The Certificate syllabus is identical to that of the GCSE and covers the basic concepts of astronomy. Whether you are at the beginning of your astronomy journey or consider yourself an experienced amateur, this course can develop your skills but without the pressure of a formal examination. Instead, you will recieve a certificate of achievement from Woodlands View Education, which states that you have completed your studies to the equivalent level of the GCSE.
The Lessons
Our Certificate course consists of nine lessons and assignments. When you complete a lesson, you send the relevant assignment to us, to recieve a mark and feedback, which we return to you along with your assignment. In addition to the lessons, we ask you to sit an ‘end test’, which we will also mark and provide feedback on.
Your assignment marks and feedback will help you keep track of your progress and help prepare you to answer questions in the end test. To achieve the Certificate, you are also required to complete two practical observation tasks – the ‘Observational Component’. Details of this requirement are given below.
Observational Component
For the Certificate, the two practical tasks count towards your final grade, making up 25% of your final mark.
In your end test, there will be at least one question which will test your knowledge of practical observations. The practical work is designed to prepare you for these questions. Therefore you will not sit your end test until you have submitted the final write-ups of your practical work.
The practical tasks both require repeated observing sessions but you can work at your own pace if enrolled on the Certificate course, unlike with the GCSE. Due to the unpredictability of the weather, it may be difficult to complete the Certificate course in just one year, but it is not impossible.
End Test
The end test for the Certificate course will be comprised of questions designed to cover the entire syllabus and they will be set at a level consistent with the GCSE examination. The marks for the test will form 75% of your overall grade for the course, the remainder being from the observational component.
You are not required to complete the test in a set time, however it will be structured so that it would be of a similar duration to the GCSE examination if you were taking it under exam conditions.
You are also able to use your lesson notes and any other material to help you.
Price
There is a slight discount for paying the full amount of the course at the beginning, but you are able to pay in two installments if this makes things easier for you. If you decide to pay in installments, you are agreeing to treat each installment as a seperate purchase. Please read our ‘Course Terms and Conditions’ for further information.
We accept payment via cheque and Paypal. If paying by cheque, we will send out the lessons once the payment has cleared, which usually takes 3-5 days after depositing the cheque.
UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) | Rest Of World | |
Single Price | Installments | Single Price |
£150 | £80 | £180 |
£80 | ||
Total | Total | Total |
£150 | £160 | £180 |