How can we help?
Answers to the questions we are asked most, grouped by topic. If yours is not here, write to us and we will answer it.
Your questions, answered.
Getting started
5 questionsChoose one course or several from the course list and go to checkout. If you are new to us, your student account is created as part of that — there is nothing to set up beforehand.
Once the purchase goes through, your course is waiting on My Courses.
You are welcome to start right away, and everything is entirely self-paced, so you stay in control of when and how quickly you work through it.
As soon as your payment goes through — there is no waiting and no start date to plan around.
Your access lasts for life, so please feel free to begin whenever suits you, take as many breaks as you need, and come back to the whole course again later if you would like to.
Every course page in our course catalog has a short preview, so you are very welcome to get a feel for one before deciding.
Our courses are written, and every chapter comes with an audio version as well — you can read it or listen to it, whichever you prefer. There is no extra reading material to buy, no live sessions to attend, nothing to hand in, and you will never need a microphone or camera.
They work just as well on a computer, a tablet or a phone. All you need is a browser — nothing to download or install.
That is entirely up to you. Most courses take around two to three hours, and you will find the length of each one listed in the course list.
Since your access never expires, there is no need to finish in one sitting. Please take breaks whenever you like, come back weeks or months later, and work through it at whatever pace fits your week.
A web browser and a little curiosity — that really is all.
Our courses are written for students and non-students alike, so you do not need any previous knowledge of management, and there is no application form to fill in. Everyone is welcome.
Orders & account
3 questionsWe are sorry about that, and we would like to get you in. A few things that often explain it:
- Have a look under My Courses once you are logged in. If the course is not there, you may have used a different email address at checkout.
- Your IBMI order confirmation will show which address was used, so it is worth searching your inbox for it.
- It is also worth checking with your bank whether the payment actually went through.
If everything looks right and you still cannot get in, please email us at [email protected] with your name and order ID, and we will get it sorted for you.
That happens to all of us, and it is easily undone.
If you bought a course twice or ended up with the wrong one, just email [email protected] and tell us what happened. We will put it right for you.
Your name and email address both live in Edit Account, and anything you change there takes effect straight away.
This is also how you correct a typo in your name on a certificate. Once the account is updated, simply download the certificate again from My Certificates and the new copy will carry the corrected spelling.
If it is your password you have forgotten, you can set a new one on the password reset page. Should the email not turn up, it is worth a quick look in your spam folder.
Cost & payment
5 questionsOur courses currently cost between US$12 and US$15.
That is a one-time payment, and it covers everything — lifetime access to the course and your certificate included. There are no additional costs, nothing hidden, and no subscription to cancel later.
You can pay with any major credit card, most debit cards, or PayPal.
We are afraid we cannot accept manual bank transfers or money transfer services. And if you are using someone else’s card, it is worth letting them know beforehand — banks will often query a payment the cardholder was not expecting.
Just once, before you begin — and that really is the end of it.
You can start studying the moment your payment goes through.
How frustrating — and happily, it is usually something small. The most common causes are:
- A typo in the card number, expiry date or security code
- Not quite enough on the account, or a daily spending limit being reached
- Your bank blocking an international payment, which a quick call to them usually clears
Trying PayPal or a different card is often the quickest way around it. If none of that helps, please do email us at [email protected] and we will happily look into it with you.
Your invoices are on your My Orders page, ready to download whenever you need one.
If you need it made out to a company, you are welcome to add the company name during checkout — and a European VAT number too, if you are based in the EU.
Programs
4 questionsComplete four to six related courses in one field — the Mini-MBA, for example — and the program certificate arrives on its own, at no extra cost.
There is nothing to apply for and nothing extra to sit. Simply take the courses that make up the program, and once the last one is done your certificate will be waiting for you.
Not at all — you are very welcome to buy them one at a time and work through them at your own pace.
The program certificate becomes available as soon as you complete the final course, however long that takes.
Neither, happily. Please take the courses in whatever order suits you best.
And since your access does not expire, there is no deadline to work towards. Take all the time you need.
