Between September 2007 and June 2008 I studied a GCSE in Human Physiology and Health through ICS.

All of the course material for the first unit along with information about the course and an A4 Level Arch folder was delivered promptly to my home address. When I sent in my first test paper they immediately sent out the course material for my second unit and when I sent in my second test paper they sent out the third and final course material promptly and before I even needed it so I was ready to do it whenever!

The course material was well laid out and informative and the test papers were marked and returned within a few weeks.

I didn't have a problem with ICS until I started my coursework. The information about the coursework, how to do it and what to do it about was confusing so I contacted my tutor who to be honest didn't explain anything and he confused me further. Through further emails to my tutor and asking advice from my sister who is studying science at degree level I figured out what to do.

Not long after, my tutor changed to a lady who had been in and out of hospital and was in fact my original tutor when I enrolled. My new tutor was extremely knowledgable and helpful and gave me really good advice about my coursework and studying the course in general. I eventually got the coursework finished whilst slightly going over the deadlines but my tutor was flexible and got it processed efficiently.

Over the weeks before my exam my tutor (the new one!) was very helpful and telephoned me to discuss everything when needed and was a great help.

As mentioned by other reviewers the customer service wasn't brilliant but I didn't use it all that often. The only incident I recall is when I sent a query to my tutor via the facility online and a pop up box appear saying 'your tutor is on annual leave please email this address with your query' so I emailed that address and they replied saying send it to your tutor. So there was a bit of confusion there but I mentioned the pop up box and they changed their mind and accepted the query!

Overall I didn't find the ICS experience bad at all apart from a few hiccups it was OK. I got a grade B so it couldn't have been that bad! I think if my tutor hadn't changed though it would have been a worse experience. It depends on what course you do, what tutor you get etc.

I would have recommended ICS but not for a degree or other really expensive and complex courses. But on reading other peoples reviews I am hesitant, if you do want to do a course with ICS do lots of research, make sure it's right and don't invest too much money, although it is quite a bit.