Technical problems

If you've forgotten your password then you should click " I've forgotten my password"' on the log in page and follow the on screen instructions to reset your password.

Locked out of your learndirect account?

If you've tried logging in and got your password wrong a few times, you may have been locked out.

If this has happened you will have seen a message pop up on the screen telling you:

You can still click on 'I've forgotten my password' and confirm your personal details to help you access your account: 

For more information on using 'I've forgotten my password' click here

How do I change my password?

When you are logged in, you can change your password by clicking on 'Edit your details' at the top right corner of your screen. Then you can select 'change your password' in the 'Security Details' section. If you aren't logged in you can change your password via the 'I've forgotten my password' button on the homepage or by clicking here.

If you need to amend or update any of your personal details e.g address, you can do this via the 'Edit My Details' area.

To do this you need to:

• Log into your learndirect account by clicking 'Access your learning'
• Select the 'Edit My Details' link from the top right of the page
• Click 'Edit' to make any changes you need, and click ‘Save’ and your changes will be recorded on the system.

The security of your information is very important which is why your password must never be shared with anyone else, even your tutor. When you first enrol with us, your centre will set up an account for you with a temporary password.

When you first log in, you must change your password to something you've chosen instead so that you're the only one who knows it. If you ever forget your details, don't worry. You can reset your password by going to www.learndirect.co.uk/login and clicking on 'I've forgotten my password'.

The ideal screen resolution for our courses and website is 1024x768 pixels. If your screen resolution is below our supported minimum size then you might find that your courses do not display properly.  You may find parts of the course are not visible and there are no scroll bars to enable you to move to them. You can check your screen resolution and update it (if needed) by using 'Update my PC'.

Some learndirect courses will require extra software (often called 'plugins' or 'players') in order for the course to run successfully, for example, Flash.

To see if you've already got the plugins you need installed on your browser, run the 'Update My PC' tool. This will tell you if you've already got the right plugins installed, and if not, it will install them for you.

Alternatively you can download the ones you need on our 'Do I need particular software to access my course?' help page.

Before you start learning with us, it's a good idea to check that your computer is set up to work with our courses by using 'Update my PC'. This tool and 'Update my PC'  will make sure that your computer is set up to work with learndirect.

Don’t know which operating system or browser you have installed on your computer?

Use the ‘Test My PC’ tool to find out. This tool will also help you check whether your computer meets the minimum requirements to successfully use learndirect courses.

Our courses are tested on the most commonly used operating systems and browsers, and we recommend that learndirect courses are run on these.

Currently, we support use on the following operating systems:

• Windows XP
• Windows Vista
• Windows 7

We also support use on the following browsers:

• Internet Explorer 7
• Internet Explorer 8
• Internet Explorer 9
• Firefox 3.6 or above 

As newer operating systems and browsers are released, we may add them to our supported list but this will not happen immediately as we need to thoroughly check that our courses will work properly with them.

Platforms such as Apple Macs and Linux systems are not currently supported by learndirect due to the very small number of customers using them.

However we regularly check our supported list, particularly as newer operating systems and browsers are released, and may add these to it but this will not happen immediately as we need to thoroughly check that our courses and systems will work properly with them.

Using unsupported browsers and operating systems

It may be possible to run your course using operating systems and browsers we don't support such as Linux, Apple Macs, Google Chrome, Opera or Safari, however learndirect cannot guarantee that courses will work.

If you do experience any problems with using unsupported operating systems or browsers then you should try using one of the supported items as listed above.

A firewall is a system designed to monitor and control access to a computer. Firewalls protect your computer against attacks over the internet such as 'worms' and help prevent unauthorised access to your computer.

A firewall may prevent some learndirect courses or content from being accessible, so if you have problems with accessing content then check that your firewall is not rejecting content form learndirect.

The easiest way to ensure that your firewall is not blocking your access to learndirect services is to use your firewall control panel to allow data from *.learndirect.co.uk

In order to make these changes to your firewall software we would advise that you refer to the user manual that came with the software, or alternatively visit the Firewall company website and access the relevant help pages.

Most of our learndirect courses will require extra software (often called 'plugins' or 'players') in order for your course to work properly.

