 Hello and welcome to today's webinar, Progressive as a Marketing Manager. Before we get started, I'd like to go over a few items so that you know how to participate. The presentation will last for approximately 40 minutes. You'll be able to send text questions to today's presenter by typing your questions into the chat box of the control panel. You may send in your questions at any time during the presentation and will collect and address as many of these as we can during the Q&A session at the end. Unfortunately, we can't send slides at the presentation. However, the webinar will be available for you to watch on demand via our content hub exchange within the next couple of working days. I would now like to hand over to Red Barrington, Chartered Marketer and Senior Tutor for the Oxford College of Marketing, who will be presenting today's webinar. Hi everybody and good afternoon. Thanks for joining me today on this webinar. Just a little bit about me before we get going. My name's Red Barrington and I've been working for over 16 years leading digital marketing projects and digital strategy. I've also been working with the Oxford College of Marketing for over 11 years now, working with CIM students, supporting them as a tutor, and also one of the senior lecturers at the college as well. I do a lot of training development programmes and course development and I'm also a Chartered Marketer and have been, I believe, for around 10 years too. So in today's webinar, I'm going to be looking at really about the Level 6 qualification that the CIM offers, the CIM Diploma in Marketing and the CIM Digital Diploma in Marketing. So I'm going to look at the overview of the CIM qualifications that they offer, some of the key skills that modern marketers now have and how the Level 6 qualification can help you gain those skills and access that knowledge, looking at some of the key benefits of Level 6 qualifications, so from a knowledge skills and from a CV perspective, and also looking maybe at some common misconceptions about CIM qualifications before we look at the study options and move on to some frequently asked questions. If you do have questions, do pop them into the chat and our colleagues at the CIM will relay them to me towards the end and I'll do my best to answer them for you. So this slide here that I put up just really details all the marketing qualifications that are offered by the Chartered Institute of Marketing and what you can see is that there's a pathway through from those who are new to marketing right the way through to those that have a senior role. So right at the beginning students can undertake the foundation certificate in marketing. Now this is suitable for those who are new to marketing or those that are sort of working maybe in a startup and want some background about marketing and it's really about focusing on introducing marketing and the marketing orientation and the marketing mix etc. to students at that level. The next level up is certificate in professional marketing. This is all about building on tactical marketing skills. So this is really suitable for maybe new marketers in a marketing function or aspiring marketing executives or maybe marketing assistants. And what we're focusing on today more is the diploma in professional marketing and the digital diploma in professional marketing. The diploma in professional marketing is suitable for experienced marketing executives or marketing managers. Maybe those who have sort of two or three years experience in marketing. And the digital diploma again is suitable for aspiring digital marketing managers. And both of the qualifications are all about developing your management and strategic capabilities with the digital diploma focusing on that digital aspect. But we'll talk a bit more about those specifically a little bit later on. And the final kind of qualification that's offered by the CIM in the UK is the marketing leadership program. So this is very much for experienced marketing managers, experienced marketing consultants who are looking to develop their leadership skills, their strategic business capabilities. But as I say today we're really focusing on the level six qualifications. So those that are designed for marketing managers or marketing executives perhaps with two or more years experience. Level six is really designed for those who are or maybe want to progress into a management position in marketing. And this is probably one of the most popular qualifications offered by the CIM. So in the UK most qualifications are taken through work, school or college or university. They all fit into one of nine levels. There are actually 12 levels there in Scotland. And the higher the level the harder the qualification. And the qualifications are based on the standards of knowledge, standards of skills, competence. They're all needed for each qualification. It's important perhaps to point out at this day that qualifications at the same level can be very different in terms of content and also the length of time that they take to complete. So actually for the CIM qualifications we have the diploma in professional marketing and the digital diploma in professional marketing both at level six but both cover very different subject areas. Knowing about these levels means that you can compare qualifications though and also identify what you need for your chosen career. So what we have here on this slide and what I've put together here it maps the CIM qualifications across the different levels. So again you can see the progression from the foundation certificate in marketing which is at level three right the way through to the marketing leadership programme at level seven. What you can see is the foundation certificate is the equivalent to an A level. Level four which is the certificate in professional marketing is equivalent to a foundation degree. The diploma in professional marketing and digital diploma in professional marketing are the equivalent of undergraduate degrees so