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Recommended study leave

Where an employee is working in a firm at the same time as studying online (i.e. the employee is doing the 15 weeks distance component of Professionals Online), the Institute recommends that employers allow employees study leave of 10 hours per week while doing so, with this preferably spread throughout the week.

This is because:

• The learning of skills online (like face-to-face) involves a cycle of performing tasks, receiving feedback, reflecting on what one has learnt, and then performing the next tasks at the next level of difficulty, using the lessons learnt and learning some more.
• That regime requires that trainees keep up to date with coursework pretty much daily, so that they can receive feedback and reflect on it before undertaking the next task.
• As the weeks go by, it is usual for employers to expect more of their employees. However, the IPLS workload gets neither less nor any easier as the course unfolds, as trainees are learning new skills until the end.

If trainees find that their client workload builds up too much at work, their IPLS coursework will suffer, they will get behind, and their learning will suffer.