How does the self-paced EPGDIA work?

The self-paced EPGDIA is the Executive Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Automation with nobody teaching it live. It has the same syllabus as the live online EPGDIA, as recorded lessons in your student portal. You buy it on its page, where the fee is shown before you pay, and you start the day you enrol.

What is in it

• 24 video lessons, in place of the live course's 24 class days. Each lesson has its notes and a page on doing its practice on your own, with a simulator on your own computer and tasks in the free 3D lab.
• 75 self-study modules.
• A test at the end of weeks 1 to 3, and the final theory paper in week 4.
• Four plant projects, one a week, graded by an EDWartens engineer.
• The AI tutor and Ask an engineer in your lessons, the 3D lab, job simulations and booked career sessions.

How your weeks go

Every lesson is open from the first day, and you go as fast or as slowly as you like within your access. About four weeks at six hours a day finishes it.

• Weekly tests. A week's test opens once every lesson and self-study module of that week is complete and the previous week's test is passed. The pass mark is 70%. You have two attempts, at least 72 hours apart.
• The final. It opens once weeks 1 to 3 are passed and week 4's lessons and modules are complete. The pass mark is 75% and you have one attempt. If you do not pass, write to us about a further sitting.
• Projects. 60 marks out of 100 passes. They are usually graded within seven days. Below 60 you get feedback and can resubmit. All four count towards your certificate.
• You sit the tests in your portal, on your own computer.

What it does not have

There is no live class, batch, timetable, attendance or leave request. There is no trainer practical or viva: the four graded projects count instead. There is no equipment either: you practise in simulators and in the 3D lab.

What you need

A Windows computer with 8 GB of memory or more, an internet connection and the free accounts the tools need. Vendor simulators such as TIA Portal with S7-PLCSIM are used under the vendor's trial or your own licence.

Access, refunds and the job assurance

Access lasts 12 months from the day you buy. When it ends, lessons, tests, project submissions and bookings close, and a certificate you have been issued stays valid. If you need more time, ask before your access ends.

You can have a full refund if you ask in writing within 14 days of buying and before you open any lesson. After that, or once a lesson is opened, the fee is not refundable: see Can I cancel a programme?.

The self-paced EPGDIA is job-assured, conditions apply. Read the self-paced EPGDIA terms before you rely on it.