that is that level six qualification. And level seven is equivalent to a postgraduate degree which is the marketing leadership programme offered by the CIM. So now I've given you a little bit of an introduction to what the level actually means. Let's start focusing now on those level six qualifications. And there are two available from the Church Institute of Marketing the diploma in professional marketing and the digital diploma in professional marketing as I've already alluded to. I'm going to look at the difference between these two shortly but at the outset I think it's important that we think about what the level six qualification can offer you overall. So if you are responsible for managing the marketing process at an operational level maybe you are looking to move into a mid-level management position you might be looking to build on your knowledge gained maybe from the certificate that you might have really studied with the CIM at level four or maybe actually you want to just gain business understanding of marketing management then actually level six is probably the right level for you. Just to give you a bit of an overview though level six and the level six diploma qualifications from the CIM are really focused on strategy. So it's getting you to start thinking about marketing from a strategic level rather than thinking about your day-to-day marketing campaigns or your marketing communications activities. You're really going to be encouraged in this qualification to think about the wider picture in your organisation. So looking at the wider business and marketing environments making sure you're developing insights from and analysing that environment then developing objectives and strategies to meet the changing business environment and also changing customer needs. So to undertake those qualifications you will need to have the entry levels which have been detailed here on the slide. So at least two years experience in marketing or a relevant level four qualification such as the certificate offered by the Charles Institute of Marketing. Most students at this level do hold a degree or equivalent qualification they might have also had the CIM certificate in professional marketing. I often stress as students it is important to have some experience in marketing it's usually recommended around two years just so you've got a working knowledge of how marketing functions within a business this will really help you especially across the assessments. But actually if you've not studied marketing before so you might have a degree maybe in business but not studied in marketing but you have got experience and you maybe want to revise some of the basic marketing theory the Oxford College of Marketing we do have an intensive course that enables students who may not be so confident around some of the marketing basic marketing theory to get up to speed again to make sure they are ready for that level six. Well for the digital diploma in professional marketing actually while those specific digital knowledge is required the qualification does assume that you as a student have some basic understanding of digital tools and techniques so it is important to make sure you are aware of how things like SEO work what PPC is for example before you start if you decide to undertake that digital diploma in professional marketing. Also just to add here that each qualification is made up of three modules in the digital diploma all three qualifications are mandatory one in the professional diploma you have two mandatory modules and you have one elective modules Do note though for the level six qualification the diploma in professional marketing there is an option to do a digital elective module so if you really want to do a pure digital qualification you can still improve your digital marketing knowledge by undertaking that elective as part of the diploma in professional marketing. So yes we started talking about those two different qualifications at level six the diploma in professional marketing or the digital diploma in professional marketing so how do you decide which one is the right one for you. So let's firstly look at the diploma in professional marketing now this really focuses on how to take a strategic approach to marketing at a management level so that is marketing as a very broad brush in terms of it could be digital, it could be non-digital and it's designed for marketing managers who want to widen their marketing knowledge at a strategic and management level. Is this qualification focus on that wider marketing skills and knowledge, it's all about strategy as I said before you do have an option on this particular qualification to undertake a digital elective as well if you wanted to so you can still enhance your digital marketing knowledge or you could choose if you wanted to to have that specialism and undertake the digital diploma in professional marketing. So this qualification this focuses on how to take a strategic approach to digital marketing so it's designed for marketers who want to gain not just a better understanding of digital but also how to develop an effective digital strategy. This is very much for people who want to hone in on digital marketing so it could be for a set of aspiring digital marketing managers for example it's all about developing your specific digital marketing knowledge and skills and also making sure you're developing that digital strategy or management level as well. So there are two options and it really will and what you choose really depends on what you want from your career or where you see your career heading. If you are unsure, do talk to a study centre they will be able to guide you, let you speak to a tutor perhaps or one of their student representatives that give you an idea of what you could get out of a qualification and how it might map to what you want to achieve in your own career. Moving on to this slide here and this is the M3 model that Ashley Friedlin at e-consultancy has put together and it's