If you not sure if your computer already has the required software then have a look at ' How do I check whether software required to do my course is on my computer and enabled?'

If you do't already have the required software for your course then you can install them by using 'Update MY PC' or you can download the players for free. The links are provided below.

Flash Player

• Get the Flash Player (free download)
  (Note: We recommend that you untick the option to download the Google toolbar).
• Test your Flash Player. A Flash player movie will play if the software is setup correctly on your computer.

Adobe Reader

Adobe Reader allows you to view and print Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

• Get the Adobe Reader (free download)
  (Note: We recommend that you untick the option to download the Google toolbar).

Shockwave Player

• Get the Shockwave Player (free download)
  (Note: We recommend that you untick the option to download the Google toolbar).
• Test your Shockwave Player. If the Shockwave player is setup correctly on your computer you will be able to load and play a Shockwave based game.

Authorware Player

We recommend that you use 'Update My PC' to install this plugin, particularly if your computer's operating system is Windows 7 or Vista, but if you need to install this plugin manually please use the link below.

• Get the Authorware Player (free download)
• Test your Authorware Player. An Authorware player movie will play if the software is setup correctly on your computer.

'Test My PC' is a tool which will check if your computer can use the learndirect website and learndirect courses.

It will measure your computer against the following points to make sure you can access your learning. If your computer doesn’t meet these points then don’t worry, Test My PC also tells you what you can do about it. Test My PC checks the following things:

• Your operating system (e.g. the version of Windows you have)
• Your internet browser (e.g. the version of Internet Explorer you have)  
• If you have any pop-up blocking software installed that could stop the learndirect website opening up new windows  
• Your screen resolution
• If JavaScript is enabled within your internet browser
• The extra software installed on your computer which is required for some learndirect courses (e.g. Flash Player).  
• More details of the technical requirements can be found here

Click 'Test My PC' now to check whether your computer will work with our courses.

You can use a dongle to connect to the internet and access your learning. However, you may find that your courses run a bit slower or that there are a few connection issues due to mobile broadband dongles being affected by factors such as location, signal availability and environmental conditions.

If you have ongoing problems with using a Dongle then you should try using an alternative method for connecting to the internet if possible.

learndirect is here to give you with the best possible learning experience.

As a learndirect learner, you will have access to:

• Your tutor - to help you complete your learning and achieve your goals (the Learner Promise gives you more information about tutor support).
• Your online Learning Pages - so you can plan and manage your learning and keep in touch with your tutor.
• learndirect community - where you can share your experiences online, chat to other learners, ask questions and get support with your learning too.
• Help and support - to help you through your learning if you have an difficulties.

As your feedback helps us to improve please contact us to tell us what you like, make a suggestion or comment, ask a question or make a complaint.

Sometimes, if you’ve viewed a course’s FAQs, the next time you click on ‘Continue my Learning’, it will refer back to the FAQ page again.

To get back to your learning, you need to follow these steps:

1. Click on the ‘x’, in the red box, in the corner of your course window.

2. Click on ‘My learning’

3. Find the relevant course, and then click on ‘View topics and assessments’

4. Find the section of your course you want to look at and click on the “Start” or “Continue” button to launch the course.

Some of our courses ask you to download files in order for you to complete an exercise or assignment. Usually these are .pdf, .rtf, or .doc files which should download when you click on the link for them. If you find that a file will not download, first try holding down the Ctrl key while clicking on the link.

Some of our IT courses contain files for carrying out exercises. These files are compressed to speed the download, and they appear as .exe files, which when opened will save the files required for the exercise to your computer. Your computer will probably display a security warning when you try to open them, which is normal. All the files contained in our courses have been checked for viruses, so they are safe to open.  You can find more details on how to download and open these files in the FAQs and help files for the courses that contain them.

If you’ve bought a computer recently, it may have come with Microsoft Office 2007 (including programs such as Word, Excel, and Powerpoint) already installed on it. The IT courses we currently offer use Office 2003, which looks very different to Office 2007.

Microsoft have some free interactive information which helps users adapt to Office 2007. You can find this on their website. These show the Office 2003 menu structures and then give the Office 2007 equivalent and are available as online resources or downloadable Flash files.

How do I get Word 2007 to save in Word 2003 format?

