by Carol Smith

Created on: May 11, 2009   Last Updated: May 24, 2009

Many managers or potential managers will find it necessary to study some aspects of business law. If they are lucky, their company will fund day release courses and allow them the necessary time off work. Not all employees are this lucky. For many, learning some aspects of business law is not a necessity for their current job, but a personal development aim to help them up the promotion law either within their existing company or in a new company.

If your company won't provide you with the funding and the time off work needed to attend a course, what other options are open to you? The obvious answer is self-study. Enrol on a home learning course and learn from home. This will take time and commitment, but if you choose your course carefully and manage your time wisely it is possible to gain a recognised and accepted qualification.

In the UK, one of the most common providers of home learning courses is the Open University. Their courses are reasonably priced and you are provided with excellent tutorial support. Some courses will require the student to attend a residential week or weekend sometime during the course. All courses will provide tutorials - often in the evenings or at weekends - at which attendance is optional. These tutorials are useful for motivation and for meeting fellow students. Note that the Open University provides courses based on the law in England and Wales.

If you do enrol on one of the OU business law courses you will making a serious commitment of time. The courses are mostly 30 point courses. The courses last for nine months and on average you should expect to spend around 8 hours a week working. Although you can work mostly at your own pace, you will be required to submit TMAs (tutor marked assignments) and a project.

You will need to ensure that your family understand that you need time to study. You will need to plan your time so that your own family commitments are not overlooked. Eight hours a week is a considerable chunk of time, time that you will want to use wisely and time when you will need to be left in peace to work and research. Be sure that both you and your family are ready to make the commitment needed for your home study to be successful. With a little advance planning your nine months study period will pass quickly and fruitfully and you will gain the qualifcation and knowledge that you need to help advance your career.

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