These generally fall into one of three types:
1. Graduate Diplomas: sometimes offered for students who have a degree but do not have the specific area of expertise to undertake a particular, usually very specialist, masters degree offered by the same institution.
2. Postgraduate Certificates: the most well-known of these is the PGCE, required for teaching in most schools in the UK. Students must generally have a first degree.
3. Postgraduate Diplomas: these tend to be either:
- Professionally or vocationally related, and provide a mix of additional academic knowledge and professional expertise that students need to enter a profession, or
- A prerequisite for a specialist masters course, usually offered by the same institution, or
- The taught elements only of a masters programme: in this case the student follows the same courses as the masters students but omits the research project or dissertation that follows the examinations or assessments.
ThinkPostgrad: postgraduate certificates and diplomas are highly likely to be linked either to other qualifications and courses, or to a profession. It is often helpful to clarify these links, and whether other qualifications may be required subsequently, before applying for this type of course.
