As of 30th July 2025, cohort dates were removed from the iCanStudy program. This means new learners can commence with the program immediately upon checkout instead of waiting until the next cohort commencement date.
Background
Historically, intake for the iCanStudy program was timed to synchronous dates. This meant new learners joining before a cohort's start date would have to wait until the start date to gain access to the core program. At this point, their 4-month or yearly membership would start counting down.
This is similar to University programs where semesters start at the same time for all students.
The reason for this was to allow us to support each new wave of students with full attention and ensure correct expectations alignment and onboarding for new members. This was especially important for us as a small team trying to support a rapidly growing learner base through a topic as complicated as learning to learn.
Why remove synchronous cohorts?
Cohort dates were originally utilised in alignment with the strategies most Universities and professional training programs use to coordinate support and onboarding of new learners.
However, after evaluating the benefit compared to the inconvenience for our learners, we identified that alternative, asynchronous methods of support and onboarding provided a higher quality experience. Feedback we received from some of our customers reflected this sentiment.
Therefore, to avoid unnecessary delays and confusion around start dates, while improving the quality of experience, the decision to remove cohort dates was implemented.
Implications for new and existing members
The transition from cohort-timed dates to instant access is seamless. Existing users are not affected in any way. Membership durations and access remains the same. New lessons created for the new onboarding are freely available to existing members also.
For new learners, access is granted upon successful checkout. Outdated and irrelevant content referring to cohort dates is also removed or hidden. The level of support you can expect is the same. The only change is that you can start immediately instead of waiting until a later date.