I got it all working at last, normally an easier way than can be seen sometimes. I used javascript to check and validate the fields before the form page can be sent. I put the .js file on the server which means even if the user has no .js enabled the server-side will take over.

I thank-you all for your imense input with me on this one.

Now the form behaves on submit and the user is taken back to the missing fields that have to be filled in and the blank fields that are not filled in I have used value = " " which inserts a blank space in any field I do not have validation applied too in the form.

Working through tutorials on MySQL and php now. Also looking at form processing.