“I found the Microsoft Office Specialist courses to be an extremely good way to develop my Office skills. A very high proportion of the course content is directly relevant to my role in information analysis; I learnt many new techniques and currently use them on a day-to-day basis, particularly in Excel, Outlook, Word and Access. The prospect of taking the exams encouraged me to learn the material thoroughly and demonstrate it effectively.”

– Richard Hockin, Senior Information Analyst, NHS South of Tyne and Wear.

“One of the MOST useful things that I have learned completing this course is that “shortcuts” can be used instead of going about certain tasks in a longwinded way. This will certainly give me the confidence to tackle Excel spread sheets with greater enthusiasm.”

– Sue Aston, Technical Account Assistant, North Lancashire PCT

“I am a Microsoft Office Specialist Master in Office XP & 2003 and waiting to gain the Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) status. I must admit even though I have been training staff on MS Office applications in East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust for the past 10 years, I learnt quite a few new skills by completing the Microsoft Office Specialist Core / Expert courses. For instance, one of the many features of Microsoft Word that I have found MOST useful is applying Styles & Formatting to text, paragraphs & tables. This feature can save staff a lot of time when they need to produce long documents. I know our clinical staff that are accomplishing professional courses quite often have to produce long documents as part of their on going development. Styles & Formatting can not only save time but also help them to produce professional coursework, which means they can spend more time on the clinical content rather than worry about formatting headings, tables and other text/objects within the documents.

By passing these courses our staff will not only receive the most rewarding learning experience but will also be able to validate their proficiency in using Microsoft Office while gaining a global recognition for their skills”

– Anjum Shazhad, IT Training Specialist, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

“By passing the MOST exams, I have gained confidence in using MS Office 2007 effectively. Since I was the MS Office 2003 user already, it took me less time to update with the new information in Office 2007 and the GMetrix training system, which I used for coaching myself, was a bonus and helped mw to achieve certification. Now  I want to become a Microsoft Certified Trainer!”

– Vidhya Mohan, IT Trainer/Developer/Analyst, NHS

“MOST provides in-depth learning and good refresher training for the functions that you may not use very often. It is also a very useful tool with which to cope with the changeover to a different version of MS Office.”

– Paula Porter, ICT Training Manager, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

“Exposes users to features and functions they may not encounter day-to-day resulting in exploiting the power of the application more effectively”

– Lorraine Eaves, Deputy Head of IM&T Projects Implementation & Training, East Lancashire NHS Hospitals Trust

“I enjoyed undertaking this course. I have learnt a number of new and alternative methods when using Outlook which has consequently increased my efficiency and productivity. I have been able to pass what I have learnt onto my colleagues. I found the following things useful: – using ”vote” buttons on email. Importing / exporting contacts.  Creating/ copying/ moving calendar appointments – adding timezones/ working week in calendar.”

– Sarah Garforth, Programme Support Officer, Children, Young People and Maternity Services, NHS Calderdale

“I only used the GMetrix program to train and then test, and was able to find the convenience of some of the buttons very useful. As already involved in providing this solution to NHS members of staff, it was essential that I had a ‘go’ myself before requesting others to do so themselves. What it has shown me are other functionalities that have made my job easier to accomplish which I can now pass on to others for them to realise the benefits of this programme.”

– Brian Ball, ICT Training & Development Coordinator, Nottinghamshire Health Informatics Services

“I have learnt to use functions that I did not know existed which will be very helpful in my role.  This also enables me to help my colleagues with any applications they are having difficulties with.  This course has gained me a qualification that will hopefully help my future prospects and I will use most aspects of what I have learnt on a daily basis.”

– Holly Lupton, Administrative Officer, Children & Families, NHS North Lancashire

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the Microsoft Office Specialist courses. By successfully achieving the ‘Microsoft Office Specialist’ Status I can only progress further within my career”.

Shirley Davies, Clinical Audit Administrator, Frimley Park Hospital

“The training  really has made a difference.  I didn’t enjoy Excel 2007 at all before I did the training, but I love it now and would never go back! This has vastly improved my knowledge of Office 2007 as I have only recently moved from Office 2003 and often struggled to find things.“

– Siobhan Oliver, Contract Support Officer, Connecting for Health

“Whilst working through this exam I have learnt new techniques for formatting text – these new skills I am sure will enable me to work more efficiently in my job role. In particular the Styles and Formatting functions and tables I found very useful and picked up tips that would save me time when producing large documents”

– Chris Oldham, IT Service Desk Supervisor, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

“These courses have opened my eyes to features within programmes that I had no idea were there. The Word exam seemed refreshingly easier than the Excel Core! Thank You! “

Steven Hall, Admin Support, Facilities, NHS South Of Tyne & Wear 

“The Microsoft Office Specialist courses have helped me gain a better understanding of all the Microsoft packages especially ones that I have seldom used in the past, such as Access & Excel. Since gaining the master certificate I feel much more confident in my ability to use these packages effectively.”

Paul Jones – Clinical Trial Administrator, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust