I couldn't agree more. I've been on Amazon, Transcender, etc and why pay another bunch of semi-competents to do what we can do ourselves. True, you miss out on workshops - I haven't lost any sleep over that yet - and Advent-style recruitment services (I had to tell my contact 3 times that I'd moved counties) but everything we need is already out there. We obviously already have the motivation to do distance learning, so what is it exactly that we're lacking? I'd been in touch with MicrosoftUK/OpenIT and JustIT but couldn't bring myself to part with any more cash. I also read on a forum somewhere that the first one is sh**e and just takes your money and forgets about you (where have I experienced that before?). The second one has a much better reputation but is consequently more expensive, although not as much so as Advent R.I.P.. I'd like to set up a forum or another thread for those of us who want to carry on studying using our own resources. I'm going for the MCSE and am currently on 70-270 & 70-290 (I already have A+ & MCDST). We could pool our know-how and get the resources we need at the best possible prices. Then there's exam preparation sessions, either on-line or in person. Just throwing it out there, since most of the discussion so far seems (justifiably) to be about money worries, not the next step in getting qualified. Any interest in putting our heads together to move forward?

Re: my own posting above, I got a reply from my MP's office: "We have forwarded your email to Stephen Timms, Minister with responsibility for Digital Britain at the Department for Business." So maybe this is the man to harass. Harass him relentlessly.

Good idea. I just wrote to Andrew Tyrie, the MP for Chichester, outlining our right royal shafting. Anyone else out there in the same constituency? Send him an e-mail ([email protected]) and get some momentum going. If you're not sure which constituency you're in, use this link: UK Parliament - Search (Find Your MP)

I used to work in the Corporation Tax Compliance section of HMRC in London and have just written to my ex-Line Manager for advice. I used to work with the bloke who dealt with insolvencies and sat in on a hearing once. Not a nice atmosphere for an errant company director to be in (the f***ers will hopefully be sweating p**s, if & when it happens). The sad reality is though - at least for those of us who paid up front - it's HMRC and other big hitters that will get first bite of any leftovers. I'm hoping to get the name of the person who deals with insolvencies in the relevant district and then give an anonymous tip (it happens all the time). Who knows?

Hi fellow suckers, very informative thread but slightly depressing too. All the postings I've read so far seem to be from people who have/had financing agreements. I'm not sure if I'm one of the lucky ones but I was refused credit (never had a credit card, loan or mortgage) and had to pay £5K up front. I've got my MCDST already and am carrying on to MCSE, or at least I thought I was. I guess that makes me only about £3.5K out of pocket and I'm still out of work. Judging by what I've read it's probably best not to fork out even more money with another training provider and just wait to see what the receiver does. That could take a year and we may get nothing anyway. Does anyone know who the receiver is? Are there many others who paid up front?