New advanced diplomas
Advanced diplomas are new qualifications which combine practical learning with academic study
All advanced diplomas involve working with employers, so you'll have real work experience and will have learned in different environments, focusing on practical activities.
At the end of it, you'll be equipped with skills, knowledge and experience that will allow you to move on to a university qualification.
Why go to university?
- Study your subject in more depth
- Get qualifications that will help you build your career (for example you'll be expected to have a degree for more highly paid jobs in management)
- Learn to be independent and live on your own
- Meet people from different backgrounds and cultures, make new friends and socialise.
What can you study after your advanced diploma?
You may want to continue studying a vocational subject that you've taken your advanced diploma in, eg:
- Business, Administration and Finance
- Beauty, Spa or Hairdressing
- Construction and Built Environment
- Creative and Media
- Engineering
- Hospitality and Catering
- Humanities
- Information and Technology
- Land Based and Environmental
- Manufacturing and Product Design
- Public Services
- Retail
- Science
- Sport and Leisure
- Society, Health and Development
- Travel and Tourism
Or you may want to take a different subject altogether* or a more general subject*.
You can also combine subjects for a joint honours degree.
Types of courses
Foundation degrees/HNDs (usually two years)
To get onto one of these, you'd need the progression diploma part of your advanced diploma.
Bachelors/honours degrees (usually three years)
To get onto one of these, we recommend you take the full advanced diploma. This means you'll have done some additional or specialist learning as part of the qualification, such as A level Biology.
We also think it's a really good idea to take the extended project part, because you'll be more prepared for university level study.
*For some degrees, you'll need specific subject knowledge. For example, if you wanted to study Biology at degree level, you'd need to take an extra qualification with your diploma that had a lot of Biology in it.