suggested that this is a new planning framework for executive, sorry for putting together marketing strategies and plans. Now the reason why this is so interesting is actually alongside this framework he's suggested that there are new requirements for marketing competencies and capabilities and this is really reflected in the fact that we've got changing technologies, new channels a really difficult perhaps and turbulent marketing environment and what Ashley Friedlin identified with some new key competencies and skills and capabilities that marketers now needed to have in order to be effective and suitable marketers. So you'll notice here, so things like data and analytics customer experience, content, multi-channel personalisation so actually marketers to meet today's challenges within the marketing environment we do need to upskill so we have to be competent and have a wide range of skills and that's what these level 6 qualifications from the CIM offer. We need to be able to demonstrate that we can use things like SEO, PPC, programmatic or I don't know TV advertising as part of actually a wider marketing strategy and not thinking just about campaigns and as I said the qualifications at level 6 will help you gain these necessary skills and I'll be able to demonstrate this to you across the next few slides. In terms of looking at the diploma in professional marketing and a digital diploma we're going to look now at some of the key benefits in terms of the knowledge that you could gain from undertaking this qualification. So firstly these qualifications encourage strategic thinking and understanding the strategic role that marketing plays in the business. It's really important for any marketer especially with management aspirations to understand and be able to think strategically. So the level 6 qualifications are really about getting you to think more widely so it's not just about your day-to-day operations it's not just about your marketing campaigns it's about taking that step back it's about getting you to think about those campaigns that you're running but actually in the context of your wider marketing and business objectives thinking about how you as a marketer and how your marketing function is directly contributing to the business bottom line and what role marketing needs to play in championing the customer moving forward and playing a strategic role within the organisation. Another key benefit is learning how to develop key strategic marketing initiatives. Marketing isn't about and is no longer the communications department sadly we no longer sit around we don't drink coffee we don't have our next communications campaign where we're going to drop a million pounds on a TV advert. Actually we have to be that customer champion we have to lead the marketing strategy as the marketing function we have to make sure whatever we're developing in terms of that strategy meets and reflects customers changing wants and needs. So the level 6 qualifications and the modules within them from the CIM equip you with the knowledge to be able to develop those suitable strategic initiatives. Another key benefit is understanding how to analyse business data and inform business data and information in order to develop suitable recommendations. So this is thinking back to that slide I've just shown you about the skills of a modern marketer. We saw that analysis of data is a key requirement. Again we can't just run a campaign and not analyse it. We can't just run marketing activity and no longer analyse what's working we have to be able to demonstrate as marketers how we are delivering return on investment. Another key benefit is developing an understanding of how digital marketing tools can be used as part of a wider marketing plan and activity. So again at the CIM level 6 qualifications take that strategic approach to digital as well. It's a given at this level that you know what the main tools and techniques you can use in digital marketing. It's a given that you know what SEO is given that you understand programmatic advertising for example but what the level 6 qualifications specifically the digital diploma and professional marketing enables you to do is understand how these tools can be used in a wider marketing strategy to develop a digital marketing strategy and where they all need to fit and how they can work together. Finally that key benefit around knowledge is staying up to date with the latest marketing trends. So throughout your studies within all CIM qualifications it does enable you to keep up to date with the latest marketing trends either through maybe your in-class activities that could include online distance learning. It could be through your assessment encouraging to undertake research into some of the latest aspects in marketing or it could be through your CIM membership where you get access to the CIM exchange and wider materials as well such as EBSCO materials which you all have access to once you become a CIM member. So that's thinking about knowledge but what about skills? Some of the key benefits in terms of skills have been detailed here on the slide. So again let's have a think about some of these. Firstly a key skill that you could benefit from gaining from undertaking these level 6 qualifications is around the assessment methodology. It directly supports development of practical skills and that are relevant to your current organisation. Now the assessments are mainly assignment focus. There are around 5000 words and for the current syllabus there's also an exam. The assessment is very practical. It's based upon your organisation you're working for or one that you might be familiar with or one you want to maybe make yourself familiar with so therefore it supports you developing a range of skills so it could include things like creating a marketing plan for relevant organisation context creating an internal communications plan for example. Another key skill that these qualifications support is developing analytical thinking