Microsoft Access Training Courses
This page contains a cornucopia of Access training information!
Access classroom training
We run a variety of classroom courses in MS Access - choose the right one for you!
Alternatively, why not organise your own onsite Access course, or have a look at the extensive changes we've made to our classroom training to allow social distancing.
Online Access training
We will also consider running our main Access course online:
Not sure how if online training is for you? We've created a detailed page for you to see exactly how our online courses work (probably better than you think!).
Which is the right Access course for you?
Access is Microsoft's end-user database (think of it as SQL Server's much younger brother, and you won't go far wrong).
If you're contemplating upsizing an Access database to SQL Server, we also offer tailored training covering the main pitfalls to avoid.
Before discussing the training that Wise Owl offer, some important notes to begin with:
| Note | Details |
|---|---|
| Availability of Access courses | We were finding that many of our Access courses were running with one or at most two delegates, so we no longer schedule public Access training courses. However, if you have three or more people who want training we'll always consider adding courses to our schedule (ask us!), or you could always ask about onsite Access training. |
| Versions covered | Access comes in two flavours: databases and web apps. We only teach the former. There are many reasons to avoid the latter; not least the fact that Microsoft are no longer supporting them. |
| Language taught | Access comes with two competing languages: macros and modules. Macros (confusingly) are nothing like the macros used in Excel - instead, they allow you to choose commands from a list. Modules, by contrast, allow you to write code in VBA within Access. We think Access macros are a really silly idea (they aren't as powerful as modules) so we only teach VBA. |
If you imagine Access as a swimming pool, you can stay in the shallow end or swim through it to reach the deep end. Here's what this analogy means!
| Pool end | What you'll learn | Course | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shallow | How to create a relational database, including creating tables, entering data and linking tables together with relationships. You'll also learn how to create queries to extract data from tables. | Access Querying | 1 day |
| Deep | All of the above, plus how to create forms and reports to build a user interface, including using VBA code to link everything together. | Access for Developers | 3 days |
| Diving pool | Once you've learnt to swim, you might like to consider learning more about how to write VBA within Access (note that some of the content is repeated from the 3 day developers' course). | Access VBA | 2 days |
Although Microsoft sell Access as easy-to-use end-user software, it has many foibles, and you should put aside weeks rather than days to become proficient in using it. In particular, users of Excel can take a while to get used to the more structured approach to storing data that Access demands.
To see more details about our range of Access training courses, have a look at our more detailed Access help page.
10 things our Access courses include
Each of our scheduled courses (whether classroom or online) includes:
- Small course sizes - we have a maximum of 5 people on each classroom or online course.
- A trainer! And not just anyone - our courses are only ever given by full-time Wise Owls.
- Full colour courseware and exercises of oustanding quality.
- A no cancellation guarantee (once you've booked and confirmed your training course, it will run).
- A one gigabyte USB stick, containing course files, answers to exercises and (by the end of the course) your answers too, together with a Sheaffer biro.
- Unofficial help after the course (although we don't have a dedicated post-course support line, in practice trainers will be happy to answer the odd ad hoc question after a course has taken place).
- A certificate sent out digitally or in paper form (your choice) after each course, together with (for tailored courses) the trainer's thoughts on how the course went.
In addition, our classroom courses also include:
- A computer for each delegate (obviously).
- Lunch out each day at a local restaurant (chosen on the day of the course, after discussion!).
- Unlimited refreshments during the day, including Tassimo or Nespresso coffee and a range of biscuits and snacks to keep you going through those dark afternoon hours.
Still not convinced? You can read hundreds of testimonials to the quality of our training (all attributed and added in the last 3 years.
About our Access training
It makes us sad that less people are booking Access training courses, because we've still got a soft spot for this versatile and powerful application. We've built many Access databases for clients in the past, and still use Access for (among other systems) the following areas of our business:
| System | Notes |
|---|---|
| Accounts | Our bespoke accounts system uses an Access front end to get at data stored in SQL Server. |
| Expenses | Although we're in the process of creating a web front-end to our expenses system, at the moment it runs exclusively in Access. |
| CMS | Our website content management system uses an Access front-end, although the underlying tables are stored in SQL Server. |
We're not sure why Access is falling out of corporate favour - book a course with us to fight the power of IT departments, who want to control everything centrally!
Other Microsoft Access training resources
There are so many ways in which we can help you learn Access, as the impressive list below shows.
Try our Access exercises
You can have a look at any of our Access exercises online.
Access training venues
Here's where our Access courses run.
Access consultancy
We pride ourselves on create Access databases which are easy to use, but we're really just geeks at heart, as our consultancy service shows.
Blogs on Access
Here are the blogs we've written on things to with Microsoft Access.
Access courseware manuals
To help you decide if Wise Owl is the Access training company for you (!), you can download one of our Access courseware chapters.
Self-paced Access online training
Test your Access skills
See how well you know MS Access by doing one of these tests.