What is BTEC HNC?
In the United Kingdom, BTEC HNC is a higher education qualification at Level 4, which is provided after completion of a one-year full time work-related or vocational study course.
BTEC Higher National Certificate qualifications are delivered at both universities and colleges in around 60 countries in the world. These courses are an ideal choice for those who are seeking for an affordable and relevant route to a degree or employment.
In the UK, every year around 1,000,000 students, including international students, apply study for a Higher National Certificate or Higher National Diploma course that can help them enhance their career. When this course is pursued as a part-time one, it takes around two-year to complete. Most of the HNC courses cover the same subjects as an HND, but still, HNC is considered to be one level lower than an HND.
What are the benefits of completing a BTEC HNC course?
Holding a Higher National Certificate proves to be beneficial in many aspects, such as:
- Improvement in career prospects: The HNC courses provide you with more practical knowledge than other similar courses as they let you learn by doing. It means more experience and knowledge, and that is exactly what the employees are looking for.
- Flexibility: Flexibility is one of the main benefits of HNC courses. These courses are available in both full-time as well as part-time. If in case you have time restrictions to proceed with this course studies, you can choose the part-time option to finish off the course. Both, the full time and part time courses, have the same values, and you can select either of them depending on your flexibility.
- Stepping Stone: For any further studies, HNC is the step-up stone. It allows you to enrol for higher, level 5 courses, depending on your interest and future plans.
- Affordability: HNC courses are cheaper than the regular degree courses.
Entry Requirement for HNC course
The main entry requirements for HNC course are as follows:
- GCSE English and Maths at grade 9-4 (grade A-C)
- Related Level 3 qualification that could be an Access to Higher Education Certificate
- At least one A-level in a relevant subject at grade A-C or more than one A-level at grade A-E
- Work experience a related field
Who are HNC courses ideal for?
The HNC courses are available in a wide range of areas such as Business Marketing, Business Accounting and Finance, Hospitality Management, Health and Social Care, Healthcare Management, and many more. Apart from being a standalone qualification, this course is also for those who wish to further progress onto the 2nd year of a university degree course.
In terms of the course content, the qualification comprises a minimum of 120 credits, out of which 75 credits are mandatory core. Each program contains a minimum of 65 credits at level 4. The mandatory core units for the HNC Business Marketing course are as follows:
- Business and the Business environment at level 4 and with 15 credits
- Marketing Essentials at Level 4 and with 15 credits
- Human Resource Management at Level 4 and with 15 credits
- Management and Operations at Level 4 and with 15 credits
- Management Accounting at Level 4 and with 15 credits
- Managing a Successful Business Project at Level 4 and with 15 credits
Other units, such as Entrepreneurship and Small Business Enterprise or Business Law are optional.
Study Mode Followed in BTEC HNC
The way of delivering the curriculum throughout the course includes formal lectures, presentations, group activities, speeches from the guest speakers, business trips, video presentations and a range of other interactive methods. An HNC course consists of 1200 hours of total studying time, which is considered reasonably expected for a leaner to achieve the qualification.
480 hours (40% of the time) is spent at college in lectures and workshops, while the remaining 60% (720 hours) will should be devoted to completing the independent study such as completing an assignment, working at home or in the LRC.