and problem solving. So the level 6 qualification helps you to build all important skills in analysis of information analysis of data also how we could use this data to develop solutions for organisation issues. As marketers we need to understand how our environment is constantly changing so having these analytical skills is vitally important. We can also through the qualifications develop our own communication skills you know it helps us to you know these qualifications can really help you as a student recognise various stakeholders that can be involved in the planning process or developing strategy and developing skills to communicate with them at different levels. Again there are assessment methodologies for these particular assessments so how you actually get examined it supports improvement in communication skills because you are asked to write reports you know you are asked to produce presentations so these are all important skills that you need in the workplace especially as you progress in your career and towards management. You are challenged and you will be challenged as a student studying at level 6 to write in a style that is suitable for senior management you know making sure that relevant information is included and making sure that you are meeting the needs of your audiences. Also finally the skills as a key benefit we could look at from studying at level 6 is about providing the skills and competencies to influence management levels this kind of comes on from the last point where you know from developing a better understanding of stakeholder needs the CIM professional diploma in marketing digital diploma in marketing enables students to develop competencies needed so the skills needed to influence management so actually if by understanding marketing at a strategic perspective it enables you to speak the language of management which is usually related to profit and return investment and this will make you much more confident as a marketer and confident in discussing these matters with your management team. But most importantly some of the key benefits of studying a level 6 qualification from your career perspective and you know most of you here will probably be most interested in some of these key points definitely from a key benefit is career progression and a salary increase so if you don't have an official education perhaps in marketing or you might hold a degree in an unrelated subject the CIM qualification especially at level 6 because it's at that undergraduate level can help you formalise you know formalise your knowledge formalise the theory that you understand and back it up with some practical experience as well so really putting if you've got like 4 years experience in marketing why not back that up with a qualification to show your dedication towards the marketing discipline it's a globally recognised qualification that CIM is the world's largest organisation for professional marketers CIM also has a global reputation as a centre of excellence so those qualifications are recognised across the world so it's an important fact to consider if you are looking at undertaking a CIM qualification in terms of enhancing your CV it may seem that maybe not all qualifications marketing vacancies actually specify the need to have a CIM qualification it does often depend on the industry but myself I am seeing increasing number of marketing roles being advertised that have CIM qualifications listed as being beneficial to have as part of the application process but actually even if the qualification or having such a qualification isn't a prerequisite for the role it's not to say that it wouldn't be a good addition to the CV particularly if there are lots of candidates with very similar experience it would really help to set you apart from those candidates another key benefit as we've already talked about especially around the assessment methodology is gaining practical career experience so again thinking about matching up marketing theory learning a little bit more and then matching that to the experiences you've had gaining experiences from others maybe if you're studying maybe if you're studying in your classroom environment you can definitely learn from others and gain more experience that way as well and that leads on to the next point really both in online and distance learners can network with each other as part of the learning process for example at the Oxford College of Marketing we have forums, we have Facebook groups to encourage students to communicate with each other, support one another across the learning process but also the CIM offer wider networking opportunities through local CIM groups as well and also in terms of the benefits of your career you can enjoy the benefits of the CIM membership the CIM suggests that some of the key benefits of their membership are based around careers in terms of your professional development they offer a mentoring program they also offer benefits around capabilities so webinars such as what you're listening to now toolkits, online journals to help you up skill and continually up skill as a marketer developing that community so networking events regional events and also they provide significant content as well so through their catalyst magazine content hub and exchange employers do recognise the importance of CIM qualifications especially at the level 6 so the CIM professional diploma in marketing and also the benefits they provide in terms of career progression so what I've put here on the slide it's a little bit small but hopefully you can read it this is from a head of marketing and they're really just underlining the importance from them as an employer's perspective as to individuals having a CIM qualification and it says here you know a CIM qualification indicates that the marketer has a skill set to think strategically and understands a complete picture of marketing and as an employer I always actively look for marketing qualifications when reviewing CVs note is