Here is a selection of comments from past students:

• “Fantastic course, well delivered and structured, with relevant content and interesting assignments. Thoroughly enjoyable.”
• “To date I’ve found all the modules interesting and very enjoyable… Overall I feel the course is assisting my everyday work immensely."
• “Extremely interesting, great selection of modules. Well taught, friendly staff."
• “I really enjoyed the course as a whole, and I really feel that I now have a good foundation for starting a career in GIS."
• “Thanks again for everything, I was very impressed with the quality and delivery of the course and the support from all the staff and fellow students."
• “Despite the fact that the course is distance learning, I do not feel that either my experience or learning have been compromised as a result."
• “Interesting and challenging."
• “The distance learning aspect in general is a major advantage as it allows flexibility for full-time working students with family commitments… the hands-on use of various GIS related software allows in-depth experience of the GI methodologies and research."
• “Again, many thanks for all your assistance over the past three years and I must say this is an absolutely fantastic course."
•  “I have already recommended [the course] to several potential students, and will continue to do so."
• “The course exceeded my expectations. So many new skills were learnt including working with spatial data, academic writing, presentations, using GIS software and working with new people."
• “I have not been disappointed with my choice at any point. The course offers comprehensive content, experience and support, in addition to excellent value."
• “Getting a job with a GIS company, being promoted within a year and implementing skills learned … [and having] the confidence that I can pursue more challenging and complex GIS tasks should be evidence that the course is a success."
• “Well organised and a great variety of content…. lecturers enthusiastic about the course… I found the course stimulating and relevant. It was paced well and I wasn’t overloaded with work but was always busy."
• “I found the course extremely interesting and worthwhile.  Great introduction to a wide range of GI applications, functions and skills. I’ve easily been able to transfer what I’ve learnt into my job. I would have no hesitation in recommending this course."
• “I came into the course with no prior knowledge, and considering this, I felt that the basics were very well explained, and at a good rate. I felt like my skills progressed quickly, but with enough detail that I felt I thoroughly learnt the skills…. I have learnt so much from the course, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It has also greatly helped my job prospects."
• “I would definitely recommend the course to prospective students – both to those that are seeking a career in GIS and also those already in jobs where GIS can make a valuable contribution to their work. Overall I found the course very interesting, relevant and challenging. I have been working with GIS in some capacity for the past thirteen years. Nevertheless the course has been very useful and I now have a better insight as to how GIS can be utilised to contribute to business objectives and service delivery in my current workplace."
• “I really enjoyed the course, when leaving after the [my first degree] I didn’t know how I was going to get a job or where my career path was going. The GIS course other than being enjoyable has helped me straighten my thoughts on what I want to achieve in the future. Everything in the course is relevant to what employers are looking for and I would recommend it to anyone."
• “The course has shown me how to do a lot of things which I either never considered or never thought that I would be capable of doing.  Along with everything that I have learned I have also gained confidence in tackling new challenges."
• “I'll just take this opportunity to say that I think this course has been brilliant and I think that the teaching staff, lecturers, e-tutors etc. have all been great... I was really impressed with the level of organisation of this course, especially as a distance learner. I felt well connected with the teaching staff and other students. I thought the course content was excellent and provided a good introduction to using GIS in a professional environment…. Overall I found the course very interesting and enjoyable and am pleased I took part…. I was dubious about taking part in an MSc online, but in fact, I have found the level of organisation better than my previous MSc at a different university where I was an on-campus student!”
• “I would just like to thank you and the rest of the teaching staff for the GIS course. It has given me a firm understanding of GIS and how to use it in a professional way. I continue to use GIS on a daily basis in my work and the course has given me confidence in the GIS work I produce."
• “The course did meet my expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed the modules developing skills and knowledge across various aspects of the GI industry. Beginning the course directly after completing my BSc I did notice a substantial step up in workload and what is expected but felt the first modules at the beginning of the course helped to prepare for further modules. The course is exactly how I expected it and found it extremely interesting and enjoyable…. The course is extremely relevant, well run and fairly assessed and I have found that it has further developed my personal interest in GIS."
• “Extremely dedicated team of lecturers. Throughout the course I have to say all the lecturing staff were excellent providing endless help when required and conveyed information in a straight forward and understanding manner… Course content was spot on in terms of breadth and depth with the early modules being very well geared towards building on the initial basic software skills and academic subject areas."
• “Fantastic level of support from tutors and e-tutors. For me the past experience as a distance learner with the OU meant I had high expectations in terms of the support, feedback on assignments and general accessibility and structure of the course. This course offers all of this, all tutors were quick to respond to queries, offer support and offer constructive feedback. The structure of the course allowed for the development of skills over time with each module adding a new skills(s) as the year progressed. Definitely recommend, as a distance learner I felt very included even though off campus – the discussion forums in particular keep you in touch. The structure and support systems are excellent."
• “Before starting this course, I was a bit sceptical about distance learning. The course has overcome my expectations. The immediate support and the very detailed instructions minimized the intrinsic limitations of distance learning and enhanced its benefits. I am very satisfied with the course."
• “The teaching staff were very approachable and helpful. The course content is very varied and covers all the main topics, giving students an excellent grounding in the principles and applications of GIS. The course has a very strong practical element which I really liked. My aim was to come out of the course having gained new skills that I could immediately apply to my work and to my personal research interests and the course certainly facilitated this. In fact, I have been applying my GIS skills to my work in many ways over the last two years which, considering I had never even used ArcGIS, is saying something."
• “I found the feedback delivered from assignments very useful and referred back to it continuously to identify any weaknesses in my report writing. All the tutors were more than helpful when I approached them for advice…. As a GIS professional who has worked in the industry without the qualification, I have found the course to be both engaging and relevant. The technologies described and used in the practicals were all up to date, and the knowledge obtained has been put to good use within my day to day job."
• “The course has far exceeded my expectations… the course is excellent and will benefit multiple prospective students from a range of different backgrounds… The course is detailed and very enjoyable. I have personally picked up on several skills which I have been able to incorporate into my work environment”​
• “The course met my expectations and more. I was put out of my comfort zone a lot with learning new areas… but thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Doing this course has already had a positive impact on my career and a big thank you to all the staff and fellow students who helped with great support. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience."

 
You can also see short videos of a few of our distance learning graduates discussing their experiences of the course here and here.