LLC student gains housing qualification despite having to have classes via telephone

• Mukhtar was employed by Slough Council when his employer decided to sponsor him in completing the relevant housing qualification with London Learning Consortium.
• London Learning Consortium adjusted to the learners’ needs and moved every session to a 1-1 basis and via telephone.

Initially, Mukhtar was studying for his Chartered Institute of Housing-approved Certification with London Learning Consortium at his workplace, Slough Council. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, the COVID-19 pandemic brought upon the business, Mukhtar was left with no choice but to work and complete his qualification from home. 

Like many businesses across the world, there were security issues with accessing specific programmes and software when working from home. This meant that the qualification that is now a legal requirement for social housing managers in the UK, had to be adapted.  

With the help from the London Learning Consortium and the dedicated members of staff, Mukhtar was able to put in place a new way of completing the course that would see him through the rest of his professional career in Housing. The course was delivered through 1-1 sessions via telephone and any materials, assessments and resources was sent via email.

We spoke to Mukhtar about the course in which he said “The course was quite intensive with numerous assignments that required technical expertise and knowledge of Housing from a broad perspective. Each assignment tackled a variety of areas, and a lot of support was certainly needed to be successful in completing the assignments.

This was where my tutor Sybil was instrumental in providing me with the detailed level of support with the actual academic learning and outcomes but more so the human element and personal touches and the willingness to understand the challenges that I faced on my journey with so much going on in my life and to show empathy is what made my journey so special.”

At London Learning Consortium, they understand that all learners are different and require different support. After speaking with Mukhtar about the course, it is evident from his words that LLC does everything they can to support learners. 

Mukhtar says “I was always given detailed feedback on the drafts of my assignments and my tutor always had such a variety of available resources and advice on how to extract the relevant information to achieve a good knowledgebase in order to complete my assignments successfully.

There were times when I needed a bit of a push and motivation, and my tutor would just subtly step in and recognise that and keep me directed and focused on what needed to be done. She was always available when needed and I had great comfort in knowing that my tutor was always at hand and could pretty much always point me in the right direction and get me back on track if it was ever needed.”

When we asked Mukhtar about the impact the course had, he said “I would like to think that it has made a big difference in my life and given me a bigger sense of achievement and enforced my skills and knowledge and strengthened my learning. I feel that this will help me to develop further within my role and the Housing environment and put me in a better position to enhance my career choices. I will be committing to continuing my CIH certification with the aspiration of achieving level 5 accreditation.”

If like Mukhtar you are interested in completing your next fully-funded qualification in housing, then you can do so here.