There are so many different types and levels of qualification that you can study after you finish school and college. While the standard bachelor’s degree is the one that gets the most attention, it’s not your only post-18 option. Despite this, students will often not be aware of all the different kinds of qualifications out there even they don’t want to do a bachelor’s degree.
In this article, we’re bringing awareness to one of these higher education qualifications that you might not have heard of, the DipHE.
In short, a DipHE is an abbreviation of diploma of higher education. This is a level 5 academic qualification that can be studied at universities, higher education colleges or other higher education providers. These courses last two years if studied full time and can be studied in a wide range of subjects.
While above has given you a short introduction to what a CertHE is, the rest of this article will dive into this topic in much more detail, allowing you to better understand what these qualifications actually are and how they compare to other qualifications.
Table of Contents
What is a DipHE?
In the UK, a DipHE is the abbreviated form of the qualification officially known as a diploma of higher education. These are academic qualifications that can be studied in a wide range of different subjects. While academic, they tend to be rather specific to a certain field and allow you to develop the professional skills you need for this area.
As the name suggests, this qualification is a form of higher education. This means that it is more advanced than qualifications at level 3, such as A-Levels or BTEC Nationals, that you may have studied. To learn more about this, have a look at this Think Student article.
A diploma of higher education is a level 5 qualification. This means that it is two levels above A-Levels and at the same level as over level 5 qualification that we’ll look into later on in the article.
DipHEs will typically be taught at universities, higher education colleges or some other kind of higher education provider. The entire diploma of higher education course will typically last 2 years if studied full-time and longer if studied part-time. These courses are worth 240 credits in total.
You can learn more about diplomas of higher education by checking out this article by Uni Compare.
Is a DipHE the same as a HND?
A diploma of education can easily be mixed up with other qualifications that sound similar. This is particularly the higher national diploma qualification also known as a HND.
A diploma of higher education and a higher national diploma are not the same thing. However, they are incredibly similar qualifications.
First, let’s go through what the HND qualification actually is.
A HND is a vocational level 5 qualification. This means that it also a form of higher education but that it is very practical based and is aimed at directly preparing students for work.
HNDs will generally take two years to study full-time. You can learn more about them by checking out this Think Student article.
As we’ve looked at what HNDs are, we can now look out what the similarities and difference between HNDs and DipHEs are.
Let’s start with the similarities! Look at the following list to see the similarities between diplomas of higher education and higher national diplomas.
- Both DipHEs and HNDs are level 5 qualifications.
- Both DipHEs and HNDs take 2 years to complete if studied full-time.
- Both DipHEs and HNDs are forms of higher education.
- Both DipHEs and HNDs can be studied in a wide range of different subjects.
As we can see, DipHEs and HNDs are very similar qualifications. However, there are still some differences between them, which you can see in the following list.
- While DipHEs are academic qualifications, HNDs are vocational. This means that DipHEs give a broader foundation in the subject and that HNDs are much more practical and use work-based learning.
- Due to this, DipHEs and HNDs also differ in assessment. DipHEs use coursework, exams and essays, whereas HNDs are likely to have projects and some kind of practical exam.
- While DipHEs can be studied at university, HNDs will typically be studied at higher education colleges.
You can learn more about the difference between HNDs and DipHEs by checking out this article from City of Glasgow College as well as this article from Uni Compare. For more details about HNDs, you can have a look at this article by Prospects.
DipHE vs CertHE
Another qualification that some may get mixed up with a DipHE is a CertHE. The CertHE even has a very similar abbreviated form to that of the diploma of higher education leading to even more confusion.
CertHE stands for certificate of higher education. It is a level 4 qualification and once again is a form of higher education.
The CertHE qualification will typically last a year if studied full-time and the will generally last about two years if studied on a part-time basis. It is also worth 120 credits in total.
If you would like to learn more about certificates of higher education, have a look at this Think Student article.
The certificate of higher education and the diploma of higher education are very similar qualifications, although there are several fundamental differences between these. Have a look at the following list to see the main differences between these two qualifications.
- The DipHE is at a higher level than the CertHE. The DipHE is a level 5 qualification, while the CertHE is only a level 4 qualification. This means that you could “top up” to a DipHE after doing a CertHE.
- The DipHE will typically take two years to study full-time, whereas the CertHE will only take one.
- The DipHE is worth 240 credits, whereas the CertHE is only worth 120 credits.
As you can see from this comparison, there are several fundamental differences between these qualifications. These differences primarily stem from the fact that the DipHE is the next level up from a CertHE.
Other than this, these two qualifications are virtually the same, just operating at two different levels. Some of the similarities between the courses are as follows.
- Both the DipHE and the CertHE are academic qualifications that can be studied at university.
- Both the DipHE and CertHE are forms of higher education.
- Both the DipHE and CertHE will have similar kinds of assessment and can be done in similar subjects.
You can learn more about this by checking out this article by Middlesex University London.
What is a DipHE equivalent to?
We’ve now looked at what a diploma of higher education is and two qualifications that it is similar to whether by level or qualification type. Now, let’s look at what a DipHE is actually equivalent to.
Equivalency comes in several ways. We can look at other qualifications at the exact same level as it, in this case other level 5 qualification. However, we can look at it in terms of a more advanced qualification and see how it compares.
First of all, let’s see which other qualifications are at level 5 in the national qualification levels or at level 8 in the SCQF levels. Look at the following list to see examples of level 5/ level 8 qualifications.
- Higher national diploma (HND)
- Foundation degree
- Level 5 higher apprenticeships
- Level 5 technical apprenticeships
- Level 5 NVQs and SVQs
- Level 5 BTEC qualifications
You can learn more about the UK qualification levels by checking out this Think Student article.
As previously mentioned, we can look at its equivalency by looking at another qualification, in this case, a bachelor’s degree.
In the UK, a bachelor’s degree is a level 6 qualification or a level 9/ 10 qualification in Scotland depending on if it has honours or not. Considering that the typical bachelor’s degree lasts three years if studied full-time and is just one level up from a DipHE, a DipHE is worth the first two years of a bachelor’s degree.
This means that you might be able to top up your DipHE into a full bachelor’s degree by only completing the final year of study as long as your course is similar to the degree. How this exactly works will depend on each university so it’s best to look at their policies for more details.
In the same way, if you start a bachelor’s degree and complete the first two years but are unable to finish the last, you might be able to still get a qualification, such as a DipHE out of it.
You can learn more about top up degrees by checking out this Think Student article.