What is HND Course?
Higher National education qualifications in the UK are known as HND and they are offered in many other countries, such as India, Malta, Argentina, Nigeria, and Ghana. HND course are as good as vocational ones. They take around two years to complete when studied on a full-time basis, and 4 years, when studied part-time.
With HND qualifications, you can seek employment in business and finance, graphic design, civil engineering, and other management roles. You will develop hands-on experience, hence, your candidature will be given more value by the employers.
Is ‘top-up’ possible with an HND degree?
Most of the students who pursue the HND course continue their studies by enrolling for the last year of a Bachelor’s Degree programme.
It depends entirely on you to decide whether you would like to opt for topping up your Higher National qualifications. HND can help you get enrolled in multiple other roles directly, but a graduate degree is essential to even apply for jobs of Bachelor’s level. Therefore, an increasing number of graduates of HND opt for top-up their qualification.
Will the HND course allows me to do a Master’s Degree, and can I get enough funding to pursue higher education?
To pursue a Master’s Degree, you will require a full-time graduate degree. With a Higher National Diploma, you must know there will be ample opportunities for you; however, you need to check the entry requirements for the course due to limited offers.
For instance, if you would like to enter the teaching profession, a full-time graduate degree is required to get yourself enrolled in the PGCE course, which stands for Postgraduate Certificate in Education. If you’d like to apply for KPMG, BT, or Civil Services, it is essential to top up your HND course. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule, such as
National Air Traffic Services. The government funding is allowed for HND course graduates, who wish to top up their HND to degree levels. Educational institutes are quite helpful as they can offer you grants and scholarships depending on the circumstance.
After the completion of HND and acquiring the required qualification, one will be awarded the Merit Certification, after which one can quickly get himself enrolled to the Bachelor’s degree final year. The choice of the university where you pursue your further studies is yours – it may, but does not have to be the same school where you obtained your HND.
What type of jobs I can get after completing my HND course?
According to reports from an agency of Higher Education different types of jobs were taken up by HND course graduates. The retail industry offered jobs to around 15% of the HND graduates, while 14% were engaged in engineering jobs, and the technology sector provided jobs to approximately 11% of the students.
Some HND applicants choose business courses, while some others opt for computer science. The demand for studying electronics and electrical engineering is on the rise, and for many, it is hospitality and tourism as their primary subjects.
The HND graduates can work in different profiles, and they play different roles within companies, starting from professional to managerial jobs. The HND graduates can find employment in industries and play a wide range of functions such as engineer and technical, ship and hovercraft professionals, teachers, designers and development engineers, programmers, software developers, coaches and instructors, electrical engineers, and electronics professionals, welfare professionals, and many other.
HNDs are vocational courses, hence, one may explore several opportunities. Many students work as well as they study, they get a chance to improve their skills that employers are looking for, and they also make many new contacts, thus making the process of their job search easier.
An HND course can help a student to enhance the chances of improving his experience and knowledge.