there you know that that importance they understand the complete picture of marketing and that really captures the essence of a level 6 qualification what about what students say so here's two reviews from students actually from the Oxford College of Marketing both who have studied at level 6 actually the one on the left which is Theresa's Google review that's certainly worth us looking at notice here she said it's very hard but it was very worth it relevant syllabus professional supportive staff you can see here she's got a lot out of it she found that syllabus relevant and interestingly she said her salaries increased from undertaking the course and she said that therefore having such a qualification really is essential and Russell's review there as well he said you know he found himself procrastinating and delaying doing the work but actually if they if you are interested in doing a career and furthering your knowledge than undertaking a CIM level 6 qualification is key too I think this is also really important there are lots of common misconceptions around CIM qualifications and especially at this level so I thought I'd highlight some of these to you so the first one there is people often think that a CIM qualification is two academics actually CIM qualifications especially at level 6 are practitioner qualifications so they are designed for practising marketers and to support the skills that they need to for today for marketing in their organisations you know the assignments and the assessments that you have especially at level 6 are all based on real life applications of context of concepts sorry to your organisation or an organisation of your choice so you are going to write assessments based upon the organisation you are working for so actually you can produce a real life strategic marketing plan that you can use in your workplace so it's very very beneficial another common misconception is that they take too long they take too much time another thing really is a definite misconception because CIM qualifications are all based on modules so you can study at your own pace and students we usually find at the Oxford College of Marketing that it takes around 18 months to complete it you know most study centres we do realise that it's very difficult and it can be difficult to balance work and we do offer and all of the study centres offer flexibility with timetables the Oxford College of Marketing actually ourselves we give three years access to materials so it gives students three years to complete their qualifications so you do have a lot of time another misconception not applicable to the modern marketer well the syllabus is very relevant for the modern marketer many qualifications out there they focus too much maybe on the specific elements of marketing and many don't really provide that strategic perspective that's really expected or needed by marketing manager now something interesting to know is that the syllabus content has been updated for 2019 and it does launch next month so do keep your eyes peeled especially if you're thinking about studying a level 6 qualification and all the refresh content within that new syllabus it does ensure that the qualification is and it remains relevant for today's marketer and finally and I think this one frustrates me the most that it's not suitable for SMEs SME organisations or those people working in even small micro businesses as well from my own experience I'd say around 75% of our students come from SMEs and they definitely benefit from the course the assessments are flexible and they're becoming even more flexible so they really are suitable for students studying in any context whether it's SME, not-for-profit B2B, don't think that CIM qualifications are only there for those working in really large FMCG organisations because it's simply not true so if you are interested in studying for the diploma in professional marketing or the digital diploma in professional marketing you have some study options not all study centres will provide all of these options for all the qualifications though so you would have to speak to them three key study options that are available is distance learning so this is where you study online you can study anywhere, anytime anywhere in the world part-time evening classes so these are evening classes usually classes that are around three hours they're offering a variety of locations and finally we have intensive weekends so essentially you study the module in its entirety in one intensive weekend like weekends run roughly from nine o'clock to five o'clock and then you can continue your learning by distance learning so for example at the obstacle to marketing students that start studying intensive weekends they'll continue on to our distance learning programme supported by wider webinars as well and now just moving on finally to our FAQ section because I'm sure some of you have some burning questions so I thought I'd cover some of these as well before the end of today's webinar a common question is can I complete the course if I'm currently not working absolutely so the assessments are practical but they can be based on any organisation you wish usually we suggest students that you'd probably stay away from large corporate organisations you don't work for like I don't know McDonald's or IKEA but it could be you could use a one that you've worked for maybe in the past if you're not currently working or want a friend or family member that you've worked for this is a discussion you should have with your study centre but all study centres will have some advice that they can give you on this another question we often get is what if I have a relevant degree but not two years experience in marketing here you'd need to really ask your preferred study centre at the Oxford College of Marketing we do offer a free pre-course diploma so enabling most people with a degree study to get to the level 6 and the information that they need an important question is how long does the