To achieve her goal of offering maximum services to her clients, Clare enrolled on the following package with Ideal Schools:
ICB Platinum Package
When Clare Lee, 44, took ill ten years ago it was a mystery to her and her family. No one could tell he exactly what was wrong though she knew she felt awful and had to give up work.
This was a tough break; with four teenagers at home, one of who suffered from ADHD, life was already hard for Clare, originally from Staffordshire, but now living in Alsager, Cheshire, a village halfway between Crewe and Stoke.
Clare spent the first five years of her illness trying to identify what was wrong with her, eventually diagnosed with behcets disease, and the next five trying to manage it. Finally, and happily, fully capable of managing her condition, she started researching how she could make a living.
Attracted to the idea of studying accountancy when she left school, Clare admits that real life just got in the way, and she worked instead managing pubs for a few years.
With a fresh perspective arising from her years of forced inactivity, Clare began revisiting her schoolgirl ambition of studying accountancy and bookkeeping. Exploring the marketplace of training providers, she found Glasgow-headquartered Ideal Schools and, thanks to the 5-star rating the company received on Trustpilot, decided to sign-up for its study course.
Clare said: “I looked at various training organisations and liked the look of Ideal Schools when I spoke to them – they were very good on providing me with guidance and direction when I didn’t l know quite where to turn.
“I opted for a remote learning experience and found Ideal Schools quick and responsive. I’d email through my answers to questions and could easily chat through the solutions – it was just like having a personal tutor.”
That was 6 months ago. Now, Clare has already completed level 2 and level 3 and Payroll courses – passing all with distinction – and is now underway with Ideal Schools’ Self-Assessment Tax course.
And already the benefits of owning bookkeeping skills are beginning to flow, with Clare being approached already by a local bookkeeper to do some work for her.
“Usually, you apply for a practice license from the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) after your studies”, said Clare, “but it has been really helpful with my application so should have it soon.
“Trying to juggle home life and studies and now this bit of work means that I am so very busy, but really happy to see the fruits of my studies paying off.”
Clare’s aim is to fully complete her accountancy and tax studies before promoting herself to offer full bookkeeping service to commercial and personal clients.
“My experience, so far, with Ideal Schools has been great. The study material has been very easy to understand and whenever I have an issue, the online chat function is very responsive, and I get an answer straight away.
“When you’re studying on your own it can be tricky but the support in place is fantastic and means I can study at my own pace and around whatever is going in on my busy house.”