. There are courses at various levels and they concentrate on the software you want to use. I used to teach AutoCAD at a Technical College and the feed back I got from the students was always very positive and I occasionally meet some of them and all say it was the best thing that could have done.

Best of luck with your CAD qualification.

Watch out for C&G courses. I went to York college (used to be called York College of further and higher education way back then) and the CAD tutor was a quantity surveyor who didn't have any practical experience of CAD or draughting and was teaching out of a book. Try and find some reviews if any exist of what ex-students say about the college and teacher.

Also how much CAD experience do you have? My college ran the basic C&G and it was very basic e.g. draw a circle offset a few lines etc. If you have any CAD experience you would find it extremely dull and you wouldn't learn anything. However if you haven't used it all it will give you a good grounding but at a cost.

@ Glen

I went to York college (used to be called York College of further and higher education way back then)

That's one of the colleges where I used to teach and when I was there the full and part time staff had all a lot of practical experience in AutoCAD, but times change. I can only sympathize with your situation with a QS as a teacher of CAD. I've nothing against QS's but would you give a CAD Designer the job of teaching quantity surveying from a book? What you say about researching the college and the tutor first is very sound advice.

C&G do advanced and 3D courses, if I remember right, it's a while since I left UK.

That's one of the colleges where I used to teach

When did you teach there? Was John Castle there? When I went most if not all of the teaching was very good and the QS was good at teaching the surveying classes it's just anything above the very basics of CAD he got lost and it took myself and one of the other guys playing around and learning to fill in the gaps. However I did leave that course with no knowledge of X-refs or paper space.

Well I have an Automotive Engineering degree, but graduated it 2002 so am not 100% sure I could pick it up straight away. We used MicroStation J back then and I-Deas for 3D, but both are pretty much unheard of when I apply for jobs now.

I'm finding my degree has little weight in the job market now and in the 8 years since graduating I have not had an engineering job as such, only technical public sector roles.

The idea of gaining a CAD qualification was to give me a boost into an engineering role. Admitedly I should have doen it about 5 years ago!!

I taught there until 1992. John Castle doesn't ring a bell. I last contacted the college in 2001 and the guy I had dealt with was already gone. Since then no contact.

I always tailored the courses to the need of the students, mechanical, architectural, civil or whatever. There were certain topics to be covered in the syllabus, but how you dealt with them was your concern. It meant a bit more work each year, but it made more sense to me. You just had to be careful that the students could answer the exam questions.

Ben is that training direct website/telephone still in existence? Maybe they could help. When you said Engineering I immediately went to civils or structural with my thinking. Autocad may not be the best programme any more for Automotive now they have all of these other programmes like inventor.

Speaking from and architectural background people are generally more interested in the drawings you have previously produced than qualifications. Sorry that is less than helpful.

Tyke, I started at York in '98 so I'm not surprised John wasn't there is was probably still practising and most of the tutors were relatively new to the college.

I was self taught, then went on city and guilds evening course to gain certification. Luckliy my employer helped me out with this, but I also got a lot of help from MAS (manufacturing advisory service). I had training with them and they also helped me find the best course for my situation.

Maybe contacting them for advice might help you.

www.mas-se.org.uk