Is a certHE useless if I get a medical degree?

So I am a first year undergrad studying science. I got an offer for medicine from a different university to my current one. I want to drop out to pursue the medical degree.

If I drop out now (term 2) I only have to pay half the yearly fees, so that’s around £4500. If I drop out in term 3 I get an exam transcript and a certificate of higher education, or a “ Professional Certificate of Education, which is an interim award”, but I will need to pay the full £9250.

I am planning on intercalating at medical school so I will have a full BSc anyway, so I am unsure if having the certHE adds anything? Should I just drop out and get a job or finish the year?

Congratulations on your offer. Re: the CHE, it merely ratifies your time spent. It’s an exit qualification but it doesn’t really qualify you for much. Check that the terms of your offer don’t require you to have completed that year but if they don’t and you’re free and clear to exit without completing, in my view you’d probably be better off spending the time preparing financially for starting medical school or getting some experience.

Your thread title refers to a CertHE, but your university seems to be offering a "Professional Certificate of Education" -- so which is it? I've heard about the CertHE (which, if a university's regulations permit its award, reflects successful completion of 120 credits at level 4), but I've not come across a "Professional Certificate of Education". Is this something that would be recognised by other universities/employers?

I assume you'd need to pay the full £9250 as you'd need to complete the academic year and any assessments to be awarded a CertHE. Or maybe what they're saying is that they can award this "Professional Certificate of Education" if you complete the teaching but not the remainder of the assessments -- so this latter award would be inferior to the CertHE.


If I was in this situation, I might look at it like this: if I'm doing OK in this first year, it would make sense to complete the year plus the assessments and get a recognised qualification (the CertHE) out of it. If it turns out that changing to medicine was a bad idea, I've still got a completed first year of a science degree and maybe I can use that to restart that course going into the second year. On the other hand, if I really didn't get on with the first year of my present course, and am likely to fail it, then it would make sense to cut my losses and drop out sooner rather than later.

They said professional certificate but I’m sure they mean a CertHE. I’ve got firsts in everything so far so I’d pass, but is it really worth the extra £4,000? I’ve done sooo much research and experience/shadowing so I have a realistic view of medicine, it’s unlikely I will change my mind. If I drop out they said I can’t resume the same course anyway, so I’m unsure. I will only stay I think if the CertHE improves my CV enough to justify the costs. Which I am unsure of as I will have a BSc and MBBS degree (hopefully) if all goes to plan anyway?