DN Colleges Group
UCAS Code: PCD1 | Higher National Certificate - HNC
Entry requirements
A level
Typical grade profile indicated above. Grade profiles equivalent to 32 UCAS tariff points or above will be considered dependent upon Awarding Body entry requirements.
Access to HE Diploma (NI): 60%-65% overall in an Applied Science course and 60% in one science module.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Typical grade profile indicated above. Grade profiles equivalent to 32 UCAS tariff points or above will be considered dependent upon subject and Awarding Body entry requirements.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Typical grade profile indicated above. Grade profiles equivalent to 32 UCAS tariff points or above will be considered dependent upon subject and Awarding Body entry requirements.
Scottish Higher profiles equivalent to 32 UCAS tariff points or above will be considered dependent upon subject and Awarding Body entry requirements.
UCAS Tariff
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About this course
If you’re looking to progress into a career teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector, including sixth form and further education colleges, adult education and a wide range of other training and educational settings, then this course could be ideal for you. We welcome applicants with industrial skills and/or relevant academic qualifications and a passion for teaching and training others.
Why Lifelong Learning?
• Upon successful completion of this course, you’ll be eligible to proceed to gain Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status, following a process of professional formation through the Society for Education and Training. Your QTLS is the full professional status for teachers in the Lifelong Learning sector.
• During the course you’ll have the opportunity to develop the skills to play a full part in teaching and curriculum development.
• We know there’s no substitute for the classroom environment, so we’ll give you the opportunity to go on placement with one of our partnership institutions. On your placement you’ll be able to observe experienced teachers, gain practical hands-on experience and benefit from one-to-one mentoring to help develop the skills you’ll need to become an outstanding and effective teacher.
Upon successful completion of your postgraduate studies, progression onto the following programmes may be of interest:
Masters Education Studies
Upon successful completion of this course, you'll be eligible to proceed, following a process of professional formation through the Society for Education and Training to gain Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status. This is the full professional status for teachers in the Lifelong Learning Sector.
Modules
Level 4 Modules:
Fundamentals of Laboratory Techniques: Students will undertake chromatography, qualitative infrared spectroscopy, titration, quantitative spectroscopy, microscopy, aseptic technique and synthetic chemistry techniques.
Scientific Data Handling Approaches and Techniques: The students will develop their numerical abilities and increase their confidence in handling data in order to create information and knowledge.
Regulation and Quality in the Applied Sciences: This unit allows students to investigate legislative compliance, external regulatory bodies, internal regulatory and quality management systems and international standards.
Cell Biology: This unit will enable students to develop an appreciation of the cell as the basic unit of life.
Fundamentals of Chemistry: An understanding of the fundamentals of chemistry is an essential component of biological units such as biochemistry, pharmacology, food science, environmental science and materials science.
Anatomy and Human Physiology: The aim of this unit is to develop knowledge of the anatomy and biological systems of the human body and how they function.
Fundamentals of Biochemistry: This unit will introduce students to the biochemical building block molecules amino acids, monosaccharides, nucleotides and fatty acid.
Microbiological Techniques: This unit introduces students to the diverse world of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa.
Courses are continually reviewed to take advantage of new teaching approaches and developments in research, industry and the professions. Please be aware that modules may change for your year of entry. The exact modules available and their order may vary depending on course updates, staff availability, timetabling and student demand. Please contact the course team for the most up to date module list.
Assessment methods
Students are assessed using a range of different methods.
These include time constrained assignments, coursework, Project Based Learning, presentations, practical, posters, leaflets, role-play, and case studies.
This is dependent on the requirements of each unit of study. Oral, written and online feedback will be provided during your course to help improve and monitor performance.
Tuition fees
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What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Education
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Education studies
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
When you look at employment stats, bear in mind that a lot of students are already working in education when they take this type of course and are studying to help their career development. This means they already have jobs when they start their course, and a lot of graduates continue to study, whilst working, when they complete their courses. If your course is focused on nursery or early years education, a lot of these graduates go into nursery work or classroom or education assistant jobs; these jobs are not currently classed as 'graduate level' in the stats (although they may well be in the future as classifications catch up with changes in the way we work), and many graduates who enter these roles say that a degree was necessary.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Education studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£17k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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