Excel VBA Training in the UK

[papous]

Hello everyone!

I don't know if this is the right place to post this thread, so don't get me wrong if it is not!

I have been using VBA for about a month now and learned quite a bit but i would like a proper training session.
Do you know where i should go in the UK? i looked it up on the internet and found hundrends of companies that offer VBA training but i just don't know which one to trust!

Any help?

Thanks!

 

[Colin Legg]

Hi,

All the Excel VBA'ers I know are (as far as I'm aware) self-taught. I'm not an exception to this rule so I can't recommend a course based on my own experience.

My advice is to get some projects under your belt. As you're working through them post questions on the public forums such as MrExcel to see what other people would do (not the entire project - small bits of it at a time!). While you're posting your question there have a look at other people's threads and try to answer them. If you come up with a good answer then great - if someone else comes up with a better answer then you can learn from it.

Investing in a good Excel VBA book will also be a help. I'm a bit out of touch with beginner books, but John Walkenbach's Power Programming seems to be highly rated. Check around the net for reviews on other books and make sure that the book you buy is at the right level for you. You should be able to get one pretty cheaply if it's second hand.

Also, don't stop learning about the main Excel interface, formulas etc... The better you are with Excel, the easier it will be for you decide when VBA is the better option and how to use it well.

 

[London_Calling]

Are you in, or close to, London?

 

[Derek Brown]

I would recommend "Excel VBA and Macros with MrExcel" in the "livelessons" video series.
Find out more at:
http://www.informit.com/promotions/promotion.aspx?promo=135366

You may get it cheaper and quicker at Amazon.co.uk

50 lessons on DVD with example files. More than 7 hours of viewing.
Better than a course as you can view a lesson time and time again and cover all the lessons at your own pace. It will be less expensive than a training course.

The video is for Excel 2007 but much of the VBA will be the same for earlier versions. You can also buy Bill's book on the same subject (there are Excel 2003 and 2007 versions).

 

[Domski]

I'd agree with Colin and not waste your money on a course. I know a couple of popel who've done them and have been very disappointed.

A good book will explain the basics to you and then after that it's up to you how much you want to progress.

As with all things Excel no one book or help topic will cover everything that is possible. I would recommend looking out for solutions here that some of the VBA gurus come up with and start your own code library that you can refer to for tips and techniques (something I'm only doing now, probably a couple of years too late).

All the best.

Dom

 

[London_Calling]

Ok, I see from his location line papous is in London.

Fwiw, I found no matter how much I wanted to think self-learning would be fine I was actually better suited to a classroom enviroment. Partly the way I've always learned, partly the motivation, partly a little camerardie. In the end I plumped for these evening courses at City Uni - 10 weeks long, 2 hours a week, just over £300 a pop. There are three courses at different levels:

http://www.city.ac.uk/cae/cfa/computing/microsoft_office/vba_excel.html
http://www.city.ac.uk/cae/cfa/computing/microsoft_office/vba_excel_2.html

They may or may not suit you but, for me, they've been perfect.