No need — buy and complete it once, and it counts towards every program it belongs to.
To give you an example: Leadership and Team Development is part of the Project Management, Strategic Management and Professional Career Skills programs. One purchase covers all three.
Certificates
6 questionsIt comes with the course, at no extra cost. Work through the material, then take a short multiple-choice quiz at the end.
Please do not worry about the quiz — you may retake it as often as you like, free of charge, and there is no time limit on either the course or the quiz. Your certificate arrives as a digital PDF as soon as you pass.
We hold our distance-learning programs to the same standards traditional institutions apply, and employers around the world accept our certificates as professional qualifications.
We should be clear that we do not award academic titles or degrees. That said, your certificate is very much worth adding to your CV and your LinkedIn profile, and we have put together a short guide to help you do exactly that.
They are all waiting on your My Certificates page — just log in and you can download any of them whenever you need to.
Not a problem at all, and more common than you might think.
Update your name in Edit Account, then download the certificate again from My Certificates. The new copy will carry the corrected name.
Mainly because a digital file is so much easier to keep and to share. Nothing gets lost in the post, nothing to wait for, and nothing to misplace in a house move.
It also reflects where European education is heading — the European Commission’s Digital Education Action Plan encourages digital credentials over paper.
And if you would like a physical copy, you are more than welcome to print it. Both the file and your printout are equally valid.
Every certificate carries its own verification number in the bottom-right corner. Pop it into our verification page and it will confirm the certificate for you.
One small thing worth mentioning: please include the dashes (–) that are part of the code, otherwise the check will not find it.
Language tests
5 questionsEnglish, German, French and Spanish, each available as a general and a business test — eight in total.
You can see them all on the language tests page.
Around 45 minutes in one sitting, and US$12 per certificate.
Everything runs in your browser, just like our courses, and you will not need a microphone or camera.
You receive a score from 0 to 100, together with the CEFR level it corresponds to — anywhere from A1 to C2.
The test places you rather than passing or failing you, so whatever the result, it simply reflects the level you are at today. Your certificate shows both the score and the level, along with its own verification ID.
As often as you like — you have lifetime access and unlimited retakes, at no extra cost.
So please do not feel any pressure on the first attempt. Sit it now, and sit it again in six months to see how far you have come.
The test itself is on your My Language Tests page.
Once you have finished, your certificate appears on My Certificates, alongside any course certificates you hold.
Anything else
3 questionsNo trouble at all — you can set a new one on the password reset page.
If nothing arrives, your spam folder is the first place to look. Still nothing? The account may be under a different email address, so it is worth trying any others you might have used — or just write to us at [email protected] and we will find it for you.
Of course, and you will receive a proper invoice for your accounting. We find this works best:
- Each employee sets up their own account, so their courses and certificates stay with them
- They pay with the company card at checkout
- They add your company name and address in the billing details, along with a VAT number if you are in the EU
The invoice is emailed automatically once the payment clears, and it stays on their My Orders page should you ever need it again.
If you would prefer to arrange things differently, do get in touch at [email protected] and we will see what we can do.
Thank you for taking the time — we would much rather know, and every report genuinely does get read and acted on.
Just email us at [email protected]. Anything you can tell us helps, for instance:
- The page you were on
- If it was inside a course, which course and lesson
- What looked wrong — a typo, a broken link, something that did not seem factually right
- A screenshot, if that is easy for you
Please do not feel you need all of it. Whatever you have is welcome.
Contact
2 questionsWe would be glad to hear from you — just write to [email protected].
It reaches our whole support team, and we aim to get back to you within a few business days.
Nothing formal at all — just enough for us to find what you are looking at. If it is about an order, your name and order ID. If it is something inside a course, the course and lesson name. If it is a page on the site, the link.
Please write in whatever language you are most comfortable with, and do not worry about getting every detail right. We would far rather hear from you with half the information than not hear from you at all.
Back to the courses.
Most of our courses take a single afternoon — long enough to learn something worth knowing, short enough to actually finish. And once you enrol it is yours for life, so there is never any rush.