The benefits of Business and Administration (Level 2)

With vision2learn you can conveniently study for a Business and Administration qualification online – via your home or work PC – for FREE.

• Update your knowledge and skills of current business and administration practices
• Achieve a nationally recognised and versatile qualification
• Gain work-ready skills to help you get on in your current job
• All your work is stored in an online portfolio, which cuts the paper trail!

You can be employed, seeking work, self-employed or wanting to improve your knowledge and practical work-related skills.

• Qualification details
• How long does it take?
• The support you’ll get
• Course delivery and assessment
• The computer kit you’ll need
• Why it’s free
• How to keep your free place open
• What do I do now?

Qualification details

Each unit has a credit value. You will need to build up 13 credit values to achieve a Level 2 Certificate in Principles of Business and Administration. The units and their individual credit values are summarised below.

Level 2 units:

Unit one: Principles of personal responsibilities and working in a business environment

This unit is about understanding employment rights; health, safety and security; working with others; and managing and improving work in a business environment. You will cover:

• Employment rights and responsibilities of the employee and the employer
• The purpose of health, safety and security procedures in a business environment
• How to communicate effectively with others
• How to work with and support colleagues
• How to plan own work and be accountable to others
• The purpose of improving own performance in a business environment and how to do so
• Types of problems that may occur in a business environment and how to deal with them.

Unit two: Principles of providing administrative services

This unit is about the knowledge and understanding needed to complete core administrative tasks in the business environment. You will cover:

• How to make and receive telephone calls
• How to handle mail
• How to use different types of office equipment
• How to keep waste to a minimum in a business environment
• How to make arrangements for meetings
• Procedures for organising travel and accommodation arrangements
• Diary management procedures
• The purpose of delivering effective customer service and how to do so
• The purpose of reception services and how to follow reception procedures.

Unit three: Principles of managing information and producing documents

This information is about the knowledge needed to manage information and produce documents. You will cover:

• The purpose of information technology in a business environment
• How to manage electronic and paper based information
• The purpose of producing documents that are fit-for-purpose
• Procedures to be followed when producing documents.

Unit four: Principles of supporting change in a business environment

This unit is about the reasons for change in working methods, products or services in a business environment. You will cover:

• Reasons for change in a business environment
• Reasons for reviewing working methods, products or services
• Types of support that people may need during change
• Benefits of working with others during change
• The purpose of responding positively to changes in working methods, products or services
• Ways of responding positively to change.

Unit five: Principles of supporting business events

This unit is about the ways in which event support can be provided and the types of problems that can occur. You will cover:

• The range of support activities that may be required when organising a business event
• Ways of providing support before, during and after a business event
• The purpose of displaying professional and helpful behaviour when supporting a business event
• Ways of dealing with problems when supporting a business event.

How long does it take?

Although Business and Administration is free, your commitment is time. As you get started on your course we ask you to complete a short course induction. From this the vision2learn system will provide you with an Action Plan, which will tell you when you need to submit your assessments to your tutor and help you to plan your study time into your busy lifestyle. Each unit requires approximately 10-35 hours of study time.

The support you’ll get

You will be assigned to an online tutor who will help you and assess the work you submit as your assessments during the course. These assessments will form your portfolio of evidence. This demonstrates that you have met the learning outcomes of the course. You can contact your tutor at any time using vision2learn’s own internal messaging system or by telephone or email too.

Course delivery and assessment

The course is offered online with vision2learn – an innovative web-based learning system, which you can access via your internet-connected PC. The online course contains all of the learning content needed to meet the assessment requirements of the course, as well as activities to enable you to practise your skills and test your learning. In addition, you will receive help and support from an online tutor – who is always just a click away.

The computer kit you’ll need

In order to study this course, you will need:

• An Internet enabled PC running Microsoft Windows operating system
• Web browser – Internet Explorer 8.0; Firefox 3.0 (or later); Opera 8.5 (or later)
• Session cookies should be enabled
• JavaScript should be enabled
• An active e-mail account
• Microsoft Word or similar word processing package
• Acrobat Reader. Click here to download.
• Flash player 6.0 or later. Click here to download.

Why it’s free

This Business and Administration course is eligible for government funding. This means that this Level 2 course is normally free of charge to anyone over the age of 19 and who has been ordinarily resident in the EU for 3 years or more, as long as this residency has been for purposes other than full-time study.

How to keep your free place open

It’s important that you log on to your study area regularly, keep in contact with your tutor and complete the assessments as you work through your course. If you don’t do this you may lose your free place. If you are experiencing any problems with your learning please let your tutor know and they can help you and ensure that you remain enrolled on the course.

What do I do now?

After you have completed our online registration form, we will need to confirm the availability of support from our network of partner colleges/training providers and tutors. When we have confirmed that there is support available for you from a college/training provider in your area you’ll receive an enrolment form from the college/training provider that you will need to complete and return immediately. Please remember to sign your form, as it is crucial in securing your free place. Once this form has been processed, your vision2learn study area will be activated and your chosen course will become available. You will then be able to log on and get started.