Admissions Blog

Undergraduate Admissions Uncensored

  • admissions.blog

Five Reasons to Choose to Study for a Higher National Diploma

Posted on January 6, 2023 by Alfie Donnan Leave a Comment

Beyond the age of 18, continuing in education becomes entirely voluntary. There are good reasons for and against. For many people, all they want to do when they leave school or college is get a job and gain the independence of earning for themselves. And besides, continuing your studies can be expensive.

On the other hand, higher education can give your career prospects a significant boost. The time and money you invest now can lead directly to higher earning potential further down the line. And depending on what you want to do for a career, you might have to gain further qualifications, anyway.

Deciding to carry on or return to education isn’t something to be done on a whim. You should be clear about the benefits. For many people, that means asking directly – how is this going to help me in terms of getting a job and progressing my career? In a very literal sense, what will the pay off be?

That’s why higher national diplomas (HNDs) are such a popular choice among people who  don’t see degree-level study as quite right for them (or at least, not right at that particular time). Rated as a Level 5 qualification on the UK’s Regulated Qualification Framework (RQF), a HND is only a step down from a bachelor’s degree (Level 6). Far from being a ‘soft’ option, a HND is an advanced and highly regarded qualification.

Just as importantly, a HND provides a genuine alternative to academic-focused degrees. Built around practical, hands-on learning and assessment, HNDs are not just ‘vocational’ in the sense that their subject matter links directly to a particular industry or career. Their entire purpose is to develop skills and aptitudes that are transferred directly to the workplace.

Here are five reasons why a HND might be the right choice for you.

Boost your chances of employment

If you’re a school or college leaver, a HND will significantly increase your chances of finding work. While there is nothing wrong with having A-Levels (or equivalent qualifications) on your CV, especially if you get good grades, higher qualifications make you stand out from the crowd. And with a vocational qualification like a HND, employers will know you already have skills they are looking for, and that you have developed them in practical, real-world scenarios, including through work experience.

Develop skills that will boost your opportunities in a chosen career

As well as giving you a head start in finding work, HNDs also help you make rapid progress in your chosen career. Again, it comes down to the fact that HNDs offer programmes of study that are directly linked to particular career paths and industries. The focus on practical skills and real-world application means you hit the ground running when you enter the workplace, allowing you to make a positive contribution from the off. Plus, you’re already primed to learn and develop in that particular environment, which helps you make rapid progress and show you are ready to take on more and more responsibilities.

Study as you work

You don’t have to take an HND before you enter a particular job role or profession for it to make a difference to your career prospects. HNDs are popular with people who are already in work and see a return to education as a means of helping them take the next step. As well as being vocationally relevant, skills-focused and hands-on, HND courses are also highly flexible. If you are working, you can easily study part time. Plus, you can use your experiences in your current role as part of the learning and assessment process, building a portfolio of achievement to help demonstrate your progress through the course.

Get a high level qualification even if you don’t feel a degree is right for you

It’s easy to get drawn into believing that bachelor’s degrees are the be all and end all of higher education. They certainly get the lion’s share of attention. But the idea that, if a degree isn’t right for you then higher education isn’t right for you, is more than inaccurate. It excludes tens of thousands of people from bettering themselves through continued study.

A HND is a rigorous, very well respected qualification. They suit people more than degrees for all sorts of reasons. We’ve already talked about the focus on practical learning and hands-on, work-related application. If your ambitions for taking a higher education are closely tied to a particular career path or preparing yourself for work, then a HND may well be a better option. Also, HND’s don’t have as strict entry requirements as degrees, providing an option for higher study even if you didn’t get the grades to get on a degree course.

Open the door to further study

Finally, choosing a HND keeps your options open. It’s great preparation for the world of work or for getting ahead in a particular career. But if you do want to continue in education beyond that, for example by completing a degree, you can do so. A HND counts as ‘two-thirds’ of a degree, and you have the option to complete that final third with a one-year ‘top-up’ course. 

Again, if you didn’t get the A-Level grades to jump straight onto a degree course, this means you still have a route available.

Subscribe to our mailing list

Trending Posts

Most and Least Popular Common App Essay Prompts

Brown’s Regular Decision Acceptance Rate Now 3.8%

Dear 10th Grader: Don’t Become An Ivy League Reject!

Now Open: Application for New UC Berkeley 4-Year Haas Business Program

Comparing Undergraduate Life at University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University

UNC Chapel Hill Releases 2023-2024 Supplemental Essay Prompts

Supreme Court Ends Affirmative Action and Upends Admissions Process for Top Colleges

Rice University adds new 500-word required essay to its application

Avoid Tuition Anxiety: Put Strong Merit Aid Colleges on Your List

First Impressions of Digital SAT

Columbia University’s 2023-2024 Supplemental Essay Prompts Announced

Building Your Best College List

The 5 Most Ridiculously Underrated Colleges in America

Princeton wants to learn about applicants’ “lived experiences”

NYU First Year Applications Spike 13%

5 Smart Summer Tips for Wise Rising Seniors

How to get into the Ivy League – Ethically

USC First-Year Applications Up 17%

Yale Releases 2023-2024 Supplemental Essay Prompts

Cornell University Releases 2023-2024 Supplemental Essay Prompts

College Application Completion Playlist: Top 20+ Tracks to Get Inspiration to Get Into College

12 Reasons Scattergrams Lull Students Into a False Sense of Security

Wesleyan University Ends Legacy Preferences in Admissions

Making the most of the summer before senior year

Northwestern Releases Regular Decisions, Class of 2027 Statistics

Top 5 Ways Applying to US Colleges is Different than Applying to UK Universities

You CAN apply Restrictive Early Action and Early Action under the right conditions