qualification take to complete so we've always recommend the Oxford College of Marketing taking around 18 months to complete the full qualification there are three CIM assessment timetables a year in April, December and July and the study centre you work with will provide you with a personal study timetable to enable you to work towards completing your assessments as well you're able to get all these up front if you're having a holiday or a summer holiday or whatever you can fit everything around that another important question how much study time do I need based upon the learning hours the CIM recommend around 130 to 150 learning hours before you all get worried about how many hours that is it's about 10 hours a week and you probably need around about 30 hours to write up your assignment and think about the amount of time I've just said it is all broken down and you know again you could be doing just a few hours a week on your assessment and finally I want to know how do I find a study centre and you can find a study centre by going on to the CIM website looking at the qualifications and there is a link so cim.co.uk forward slash study centres you can go and search by location on your preferred study method and finally how much does it cost well cost will vary between colleges so you do need to speak to your preferred study centre if you are interested and speak to them individually but I would sort of make sure you're aware that costs aren't the only factor that should influence your decision you should look at things like pass rates the CIM also award commendations to different study centres based upon the quality of their teaching and the results that they get you should look at things like teaching teaching staff the sort of materials you can get access to all of these things need to be considered but don't just think about the costs in terms of how much you're paying for the course you do need to factor in additional costs as well such as the charge institute of marketing membership fees also you will need to pay fees for your examinations and assessments too so you will need to budget for books you can find a lot of books online but we still would recommend you budget to put some budget aside for books too so that's all the content I wanted to cover but I'm hoping we have some questions Thank you Red so yes we're now going to answer some of the questions that have been submitted just as a reminder to the audience that they can still submit questions via the chat books in the attendee control panel so our first question somebody who's been listening has a BA in marketing and has worked in marketing roles for 10 years would you say they meet the requirements to do the professional diploma? Absolutely meet the requirements to do the professional diploma but I would actually ask them if they do want and interested in the CIM qualification they may want to chat to their preferred study centre because I would possibly suggest they might want to do a postgraduate qualification so looking at the marketing leadership programme they might be have more experience than maybe they necessarily need for the diploma in professional marketing Thank you Red another question so somebody's wanting to know if they studied the diploma in professional marketing with the digital strategy elective and then went on to do the other two digital diploma modules would they then get to diploma qualifications? Yes they would is a simple answer to that I believe that is the case so yes do just be aware obviously depending on what you're if you're already studying a level 6 qualification the modules are about to be refreshed from September so you may need to speak to your preferred study centre about what options you could do then but one is a pathway where you can study the common modules across the CIM diploma in professional marketing and the digital diploma in marketing and then get an additional qualification if you do the additional modules I do hope that's correct but I'm pretty sure I'm right Yes that is correct Thank you Red so another question we've had here if you could perhaps maybe just clarify the differences between diploma in professional marketing and then the digital version of the diploma Essentially one covers digital marketing in a lot more depth and you only really cover digital marketing at the strategic level that's the digital diploma whereas the professional diploma in marketing covers broader marketing aspects so marketing strategy more generically but there is an elective module within that where you could study one module in digital marketing whereas the digital diploma would cover three modules all be about digital and digital strategy that's a very very basic overview but really when you decide which one is for you it depends on where you are in your career and what you want where you aspire to be so for someone who wants the digital diploma would be someone who does a lot with digital marketing a key part of their marketing role is dealing with digital they want to better understand the strategic role that digital has and can have or they are aspiring to be a digital marketing manager someone who wants to do the professional diploma sorry the diploma in professional marketing this would be someone who perhaps is working in the marketing management role doesn't really want to specialise in digital but may want to understand a bit more about digital if they want to through doing an elective module I hope that helps it again if someone is speaking to their preferred study centre it's always worth asking that question again because for example here at the Oxford College of Marketing we've got like crib sheets that we can send to students to help them make that decision thank you Red so we have somebody who's listening that has done a professional postgraduate diploma in marketing but they are interested in doing the digital professional diploma would you recommend that they did that so they've done the professional postgraduate