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Self paced learning (SPL), an alternative to face-to-face teaching, seen as being advantageous to students and their employers as well as being less-resource intensive, is becoming an increasingly common method of teaching in vocational education and training (VET). This article looks at SPL from a student viewpoint and is based on qualitative research examining experiences of SPL in Office Administration subjects of students from a non English speaking background or who have no regular access to computers. The paper provides information on the participants' impressions of SPL, the advantages of SPL and the challenges experienced by the students. The findings indicate that although the majority of students showed enthusiasm for this mode of study, many students find this type of learning difficult. This was because of the inability of teachers to give adequate individual support and the lack of suitable preparation courses for students entering SPL for the first time. The authors suggest that these issues can be addressed by injecting further resources but that this would make SPL less attractive to VET providers who see it as a cost effective method of training.