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Advanced Diploma?

  • 10-02-2010 09:45PM
    #1
    dr gonzo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,676 ✭✭✭


    Hey everyone, last year i did a course in web development in DBS. It was an interesting course and was useful to me at the time so it wasnt necessarily the diploma so much as the training i wanted out of it. Recently however i've been wondering what the hell an advanced diploma is. Is it a higher diploma or merely a fancy name for a regular diploma?

    Anyway ill stop speculating and put the question out there. Anyone have any idea?


Comments

  • #2
    Tom Dunne
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,202 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    I would say it is marketing speak for a regular diploma.

    However, who awards it? Is it DBS themselves? Is it accredited by anyone (i.e. HETAC)? If not, then I would question how much the diploma was worth.

    Also, what level is it at (Ordinary Degree is Level 7, which equates to a diploma in old money).


  • #3
    dory
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 4,682 Mod ✭✭✭✭dory


    Usually when I see 'Advanced Diploma' it's in the context of there also being a Diploma available in the same place on the same topic. If there is none then it is marketing.

    A higher diploma can only be undertaken by someone who already had a Level 8 degree (I'm sure there are exceptions, people with lots of experience or whatever). So that's why they can't throw around that title too much.


  • #4
    dr gonzo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,676 ✭✭✭dr gonzo


    Ok yeh that makes sense, i didnt (nor do i now) have a degree so it therefore is not a higher diploma. There was however a similar diploma so possibly it was just a way of distinguishing them with a fancy title.

    The worry now is what Tom Dunne was saying which is it might be somewhat worthless because im not sure if it was accredited by DBS or HETAC, i should find that out. Is it a common occurrence for diplomas to be attributed to another college and therefore be useless?


  • #5
    Tom Dunne
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,202 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    dr gonzo wrote: »
    Is it a common occurrence for diplomas to be attributed to another college and therefore be useless?

    I wouldn't categorically say it is worthless, but I would question in what regard a DBS diploma would be against a HETAC accredited diploma.

    The difference is basically the fact that the government body, HETAC, is putting it's name to a qualification to state that the delivery of the qualification meets a certain standard. You are not getting that guarantee of quality with a non-HETAC diploma.

    That's not to say the DBS diploma is worthless, though. No doubt it meets a certain standard, just it may not be as high as the HETAC standard.


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