A checklist to run through before choosing an internet safety course

Before you look at any course, spend ten minutes noticing your own habits. Open a notebook and write down which accounts you use in a normal week: email, banking, a pharmacy portal, a photo-sharing site, perhaps a shopping account. Most adults are surprised by how long that list turns out to be, and every item on it holds some personal detail worth protecting.

Next to each account, note how you sign in. Do you type a password from memory, reuse one you like, or keep a paper list in a drawer? None of these answers is a failure. They simply show where a lesson on passwords would be useful and where you might already be in good shape.

I ask every new learner to do this exercise first, because a course makes far more sense when you arrive with real accounts and real worries in mind rather than a vague sense that you ought to be more careful.

If someone else helps you with technology, such as a grandchild or a neighbour, write that down too. Knowing who you can call matters as much as any skill.

• List every account you used in the past week
• Note how you sign in to each one
• Write down who you ask when something goes wrong

Think back to the last message that made you pause. Maybe it claimed to be from your bank, a delivery company or a government office, and asked you to click a link or confirm a number. How did you decide what to do? Many people simply guess, and guessing is exactly the habit a good safety course should replace with a calm routine.

A useful self-check is whether you can name two or three things that make a message look wrong: an urgent deadline, a greeting that does not use your name, a sender address that does not quite match the organisation, or a request for details the real sender would never ask for by email.

If you can name a few of these already, you have a foundation to build on. If you cannot, that is a clear sign that spotting scam emails should be near the top of what you want to learn.

Notice too whether you tend to click first and think afterward. Slowing that reflex down is a skill, and it can be practised like any other.

• Can you name three signs of a scam email?
• Do you know how to check a sender without clicking?
• Do you pause before opening links or attachments?

Passwords are the part of online safety people feel most embarrassed about, so be kind to yourself here. Ask a few plain questions. Is the same password used on more than one account? Does it include a pet's name, a birthday or a street you lived on? Could a family member guess it in a few tries?

If the answer to any of these is yes, you are in very large company. The point of checking is not to feel bad but to decide what you need. Some learners want a simple method for building a long password they can remember; others want to understand what a password manager does and whether it suits them.

Also consider what happens when you forget a password. If the answer is that you reset it every time, you are probably relying on your email account as the key to everything, which makes protecting that one account especially important.

A course that treats this gently, with time to practise on your own devices, will help far more than a page of rules to memorise.

• Is any password reused across accounts?
• Would a relative be able to guess it?
• Which single account would cause the most trouble if lost?

Safety advice can feel endless, so it helps to rank your worries. For some people the biggest concern is money: online banking, card details, or paying for things on a website. For others it is privacy, such as photos, messages and health information, or a fear of a stranger pretending to be a relative on the phone or in a message.

Pick the one or two worries that keep you up at night and let those guide your choice. A course that spends most of its time on topics you rarely meet will feel like a poor fit, however well it is made.

In Internet Safety Essentials we cover scam emails, strong passwords and protecting accounts and personal details, and the order we teach them in is meant to follow the worries learners bring us most often.

Whatever you choose, make sure the outline names the situations you care about in plain words, not just technical terms you would have to look up.

• Money and banking
• Photos, messages and privacy
• Fake messages claiming to be from family

Once you know your own starting point, look at the course with a few practical questions. Does the description say who it is for and what you should already be able to do? Are the lessons short enough to finish in one sitting without feeling rushed? Is there time to repeat an exercise, or does everything move on after a single pass?

Check the pace as well. A beginner-friendly course should explain terms as they appear and never assume you know what a browser or an attachment is. Look for lessons built around real situations, like examining a message you might actually receive, rather than abstract warnings.

Be wary of any promise that you will become completely safe online, because nobody can honestly offer that. A fair outcome is that you feel steadier, notice more, and know what to do when something looks off.

Finally, read the price and refund terms before you decide, so there are no surprises afterward.

• Is the starting level clearly stated?
• Are lessons short and repeatable?
• Are price and refund terms easy to find?

With your notes in hand, the choice is usually clearer than it seemed. If your list showed shaky passwords and a habit of clicking quickly, a safety course is a sensible next step. If you feel you are not yet comfortable with a computer in general, it may be kinder to begin with the basics first and return to safety afterward.

There is no deadline and no reason to rush. Take a few days, look at the curriculum page, and try the free quiz if you want a gentler read on where you stand.

If a question remains, write to us through the contact page and we will answer plainly. It is far better to ask than to enrol in something that does not match what you need.

Many learners tell us the checklist alone made them more careful before they had finished a single lesson, which is a good sign the habit is already forming.