Word 2007 automatically saves files in a different format to earlier versions, which can cause problems if you send a document to someone with an older version of Word. To get round this, you’ll need to set Word 2007 to save files in the .doc format used by Word 2003 and earlier instead of the newer .docx format.

To do this, start Word 2007, and click on the Office Button (It's in the upper left hand corner)

Now click on the Word Options button at the bottom of the menu

Click on the Save option in the left-hand list, and then change the drop-down menu for "Save files in this format" to "Word 97-2003 Document"

Now click on the “OK” button in the bottom right hand corner and your documents will now save in a format that will open on older versions of Word.

In most cases this information can be located in your online learning pages by following these instructions.

• Log into your account.
• Click onto “My courses”
• Click onto “Previous courses”
• Now click onto the course title
• Click onto “My outcomes”
• In the Personal Learning Goal section, you can see the awarding body the test is linked to.

See screen shot attached below.

If your Awarding Body isn’t detailed please contact your centre or call 0800 901 101 to find out this information.

If you have completed your learning and haven’t received your certificate you should contact the original Centre that you took your qualification with, as the awarding body will have the Centre's address as their place of contact and so will have posted the certificate to the enrolling Centre.

How do I get my course certificate/statement if my centre has closed?

If you have successfully completed your learning and not received your course certificate/statement before your learndirect centre closed, you have two options.

• For course certificates relating to external qualifications e.g. ECDL you can contact the course awarding body directly to arrange delivery. See below for a list of awarding bodies.
  
  Please note: Most awarding bodies charge a fee for sending out replacement certificates even if the certificate was sent to your centre and was not passed on to / picked up you. When making any payment to an awarding body you should request a receipt for the payment. We will reimburse any fees paid by learners to awarding bodies if we are satisfied that you did not receive the Certificate previously or you did not have reasonable opportunity to retrieve it from your Centre if it is now closed. No fees will be re-imbursed without proof of payment to the awarding body. If you need any further help then please call our helpline-0800 101 901.

• If you require a completion statement for your learndirect course, then you can contact the learndirect free helpline on 0800 101 901 who will help arrange this for you.

British Awarding Bodies Contact Details

British Computer Society

BCS Qualifications

Web: www.ecdl.co.uk

Telephone: 01793 417 424 or 0845 300 4417

City & Guilds

Web: www.city-and-guilds.org.uk

General enquiries: 020 7294 2800 (8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday)

Edexcel Customer Service

Web: www.edexcel.org.uk

EDI

Web: www.ediplc.com

Telephone: 08707 202 909 (8.30-5pm)

Email: customerservice@ediplc.com

Institute of Leadershipand Management (ILM)

Telephone: 01543 266867

Email: customer@i-l-m.com

NPTC (part of City & Guilds who deal with the Fork Lift Truck Operations course)

Web: http://www.nptc.org.uk/

Telephone: 024 7685 7300

OCR

Web: www.ocr.org.uk

Telephone: 02476 851 509 (8am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday)

Email: vocational.qualifications@ocr.org.uk

Having trouble accessing your learndirect course? Follow the steps below for help with common course problems such as courses running slow, screen freezing, etc.

1. Test My PC

Check your computer meets the minimum requirements for learndirect courses by using the 'Test My PC' tool. This tool will also help you find out if there’s anything you need that will allow your computer to work with learndirect courses. You can use 'Update my PC' to make any recommended changes.

2. Clearing your cache and cookies from your computer and making sure cookies are enabled

All the files you use on your computer are stored in a place called the cache. From time to time it's a good idea to clear out the files stored in your cache just to free up some space on your computer. This is called clearing the cache. Doing this also helps ensure websites display any new content properly if they've been updated.

Internet Explorer

• In the Internet Explorer menu, click on 'Tools'
• Then, from the dropdown menu, click on 'Delete Browsing History'. This will open up a new window. Note, in IE8, this can also be accessed by clicking on 'Safety' and then 'Delete Browser History'.

Click on the 'Delete files', 'Delete cookies' and 'Delete history' buttons in turn, selecting 'Yes' when you get a message asking 'Are you sure...', or make sure there is a tick in the boxes for 'Temporary Internet files' and 'Cookies' and then click on 'Delete'

• Click 'Close' to shut the 'Delete Browsing History' window and restart your browser for these changes to work.

