A knowledgeable and specialised consultant (in contrast with a salesperson) will cover in some detail your abilities and experience. This is useful for understanding your study start-point. With a strong background, or maybe some live experience (possibly even some previous certification?) then it's likely your starting level will be quite dissimilar from a student that is completely new to the industry. If you're a new trainee starting IT studies and exams from scratch, it's often a good idea to break yourself in gently, starting with a user-skills course first. This is often offered with most types of training.

Charging for examinations as an inclusive element of the package price and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams is a popular marketing tool with many training course providers. But look at the facts:

Of course it isn't free - you are paying for it - it's just been included in your package price. If it's important to you to pass in one, then you should pay for one exam at a time, give it the necessary attention and give the task sufficient application.

Doesn't it make more sense to not pay up-front, but at the time, instead of paying a premium to a college, and to take it closer to home - rather than in some remote centre? Many current training companies net huge profits through getting paid for exams at the start of the course and hoping you won't see them all through. It's also worth noting that you should consider what an 'exam guarantee' really means. The majority of organisations will not pay again for an exam until you can prove to them you're ready to pass.

With average Prometric and VUE tests coming in at around 112 pounds in the UK, by far the best option is to pay for them as you take them. Why splash out often many hundreds of pounds extra at the beginning of your training? Consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will really see you through.

In 2009 both programs underwent up-dates, & new examinations are now in existence for them both. Worldwide the 2006/2007 editions of 'A+' (those with the exam prefix 600) will be phased out within the coming year. At the end of Aug 2010, the exams will be retired in the British Isles. Up until then, students can take either the '600' or the more recent 700 exams in local test centres (namely Vue & 'Prometric'). Logic dictates that new entrant trainees should take version 2009. CompTIA 'A+' Essentials and CompTIA A+ Practical Application are the new examination titles (220/701 and 220/702 respectively). In addition to some additional content on more recent technologies, we now have 2 examinations which cover elements of all 4 of the previous examinations. The old format was 1 compulsory 'essentials' examination & three electives, of which only one needed to be sat. Over the last several years, the industry has evolved to the point where all 4 examinations are now regarded as essential - hence the reformatting in to two required exams. CompTIA have also produced the 'BR-003' 'up-grade' test, for students certified in the 600 exams who wish to up-date to the new '700' exams. This would almost certainly call for further learning, although not so much if you covered information on all 4 of the original exams, instead of just the two that were required. Plainly however the new technology subjects must be mastered.

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