The Student Room Group

Study at the same level?

My son has completed a part time 1 year 60 credit certificate course with Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education. He is hoping to complete a second part time 60 credit certificate course with them to complete the equivalent of a first year of a degree - the equivalent of a Certificate of Higher Education I believe. Is he able to apply for student finance for the second certificate course, as it would give him the equivalent of a Certificate of Higher Education or as it is another 60 credit certificate course does it count as study at the same level? Many thanks!
Hi sscholan1,

If he gained the HNC from year one, it would need to be the HND level that he is attending in year 2 to be eligible.

Thanks, Clare
Reply 2
Hi Clare, thanks for the quick reply!

He has not gained the Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) as that takes two years of study part time (120 credits) and he has only studied on a one-year part time course (60 credits). I believe he has an 'undergraduate certificate' for the 60-credit course. He would need to study another certificate level course to be able to progress onto the Diploma of Higher Education course but, as it is an institution for mature students, he needs to apply for each 60-credit course separately. Would student finance cover him for both of the two certificate-level courses as they are both needed to progress to the Diploma?
Hi sscholan1,

If it is year 2 of the course then he should be eligible as it is working towards a higher level qualification. If he applies, the assessors will confirm his eligibility. If it is the academic year 24/25, he can reapply now.

Thanks, Clare
Reply 4
Original post by SFE Clare
Hi sscholan1,
If it is year 2 of the course then he should be eligible as it is working towards a higher level qualification. If he applies, the assessors will confirm his eligibility. If it is the academic year 24/25, he can reapply now.
Thanks, Clare

Thanks Clare,
It is not actually a 2 year course though, but two courses that when taken one after the other lead to the qualification. You get a certificate from both of them and those two certificates are then combined into a Certificate of Higher Education. I'm not sure whether that makes a difference to the eligibility criteria - what would you think?
Original post by sscholan1
Thanks Clare,
It is not actually a 2 year course though, but two courses that when taken one after the other lead to the qualification. You get a certificate from both of them and those two certificates are then combined into a Certificate of Higher Education. I'm not sure whether that makes a difference to the eligibility criteria - what would you think?

Hi there,

Based on what you've said your son is progressing to Year 2 of this course, which is normally fine.

So, if he gets that qualification at the end of the course then it sounds like he should be entitled to funding just fine.

Like Clare said, if he's not made an application for the second year already we'd recommend that he does this online as soon as possible.

We can then confirm exactly what he's entitled to.

Thanks, Graeme

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