Courses and Booking

To view our current course listing and to book on a course, please use the online course booking system at www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking.

This automated system allows you to:

• search for courses
• book directly onto a course
• join or remove yourself from a waiting list
• cancel a booking
• view and manage your bookings (forthcoming and past)
• check course venue
• and add a course booking to your own Outlook calendar.

• Please make sure you read and comply with the terms and conditions for booking, attending and cancelling courses.
  • University Course Booking Policy
• All our courses are open to Staff and Research Postgraduate students at the University of Aberdeen, at no cost.
• You must be a registered University of Aberdeen computer user and hold a valid personal username and password as issued by IT Services. In most cases, this is the username and password you use to login to your University email account.
• Some courses may be open to other categories, but please note that charges apply - see current rates.

Note: Additional registration is required for Student Records courses. You must complete a Student Records System Form, available on StaffNet (login required) at least 10 days before the course.

We are happy to create custom courses and workshops to fit the needs of your team, research group, department or School. Choose from, for example:

• Microsoft Office suite - Word, PowerPoint, Excel, SharePoint
  • any aspect of the above, for example creating charts in Excel, or using Styles in Word
• Working with long documents/theses using Word
• Creating research posters using MS PowerPoint
• Creating research posters using MS Publisher
• MS Teams - chat, audio and video calls, online meetings, and screen sharing
• Outlook - email and calendaring
• OneDrive for Business - working with files
• SharePoint - for Site Members and/or Site Owners

Contact us at tad@abdn.ac.uk to discuss your requirements.

What about other software packages?

We may be able to source training for other software packages from external providers. Such training inevitably incurs cost. However, if there is sufficient demand, and the software can be installed in our training suites, we can arrange for a trainer to deliver training on site, significantly reducing the cost.

Please contact us at tad@abdn.ac.uk if you have training needs that are not currently met by us.

If you’re struggling with any aspect of MS Office, you can make an appointment for a 1-2-1 session with one of our trainers.

Choose from, for example:

• Microsoft Office
  • Any aspect of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, SharePoint, for example creating charts in Excel, or using Styles in Word
  • Working with long documents/theses using Word
  • Creating research posters using MS PowerPoint or Publisher
  • SharePoint - for Site Members and/or Site Owners
  • Outlook Email and Calendaring
• MS Teams - chat, audio and video calls, online meetings, and screen sharing
• OneDrive for Business - working with files

Get in touch with us today at tad@abdn.ac.uk and find out what we can do for you.

• Unless otherwise indicated, our courses are FREE to Staff and Students of the University.
• Prices for Non-University candidates are indicated in the table below.
• Charges are exempt of VAT.

We usually hold our courses in Taylor A1, our private training room on the Old Aberdeen campus, or in a computing classroom (CR1 or CR2) in the Medical Library at Foresterhill.

Located on the ground floor of the Taylor Building, Taylor A1 is on the corner of Regent Walk and Dunbar Street; the entrance is next to the bicycle stand. Once inside, A1 is the first room on the right.

Taylor A1 seats 10 delegates.

The Medical Library at Foresterhill is located in the Polwarth Building and classrooms seat up to 20 delegates.

1. What courses do you offer?
2. Can you provide training for other software packages, other than those listed?
3. How often do you run courses?
4. How much do courses cost?
5. How do I book on a course?
6. When will I hear if I have a place on a course?
7. What happens when a course is cancelled, or fully subscribed ?
8. What should I do if I can no longer attend a course?
9. Where are your training courses held?
10. Will I get a course workbook?
11. How do I contact the TaD Team?

1. What courses do you offer?

Courses offered on a regular basis include:

• Microsoft Office suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access)
• Outlook Email and Calendaring
• MS Teams
• MS OneDrive for Business
• MS SharePoint 
• Student Records

For details of courses offered this session, please login to the online Course Booking System.

We can also arrange custom courses or events, on any of the above, for your team or School. Contact us to discuss your options.

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2. Can you provide training for software packages other than those listed?

We may be able to source training for other software packages from external providers. Such training inevitably incurs cost. However, if there is sufficient demand, and the software can be installed in our training suites, we can arrange for a trainer to deliver training on site, significantly reducing the cost. Please contact us if you have training needs that are not currently met by us.

We also provide workbooks suitable for self-study in the following:

• Adobe Creative Suite CC (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign)
• Adobe Acrobat XI Pro

You can download these as PDFs from the Workbooks section of our website - access is restricted to University of Aberdeen so you will need to login using your computer username and password.

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3. How often do you run courses?

We publish a fresh schedule of IT courses and workshops three times throughout the year: September-December and January-May, and June- August.

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4. How much do courses cost?

Unless otherwise stated, our courses are free to Staff and Students of the University.

For other categories - see the Charges tab, above.

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5. How do I book on a course?

You will use the online Course Booking System. See the Current Schedule and Online booking tab above for guidance.

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6. When will I hear if I have a place on a course?

The online Course Booking System is fully automated. If places are available, the booking system will send you an automated confirmation email. This email includes:

• Instructions on what to do if you need to cancel
• How to add the course to your Outlook calendar - recommended

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7. What happens when a course is cancelled, or fully subscribed?

We reserve the right to cancel a course if we do not have sufficient bookings.

• Most courses require a minimum of 5 persons to run. We will notify you of cancellation by midday, 2 working days before the course date.
• You can book on a later course if you wish.

If the course you want to book on is full, you can choose to join the waiting list for that course.

• If places become available on the course, they will automatically be assigned to those on the waiting list in order of booking.
• The booking system will also send you an automated confirmation email if you are assigned a place.

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8. What should I do if I can no longer attend a course?

If you are unable to attend a course:

• Please login to the online Course Booking System to cancel; we can then offer your place to somebody else.
• You will not receive an email confirmation about the cancellation.
• If you added the course booking to your Outlook calendar, you will need to remove this manually.

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9. Where are your training courses held?

We usually hold our courses in Taylor A1, our private training room on the Old Aberdeen campus, or in a computing classroom (CR2) in the Medical Library (Polwarth Building) at Foresterhill. See the Course Venues tab above for more.

Be sure to check the venue in the online Course Booking System.

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10. Will I get a course workbook?

Depending on the course content, we may issue you with a workbook at the start of your class but, unless the course tutor indicates otherwise, you must hand this in before you leave the class. We have adopted this approach to cut down on printing costs and help reduce wastage.

All our training workbooks (and associated course files) are available electronically. You can download them from the Workbooks section of our website - access is restricted to University of Aberdeen so you will need to login using your computer username and password.

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11. How do I contact the Digital Skills Team?

Please direct enquiries about IT training to tad@abdn.ac.uk in the first instance.

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