One has to begin somewhere and this little palette seemed to have everything to suit a beginner.  

Not only does it come as a great little beginner’s palette, it actually is easily expandable to accomodate some future purchases . . .

An hour or so of tinkering, sanding, cutting and grinding with a Dremel and you soon have space for an extra 6 half pans.

You could also take any two out and replace them with a full pan to suit your needs.   Or give all the Cotman colours to a child to enjoy and replace them with whatever professional pans you want to use instead.