Always expect the most up to date Microsoft (or relevant organisation's) authorised exam preparation and simulation materials. Often students can find themselves confused by trying to prepare themselves with questions that are not from authorised sources. Sometimes, the question formats and phraseology is unfamiliar and you need to be ready for this. Practice exams will prove enormously valuable as a resource to you - so that when you come to take the proper exam, you won't be worried.

If you're thinking of using a training school who is still pushing workshops as part of their program, then consider these typical downsides encountered by the majority of students:

- Masses of journeys to the centre - usually quite a distance away.

- Taking frequent time off work - typical companies can only give weekday availability - typically grouping 2 or 3 days together. To be honest, this doesn't suit working people, and it's made more problematic when travel time is included.

- Usually, we find twenty days annual leave isn't enough by far. Use up over half of it for study days and see how much more difficult it makes things.

- Training events usually reach their maximum intake very quickly, giving us the only option of a slot that doesn't really suit.

- Many students want to work as quickly as possible, while others are looking to take a more 'steady' pace and want to set their own pace that fits. This brings tension and bad atmosphere a lot of the time.

- Take into account all of all the travelling, parking, food and accommodation and you'll be in for a big surprise. Attendees report costs ranging from hundreds to over a thousand pounds. Work it out - and see for yourself.

- The majority of attendees want study privacy and therefore avoiding all management questions in their job.

- It's common to find that, at times, it's uncomfortable to raise questions when surrounded by other trainees - who wants to look like they're the only one who doesn't get it?

- Living away for part of your working week - some attendees find they have to work or live somewhere else for certain parts of the programme. Days in-centre are hard to get to, yet the money has already changed hands as part of your fees.

Why not watch on-screen and gain knowledge from instructors one-on-one through videoed classes, working on them when it suits you - not somebody else. If anything comes up, utilise the 24x7 Support (that should've been packaged with any technical type of training.) Don't forget, if you've got a notebook PC, you could study wherever the mood takes you. Note-taking is a thing of the past - everything is prepared in advance for you. And if you want to repeat anything, it's immediately available. The upshot: Reduced hassle, more money in the bank, and you've avoided all travel.

Throw out the typical salesman who recommends a training program without a thorough investigation so as to understand your abilities plus your level of experience. Ensure that they have a large choice of training products from which they could give you a program that suits you.. With a strong background, or maybe some live experience (some industry qualifications maybe?) then it's likely your starting point will be different from someone with no background whatsoever. For those students commencing IT study anew, it can be helpful to break yourself in gently, starting with a user-skills course first. Usually this is packaged with most types of training.