UNC and a tale of one – make that four – acceptance rates

The Perfect Gifts to Celebrate Getting Into College

Search Posts By Topic

  • 3 Year Degree (3)
  • Accommodations (2)
  • Admissions Policies (106)
  • Admissions Statistics (73)
  • Advice & Analysis (362)
  • Alabama (2)
  • Amherst (2)
  • AP (5)
  • Applications (78)
  • Applying from India (1)
  • Arizona (4)
  • ASU (1)
  • Austin College (1)
  • Baylor (1)
  • Berry College (1)
  • Boston University (3)
  • Bowdoin (1)
  • Brown (6)
  • Bryn Mawr (1)
  • Business (1)
  • BYU (1)
  • Caltech (3)
  • Canada (2)
  • Career and Technical Education (24)
  • Case Western (4)
  • China (1)
  • CMC (1)
  • Coalition (13)
  • Colby (3)
  • College Counselor (17)
  • College Fairs (5)
  • College Life (34)
  • College List (36)
  • College List Deathmatch (5)
  • College Visit (24)
  • Colorado School of Mines (1)
  • Columbia (7)
  • Common Application (37)
  • Community Colleges (4)
  • Cornell (4)
  • COVID-19 (8)
  • CSU (1)
  • CU Boulder (2)
  • Cybersecurity (1)
  • Dartmouth (5)
  • Davidson (1)
  • Demonstrated Interest (17)
  • DePaul (1)
  • Dickinson (1)
  • Direct Admissions (1)
  • Duke (2)
  • Early Action (35)
  • Early Decision (39)
  • Educational Consulting (1)
  • Emory (1)
  • Engineering (1)
  • Enrichment (13)
  • Environmental Science (1)
  • Essays (45)
  • Europe (6)
  • Exercise Science (1)
  • Exeter (1)
  • Extracurricular Activities (26)
  • Feature (2)
  • Financial Aid (23)
  • First Person (9)
  • Fly-In (1)
  • France (1)
  • FSU (1)
  • Gap Programs (2)
  • GED (1)
  • Georgetown (4)
  • Germany (2)
  • Gifts (3)
  • GPA (4)
  • Graduate School (3)
  • Hamilton (1)
  • Harvard (7)
  • High School (22)
  • Higher National Diplomas (1)
  • HiSET (1)
  • IB (4)
  • IEC (1)
  • IELTS (1)
  • Indiana (3)
  • International (9)
  • Internships (7)
  • Interviews (10)
  • Iowa (2)
  • Italy (2)
  • Ivy League (20)
  • JHU (3)
  • Kettering University (1)
  • Lafayette (1)
  • Law (1)
  • LD (1)
  • Lists & Rankings (3)
  • Majors (15)
  • Marketing (1)
  • Math (1)
  • Medicine (1)
  • Middlebury (1)
  • MIT (6)
  • Montana State University (1)
  • Naviance (2)
  • NCAA (3)
  • New Mexico State University (1)
  • News (89)
  • Northwestern (5)
  • Notification News (3)
  • Notre Dame (3)
  • Nursing (6)
  • NYU (3)
  • Of Note (5)
  • Ohio State (2)
  • Oklahoma (1)
  • Online Learning (3)
  • Open Admission (2)
  • Parents (7)
  • Penn (8)
  • Pharmacy (1)
  • Pitt (2)
  • Popular Posts (11)
  • Princeton (5)
  • Priority (2)
  • Professor of the Month (1)
  • PSU (3)
  • Public Universities (8)
  • Purdue (1)
  • Rankings (8)
  • Reader Questions (11)
  • Recommendations (8)
  • Regular (23)
  • Research (4)
  • Resume (17)
  • Rice (4)
  • Robotics (1)
  • Rochester (1)
  • ROI (3)
  • Rolling (5)
  • Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (1)
  • Santa Clara University (2)
  • Sewanee (1)
  • Skiing & Snowboarding (1)
  • SMU (1)
  • Social Work (3)
  • South America (2)
  • Southwestern (TX) (1)
  • Spotlight Series (1)
  • St. Edward's University (1)
  • St. John's College (1)
  • Standardized Tests (33)
  • Stanford (4)
  • STEM (1)
  • Stevens Institute of Technology (1)
  • Summer (17)
  • Swarthmore (1)
  • TASC (1)
  • Teacher Recommendations (7)
  • Temple (1)
  • Texas (3)
  • Texas A&M (1)
  • Ticker (23)
  • Trending Posts (42)
  • Trinity University (TX) (1)
  • Tufts (3)
  • Tuition (3)
  • Tulane (5)
  • UBC (1)
  • UC Berkeley (7)
  • UC Davis (1)
  • UC Santa Barbara (1)
  • UCAS (4)
  • UCLA (7)
  • UDub (1)
  • UF (3)
  • UGA (3)
  • UIUC (3)
  • UMass (1)
  • UMD (5)
  • UNC (2)
  • United Kingdom (6)
  • Universal College Application (1)
  • University of Chicago (2)
  • University of Dallas (1)
  • University of New Mexico (1)
  • University of Rochester (1)
  • University of Vermont (1)
  • USC (3)
  • UT Austin (1)
  • Utah (2)
  • UVA (7)
  • Vanderbilt (2)
  • Video Game Design (1)
  • Villanova (2)
  • Virtual Visit (1)
  • Wake Forest (1)
  • Wash U (7)
  • Wesleyan (1)
  • Williams (3)
  • Wisconsin (2)
  • Yale (12)
  • ZeeMee (1)

News Tips | Write for Us | Sponsored Posts
All content © 2023 | Admissions.Blog
Terms of Service | +1 410-526-2558

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in