diploma in marketing but they would be interested in going back to the diploma level to do the digital diploma would that be something that you would recommend yes so if you've done the professional the diploma in professional marketing but you want to undo the digital you can absolutely do that you would learn more aspects it definitely wouldn't be the same content because you'd be focusing more on the strategic of digital do just be aware that if you do want to do the digital diploma it does there is an expectation that you do understand the basic tools and techniques of digital marketing again if that's something you're concerned about do speak to your preferred study centre here at the Oxford College of Marketing we do offer access to courses just to get you up to speed on those if you are concerned though I hope I answered the question thank you Red so just a clarification here somebody is asking if you can study all of the all four of the modules on the diploma so basically doing the two mandatory plus the two electives which I mean I can respond to that one in terms of yes you can so you would then achieve the full diploma qualification and then you would achieve a modular award for the single module you did so that is something that you can do if you wanted to do both mandatory and both electives on the diploma qualification yeah I just add to that as well sorry I'm going to add to that as well just saying that actually here we give students access to all of the elective materials so they can then decide which one they want to study as well yeah great okay so moving on to the next question do students work on the assignments individually or as a team oh that's really important actually students work on the assignments individually it has to be your own piece of work obviously across many study centres including the Oxford College of Marketing we do give briefings you are given a tutor to support you through that and you are given guidance but it has to be your own piece of work and obviously just like you would study at university it is checked to ensure that it is your own piece of work and you've not colluded in any way thank you Red I can respond to somebody is asking do you book through the CIM or through your preferred study centre so as Red said there is a study centre finder on the CIM website to find who you might want to study with and it's good to do your research on that and perhaps talk to a couple of different providers you would be signing up with the preferred study centre to do your tuition and then your assignments and your membership would be booked through CIM so you would have two relationships there one with your study centre for your learning and then the other would see I am to actually take your assessments and to sign up for your membership so we also have another question could we just clarify what the level 7 course is called so the course that Red referred to was the marketing leadership programme and there's actually a webinar taking place regarding that qualification next Thursday at the same time one o'clock if you are interested in hearing a bit more about that qualification so another question here can I take a break from studying midway through the qualification what would your recommendation be on that one Red? Absolutely you can I will just reiterate here different study centres give you access to materials for a different amount of time so if you sign up with a study centre you will have access to that material at a certain amount of time however one thing again to underline is that you can study for the qualification module by module so you could for example just pay for one module, study that for that module complete it and then take a break if you wanted to or if you signed up for the whole course you would have some time limit on how long you have to study but say with the Oxford College of Marketing it's three years so you could take a break midway through if you needed to and also many study centres do look at are able to extend that period you have access to materials and complete your course with in any case but it would be down to the individual study centre but we are all study centres we all understand that some things life happens something happens gets in the way and you might need to take a break from your studies so we are and we do try to be as flexible as we possibly can. Thank you Red I think that might be all the questions we have. We could perhaps just give it a few more minutes to see if anybody else wants to answer any more questions. Yes definitely we do have a few specifics about people wanting to know if they have the right entry criteria it might be better if we take those offline and answer those individually because they are very specific to the individual so we will do that after the webinar I would always say about if anyone is confused about entry level do speak to the study centre because there are also CIM tests available as well online that you can just check what level you should be studying at by the way we say test don't panic it's just literally an online kind of survey just enables us to make sure you are at the right level but generally most study centres are really good at advising we do find some students for what I call falling between the cracks between a certificate and the professional diploma but don't worry again a lot of study centres and through the test we do have things like free courses that can help you get up to speed to make sure you can study at the level 6 Thank you Red we don't seem to be having any more questions come through so I think we can probably end the webinar there so I'd like to say thank you Red for presenting today's webinar and also thank you to our audience for attending once you leave today's webinar you will receive a survey on the presentation so we would really appreciate your feedback on that and on behalf of CIM I'd like to thank you for joining us today and we hope you enjoy the rest of your day Thanks very much