Dear Student

Congratulations on taking your first step towards success by registering at The IIE’s Varsity
College! A warm welcome to our community of learning. We are committed to your success,
so this mailer is about the services and communication channels we use to help you succeed
– we encourage you to take full advantage of all services available to you.

As a student of The Independent Institute of Education (The IIE) at Varsity College let us
introduce The Independent Institute of Education to you.

Varsity College is part of The Independent Institute of Education (The IIE). The IIE is
registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training as a private higher
education institution and it delivers its qualifications through its educational brands which
are Varsity College, Vega School, Rosebank College and IIE MSA. This is all in terms of the
Higher Education Act, 1997 (reg. no. 2007/HE07/002).

All the brands and the Central Academic Team (which is responsible for academic
leadership and governance) work together to offer all students an exciting, high quality
educational experience. The IIE is South Africa’s largest private education institution – we
offer more than 120 qualifications from Higher Certificate to Masters level on 20 campuses
and we also offer distance education at The IIE’s Varsity College, we recognise that students
have developed the core skills to succeed in basic computer skills, either through schooling
activities, or personal experience. As Introduction to Personal Computing (INPCf110) is a 5-
credit module in the academic programmes that The IIE offer, we would like to offer students
a competency test for the Introduction to Personal Computing (INPCf110) module in 2020.

Further information regarding the competency test is as follows:

• These tests will be scheduled during February/March, further details on the date will
be communicated to you by your Customer Relations Officer during your first 2 week
of lectures.
• You will need to be registered for INPCf110 before you are able to attempt the
competency test.
• Completion of the competency test is optional; however, should you choose not to
undertake the competency test, you will be required to complete the module as per
your qualification requirements.
• The pass mark for the competency test is 50%.
• INPCf110 is a free module and, for this reason, you will not receive a financial credit
if you pass the competency test, but rather an exemption from completion.
• You only have one opportunity to complete the competency test so please familiarise
yourself with VC Learn. It is therefore imperative to attend the VC Learn training
session that will be scheduled.
• There is also a mock assessment available on VC Learn that you can attempt before
the competency test once you have access.
• No further opportunities will be provided to complete the competency assessment.
• We encourage you to complete the competency assessment even if you are awaiting
an outcome from your academic credit application. If you miss the competency
assessment and receive an unfavourable outcome to your academic credit
application, you will need to register for the module.
• If you do not pass the competency test or choose not to attempt it, as per your
qualification requirements you will be required to complete the module which will be
scheduled as follows:
• There is also a mock assessment available on VC Learn that you can attempt before
the competency test once you have access.
• No further opportunities will be provided to complete the competency assessment.
• We encourage you to complete the competency assessment even if you are awaiting
an outcome from your academic credit application. If you miss the competency
assessment and receive an unfavourable outcome to your academic credit
application, you will need to register for the module.
• If you do not pass the competency test or choose not to attempt it, as per your
qualification requirements you will be required to complete the module which will be
scheduled as follows:
o Specific dates will be provided by your campus Customer Relations Officer but
expect it to be scheduled some time in March or April.
o Please look out for these dates and be sure not to miss them.
o The sessions for the module could be scheduled outside normal lecture time
and further detail will be communicated to you by your Customer Relations
Officer.

Please DO NOT purchase the prescribed textbook for INPCf110 unless you fail the
competency test and are required to complete the module.

We would like to use this opportunity to wish you well in your studies. Please feel free to
contact your Customer Relations Officer if you require any further information.

Vice Principal Operations

The IIE’s Varsity College Team