The entire cost of the course is £495, which includes recorded delivery of the training manual. The computer and the necessary internet connection are not included in the price and must be provided by the student. Please ensure that your computer meets the system requirements.

Quatromain Training was set up because the founder knows from first hand experience that many people were purchasing these "life changing" courses but were not suited to either the training regimen or had difficulty grasping the concepts of the subject matter. In either case, they have paid thousands of pounds for courses which they cannot or don't want to complete, and they have little chance of a full refund.

We feel £495 is a reasonable amount of money to pay, because if you are comfortable with the subject and want to go on to complete a full course with another training provider, you will have already completed the fundamentals module and you can ask to pay for just the subsequent stages. If you decide that this course isn't for you, it isn't going to leave you thousands of pounds in debt.

When you consider that C# contractors can earn around £500 per day, £495 for 26 weeks of tutor support is a bargain.

You get a manual written by the tutor, a link to download the necessary (and totally free) software,installation instructions, tutor support via e-mail for 26 weeks (subject to a Tutor Support Fair Usage Policy), and a certificate at the end detailing the new skills you have gained.

Most importantly, you get a solid foundation on which to build your career.

If you have no previous programming experience, this course is ideal for you. It will take you from creating your first ever program to creating programs which incorporate printing and file access. Written specifically for the complete beginner, it allows plenty of time to develop the skills necessary to move on to the more complex aspects of the .NET Framework.

It is also the ideal course for those moving over from scripting languages to object-oriented programming.

The first consideration would be the amount of money you have to invest, something in the region of £3000. If you find that you cannot complete the course, you are highly unlikely to get a full refund. Some companies will even state in their terms and conditions that there will be no refund at all. Are you willing to risk that kind of money without having a basic grounding in the subject? After all, would you put a £3000 non-returnable deposit on a car before you took your first ever driving lesson?

The next thing to consider is the courseware: are you going to get a manual written in house, aimed specifically at beginners, written in a way that makes the topics easy to understand, with Tutor-Marked Assessments along the way to help gauge your progress?; or are you going to get a book which you can buy off the shelf and no TMAs? The first approach shows that the company is investing time and effort ensuring that the course is tailored to your needs; the second approach might suggest that getting their hands on your money is more important than the quality of the product.

This leads on to the next point: how much information does their website give you about their courses and their service in general?

• Do they give you information about the courseware you will receive? If it was something they were proud of they would be happy to mention it.
• Are you able to see a copy of the terms & conditions online? If not, are they likely to use the small print to cover themselves in the event that you are not satisfied?
• Do they tell you how much the course costs, or do they ask you for your contact details before they give out any information? If they ask you for contact details they may be relying on a sales person to convince you to part with your money. The least you can expect from some companies are follow-up e-mails, phone calls and letters telling you about their latest "special offer".

Please be aware that levels of support and services offered vary from provider to provider and you should do your research to find out which services and support levels suit your needs. You should also get written confirmation of their refund policy.

Feel free to contact other training providers such as LiveTrain, Computeach, Joskos, etc., and ask to do just the fundamentals stage. If they are confident in the service they provide and the quality of the training material, I see no reason why they wouldn't let you do just the fundamentals stage to begin with, confident that you will return to purchase the remaining modules.

Our refund policy is set out in the terms and conditions , which you must print out and sign before sending with your payment. If you receive the manual but have since changed your mind about the course, you can send it back for a refund. However, if you break the security seal on the manual, the tutor support will start and no refund will be given. Our refund policy does not affect your statutory rights.

Once you have completed the course you can choose whether or not to undertake further training with another training provider. If you decide that you will take on further training, tell the training provider that you have completed this course and wish to skip their C# fundamentals module. With some training providers this could save you hundreds of pounds on the cost of a full course.

No, there is no exam to take. However, there will be Tutor-Marked Assessments to complete and submit to your tutor throughout the course (something you might not get with some other training providers). These TMAs allow the tutor to assess your progress and give you further advice on programming standards and best practices. While it is recommended that you complete these tutor-marked assessments they are by no means compulsory.

If you find that you have more time to study and you manage to complete the tutor-marked assessments before they are due, you may submit them early. If you find that you are behind with your studies, don't panic: there is no punishment for handing in a late assessment. The due dates are only guidelines to see if you are on target to finish the course within the 26 week period.

We would expect to reply to e-mails within 48 hours. If an exercise has been submitted for tutor assessment, we will aim to have it marked within 4 days. There may be times when these targets may be stretched (sickness, family emergencies), in which case we will try and find a replacement tutor as soon as possible.

Please refer to the Tutor Support Fair Usage Policy.

The e-mail support is intended to cover only the topics in the manual which accompanies this course. We do have plans in the near future to introduce live web chats and we will keep you informed about this and any other improvements to the student area of our website.

A distance learning course gives you the opportunity to study as and when you have the time. Other options available elsewhere include:

• Evening classes
• Instructor-led courses
• Online courses

Nevertheless, it is important that you consider which type of course is right for you:

• If I choose evening classes, can I guarantee that I will be available for each session?
• If it is instructor-led, what follow-up support will I receive? Can I really learn, and more importantly, understand, the fundamentals of C# in a few days?
• If it is an online course, what tutor support is there? Can I study the online material if another family member wants to use the computer?
• Do I have the stamina for a distance learning course?

It is important that you consider your current circumstances and the commitment involved before deciding on the type of course to undertake.

Instructor-led classes would incur significant overheads, driving up the cost of the course. The whole purpose of this course is for you to find out if you are suited to C# programming without you having to pay a hefty price.

We accept personal cheques or you can buy online using Google Checkout.

In order to pay for a course by cheque you must download a copy of the terms and conditions, print them out, READ THEM CAREFULLY, complete your personal details, enclose a cheque for the full payment and send it to us. Our address can be found on the Terms and Conditions and also on our contact page.

To pay by Google Checkout go to the checkout page and confirm that you accept the Terms & Conditions. You will then be taken to the Google Checkout website where you will find details of how to set up a Google Buyer's account.

The training manual will be dispatched once payment has been processed through the bank, so please allow 7 - 10 days for delivery.
(Don't worry, the tutor support doesn't start until you receive the training manual).

Yes, a receipt for the full payment will be sent along with the study material.

No-one can predict what will happen tomorrow, never mind in the next 6 months. If you do come up against something which prevents you from studying for an extended period, send us an e-mail and we will discuss the options available to you.

No. We don't want to put anyone under any pressure whatsoever, and we feel that everything a salesman could explain about our product is available here on this site. However, if you do have any further questions you can contact us at any time.

Will the book give you self assessments as you go, to make sure you understand what you have covered? Will it set you assignments to get you thinking for yourself rather than just copying code verbatim? Will it give you feedback on these assignments to improve your coding techniques? If you need clarification on a subject you are not comfortable with, can a book always provide the answers? Can you ask a book to explain it in a different way? Can a book tell you why your code isn't working properly? Can a book create further self-assessments at any time?

In short, if you buy a book off the shelf you will not get all of the benefits of tutor support or get a real idea of what a distance learning course entails, which is the whole purpose of our course.

By all means, go ahead. But please bookmark this page in case things don't work out as you expected.