Home / Non-Accredited / Microsoft Office & Computer Skills / Microsoft Access Beginners (1 day)
Quick Look Course Summary:Microsoft Access Beginners (1 day)
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Length: 1 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 5,654 EX VAT 3 Person R 3,982 EX VAT 10 Person R 2,954 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
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Microsoft Access Beginners (1 day)
By the end of the day each delegate has built a small working Access database – tables, relationships, queries, a data-entry form and a printed report – and can do it again at work.
Most organisations keep at least one register that has outgrown a spreadsheet: the training records in HR, the asset list in facilities, the customer contacts in sales. Several people update it, versions multiply, and nobody trusts the totals. This one-day Microsoft Access course shows beginners how to move that information into a proper database – stored once, linked properly and reported on in seconds.
The day is built around one working example. Delegates design the tables and choose the right data types, link them with relationships, bring in a list from Excel, and then build queries that answer real questions: who has not attended induction, which branch spent the most, which vehicles are due for service. They finish with a data-entry form and a grouped, totalled report, and learn how to back up and protect what they have built.
Everything is hands-on at a computer, with South African workplace examples and a BOTI workbook to take away. By the end of the day each delegate has a small working database and the confidence to read and improve the Access databases already in use at work.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Registers that reconcile – every employee, asset or customer stored once instead of in five spreadsheets
- Reports and lists produced in minutes with a saved query instead of a day of copying and pasting
- Cleaner data capture: forms with validation rules stop the wrong value going in
- Less dependence on the one person who understands the department's database
- A working database the delegate takes back to the office on the day
For your delegates
- A clear picture of how tables, relationships, queries, forms and reports fit together
- A small working database built during the day, step by step
- Confidence to open an existing Access database and understand how it works
- A way of thinking about related data that also helps in Excel and Power BI
What delegates will be able to do
- Explain when a relational database is the right tool and how tables, queries, forms and reports work together
- Create a new database from scratch or from a template and find their way around the Navigation Pane
- Design tables with sensible data types, primary keys, default values, validation rules and input masks
- Link tables with one-to-many relationships and enforce referential integrity
- Import a list from Excel into a table and keep the records clean with find, sort and filter
- Build select, multi-table, parameter, totals and crosstab queries, and use action queries with care
- Create forms and sub-forms for quick, accurate data capture, and set a navigation form to open at start-up
- Produce grouped and totalled reports and export them to PDF or Excel
- Compact, repair, back up and password-protect a database
Who should attend
Administrators, coordinators, HR and training officers, stock and asset controllers, fleet clerks, finance and admin staff, and anyone whose lists and registers have outgrown Excel. No previous Access experience is needed; delegates should be comfortable with Windows and basic Excel. People who inherited an Access database at work and need to understand it also fit well.
Course outline
Day 1 – From spreadsheet to working database
Database concepts and your first database
- When a spreadsheet stops working and a database takes over
- Tables, queries, forms and reports – what each one does and how they connect
- Starting a blank desktop database, or starting from a template
- Getting around: the ribbon, the Navigation Pane and switching between views
- Deleting, renaming and describing database objects
- The sample register every delegate builds during the day
Building tables that hold clean data
- Creating a table in Datasheet view and in Design view
- Choosing data types: short text, number, currency, date and time, yes/no, AutoNumber
- Field properties: size, caption, required and default values
- Validation rules and input masks for ID numbers, phone numbers and postal codes
- Bringing in a list from Excel, and linking to data that stays outside Access
- Adding, editing and deleting records; find and replace; sorting and filtering
- Hiding fields, adding a totals row and tidying the datasheet
Relationships between tables
- Why each fact is stored once: employees in one table, their course attendances in another
- Primary keys and foreign keys
- Building one-to-many relationships in the Relationships window
- Enforcing referential integrity and what it prevents
- Reading the relationship diagram of an existing database
Queries that answer questions
- Select queries in the query designer: choosing fields, criteria and sort order
- Criteria with wildcards, dates, AND and OR
- Queries across more than one table
- Calculated fields, including VAT and totals per line
- Grouping and summarising: counts per course, totals per branch
- Parameter queries that ask for a branch or a month when they run
- Crosstab queries for a month-by-branch summary
- Update, append and delete queries – and backing up before you run them
Forms for fast, accurate data entry
- Creating a form with the Form tool and the Form Wizard
- Layout view and Design view: moving, adding and removing controls
- Labels, control properties and tab order
- A sub-form that shows an employee's attendances on the same screen
- Themes, headers and footers, a company logo and a background
- Sorting records within a form and setting print options
- A navigation form that opens when the database starts
Reports, printing and looking after the database
- Reports from a table or a query, with the Report Wizard and in Design view
- Grouping, sorting and totals; calculated fields on a report
- Columns, orientation, headers and footers, page numbers and images
- Printing reports and records; exporting to PDF, Excel and Word
- Compacting and repairing; backing up and recovering data
- Splitting a database for several users and encrypting it with a password
- Saving your database as a template for the next register
How it is delivered
One day, 08:30-16:00. In person at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online. One delegate or a group of up to 20, each at their own Windows computer with Microsoft Access installed (Microsoft 365, or Access 2019 or 2021; Access runs on Windows only). Laptops with the software can be supplied on request. Workbook, exercise files and the sample database included. We deliver it at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and anywhere else in South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online for teams in different places.
What our clients say
“We were particularly impressed by the quality of facilitation and the practical relevance of the content presented. The programme was delivered with professionalism, clarity, and a strong emphasis on real-world application.”
“The facilitator effectively encouraged participation and used practical examples, discussions and interactive activities to ensure that the concepts were understood and could be applied in the workplace.”
“Business Optimization Training Institute facilitated Microsoft Excel Training for our company. The course was efficiently scheduled and planned around our timetable. We were impressed by the quality of training.”
Frequently asked questions
Do delegates need any Access experience?
No. They should be comfortable with Windows and basic Excel – typing into cells, sorting a list, saving a file. The facilitator sets the pace for beginners.
Can you run this course at our offices?
Yes. Most groups are trained at the client's premises anywhere in South Africa; we can also host it at a BOTI venue or deliver it live online. Laptops with the software can be supplied on request.
How many people can attend?
From one delegate to groups of about 20, each at their own computer. The price per delegate drops as the group grows – see the price table, or ask us for a quote.
Is it accredited?
No – it is a non-accredited short course and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance. If you need an accredited route, ask us about BOTI's End User Computing skills programmes (QCTO accreditation pending).
Which version of Access do you teach, and does it run on a Mac?
We teach Access in Microsoft 365; almost everything also applies to Access 2019 and 2021. Access is a Windows program and does not run on a Mac.
What comes next?
Microsoft Access Advanced (2 days) covers advanced queries, form and report design, macros, splitting and securing a multi-user database. Delegates can also bring their own database to the course and build it with the facilitator's help.
Related courses
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