I finished mine a year ago and itis a really good course, I’m now at university studying Computer Science,obviously the units will differ but generally it is all very enjoyable andrewarding if you are passionate about technology and working in the IT sector.
If you are doing the IT (Software dev) pathway there willbe a strong focus on programming and software engineering, programming isactually writing the code and software engineering is more on the design,the processes, how it works in industry and the life cycles of applications.
You will probably do at least 2 out of the 3 programming modules which are ‘Object-Oriented’, ‘Event-driven’and ‘Procedural’ programming, i found these the most enjoyable units on thecourse and they really do prepare you well for either a degree with high programming content or for a career as a software engineer you will be creating applications and problem solutions in a scenario that you are working as a Software Engineer for a fictitious company. you will also take 'software design and development' which gives you an introduction to the main programming paradigms, development methodologies and the general SW development life cycle, you will probably also take 'Systems Analysis and Design'which is very similar but teaches more complex content about choice of methodologies, Agile methods/processes and i believe that you will have to evaluate and discuss the design, analysis and potential implementation of a fictitious software development project.
You will also take the 3 core units which are '1. Communication and Employability for IT','2. Computer Systems' and '3. Information Systems' these units are quite straight forward, unit 1 will generally be about the importance of good communication in the workplace, researching different learning styles,developing good interpersonal skills, giving presentations etc. unit 2 will give you an introduction into basic computer components, operating systems, performance, upgrades, configurations and software utilities also if you take unit 19 computer systems architecture - it is quite similar but a lot more complex, it focusses on the hardware at a much lower level, how the components communicate, logic gates, processor design and you will learn a lot about the maths that drives computing systems and that is a really useful unit to do,. and unit 3 is about systems used for business purposes like MIS (management info systems), CMS (customer/client management systems), using information to support business decisions and generating accurate quantitative data to support these decisions.
In terms of progression, the course is equivalent to 3 A levels where a Pass grade = an E, a Merit = a C, a Distinction = an A and a D* = an A* at A level, you will get a combination of 3 of these grades as the Extended diploma is worth 3 A level for example the highest grade is D*D*D* which is equivalent to A*A*A* at A level and holds 420 UCAS tariff points (that’s what I got in mine). And it is widely accepted by universities for entry onto BSc degrees in Computing, Computer Science, IT,Software Engineering, Information Systems Management, Computer Engineering etc.It is also a well-respected qualification in industry and could be used to get onto a higher apprenticeship or sponsored degree programme at a big IT company like Capgemini, CGI (Logica) or IBM.
Hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions youmay have