Firefox

For details on how to clear your internet cache in Firefox please follow the links below.

Clear cache - http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/How%20to%20clear%20the%20cache

3. Checking your firewall or anti-virus software isn’t stopping you from accessing your learndirect course

The easiest way to make sure that your firewall is not blocking your access to your learndirect course is to use your firewall control panel to allow data from *.learndirect.co.uk.

In order to make these changes to your firewall software we would advise that you refer to the user manual that came with the software, or alternatively visit the firewall producer’s website and access their relevant help pages.

Having trouble accessing your learndirect course? Follow the steps below for help with common course problems such as courses running slow, screen freezing, etc.

1. Test My PC

Check your computer meets the minimum requirements for learndirect courses by using the 'Test My PC' tool. This tool will also help you find out if there’s anything you need that will allow your computer to work with learndirect courses. 

2. Check your plugins are working properly

Click on 'Tools', then select 'Add-ons' from the drop-down menu. This will bring up the add-ons window, now click on 'Plugins'.

• If the course you are having trouble with needs Flash, look for 'Shockwave Flash'
• If the course you are having trouble with needs Shockwave, look for 'Shockwave for Director'
• If the course you are having trouble with needs Authorware, look for 'Authorware Web Player'

If the required software is highlighted in grey, then click on the ‘enable’ button to make it active. Click on the ‘x’ in the top right-hand corner of the window to close it when you’re finished.

If enabling the software doesn’t make your course work, or they were already enabled, then the software may not be working properly. If you think this might be the case, you’ll need to uninstall and reinstall it.

For Flash and Shockwave: remove these from your computer using the uninstallers from Adobe’s website.

Flash: http://download.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/support/uninstall_flash_player.exe
Shockwave: http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/shockwave/uninstall/win/sw_uninstaller.exe

• Select the 'save file' option, and save the uninstaller somewhere easy to find on your computer.
• Close your browser and any other programs you may have running, then go to where you’ve saved the uninstaller program.
• Double-click on it to launch it, and in the security warning pop-up that appears, click 'OK' to allow the uninstaller to run.
• Once this has finished removing the software, restart your computer, launch your browser and reinstall the software from the links available on the Do I need particular software to access my course? page.

Removing Authorware is a bit more difficult, please call us on 0800 101 901 so we can talk you through how to do this.

3. Adding learndirect to your trusted sites list and making sure your courses work with your pop-up/ad-blocking software

For details on how to do this, please have a look at Setting up your computer to get started with learndirect (Firefox)

4. Clearing your cache and cookies from your computer and making sure cookies are enabled

For details on how to clear your internet cache and enable cookies in Firefox please follow the links below.

Clear cache - http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Clearing%20private%20data
Enable Cookies - http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Enabling+and+disabling+cookies

5. Checking your firewall or anti-virus software isn’t stopping you from accessing your learndirect learning

The easiest way to ensure that your firewall is not blocking your access to learndirect services is to use your firewall control panel to allow data from *.learndirect.co.uk.

In order to make these changes to your firewall software we would advise that you refer to the user manual that came with the software, or alternatively visit the firewall producer’s website and access their relevant help pages.

The learndirect website does use temporary cookies each time you access the site. To help ensure uninterrupted access to your learning, ensure that your computer  is setup to allow cookies from the learndirect website.

1. Go into Internet Explorer and select 'Tools, then Internet Options 

2. Select the Privacy tab and select the 'Sites' button. You will be presented with the following screen:

3. In the section entitled 'Address of Web site', type in the learndirect web address: *.learndirect.co.uk and click allow. The learndirect address will then appear in 'Managed Web sites' section. Click 'OK' and 'OK' again on the remaining windows to save your settings.

At learndirect we use a computer language called JavaScript to make our website interactive. Your browser should allow JavaScript to run automatically, but if you find that buttons and drop-down menus on our site aren’t working then it could be because your JavaScript has been turned off or disabled.  

• To enable JavaScript, open Internet Explorer, go to the ‘ Tools’ on the top menu and select ‘Internet Options’. In the new window, click on the ‘Security’ tab.

• If you’ve already set up learndirect as a trusted site with security set at medium, or your general internet security setting is at medium-high as shown above, then by default JavaScript should be active so you don’t need to do anything.
• If you have a custom security level set, or you want to check that JavaScript is definitely active, then click on the ‘Custom level’ button.
• In the security settings window, scroll down to near the bottom of the list, and in the scripting section see if the ‘Active scripting’  option is set to ‘Enable’ – if not, click on ‘Enable’.
  

To close the security settings window, click ‘OK’ then close the Internet Options window by clicking ‘OK’ again.

At learndirect we use a computer language called JavaScript to make our website interactive. Your computer should allow JavaScript to run automatically, but if you find that buttons and drop-down menus on our site aren’t working then it could be because your JavaScript has been turned off or disabled.

• To check this, click on the ‘Tools’ at the top of the Firefox window then choose ‘Options’.
• In the ‘Options’ window, click on ‘Content’ and look to see if the ‘Enable JavaScript’ box is ticked – if not, click on it to tick it and then click ‘OK’ to close the ‘Options’ window.

'Test My PC' is a tool which will check if your computer can use the learndirect website and learndirect courses.

It will measure your computer against the following points to make sure you can access your learning. If your computer doesn’t meet these points then don’t worry, Test My PC also tells you what you can do about it. Test My PC checks the following things:

• Your operating system (e.g. the version of Windows you have)
• Your internet browser (e.g. the version of Internet Explorer you have)  
• If you have any pop-up blocking software installed that could stop the learndirect website opening up new windows  
• Your screen resolution
• If JavaScript is enabled within your internet browser
• The extra software installed on your computer which is required for some learndirect courses (e.g. Flash Player).  
• More details of the technical requirements can be found here

Click 'Test My PC' now to check whether your computer will work with our courses.

You can use a dongle to connect to the internet and access your learning. However, you may find that your courses run a bit slower or that there are a few connection issues due to mobile broadband dongles being affected by factors such as location, signal availability and environmental conditions.

If you have ongoing problems with using a Dongle then you should try using an alternative method for connecting to the internet if possible.

Adobe Reader allows you to view and print Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Your assignments are these types of files so you will need Adobe Reader to open these. To check if this software is on your computer run the Test My PC tool and follow the link to the results page.

If the results show you haven't got this software, then you can download using 'Update your PC' or by using the link below.

• Get the Adobe Reader

(Note: We recommend that you un-tick the option to download the Google toolbar).

You can find tips on getting started in our community from our ‘Help using the community’ guide.

This gives advice on how to:

• Reply to a post
• Start a new discussion or ask a question
• Fill out your profile
• Subscribe to threads you are interested in

Your learndirect centre

You can get in touch with your learndirect centre for any general queries you may have.

If you need the contact details for your learndirect centre, the ‘centre search' available on the website will provide this information.

Just enter your postcode or the name of the place you live and click ‘search’, and the results will list your local centres and the contact details.

Your tutor

If you need help at any stage of your learning your tutor is the first person to contact.

The contact details for your tutor can be accessed via your online Learning Pages or you can get in touch with your centre for this information. You can  contact your tutor by sending them an email through My messages or you can give them a ring if you like.

Don't forget there's also the learndirect Community where you can get help and support from other learners.  

You can find out more information about your local centre such as opening times and directions by using the centre search, and then clicking on the ‘more details’ link for your chosen centre

If you need to rearrange or cancel an appointment at your learndirect centre you must contact your centre to let them know as soon as possible.

If you don’t have the contact details for your centre read ‘How can I contact my centre or tutor?’

If the learndirect centre where you have been doing your learning has closed, and you have not been provided with details of an alternative centre, you can contact the learndirect helpline on 0800 101 901 for advice on options available to you to help you continue your learning.

Reading with your children is a great way to improve their maths and English skills - as well as yours. That's why we've produced this book called 'Where did the river go?'

It is not your normal storybook. To follow Plip and Dab on their adventure, you and your children have to solve puzzles designed to test your English and maths skills.

How to claim your free book

To get your free copy of 'Where did the river go?'* you need to register your details and print out a voucher from the Where did the river go? website.

*This offer is open to residents in England and Wales only over 18 years of age. A maximum of one voucher per household is permitted. Subject to terms and conditions and availability.