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A Certificate of Higher Education is a real university qualification, not a short course: 120 credits at Level 4, the same level and credit volume as the first year of a degree. Whether it is worth doing depends almost entirely on what you intend to do next.
- A Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) is a Level 4 qualification worth 120 credits, which is one year of full-time degree-level study.
- It is not a short course or a certificate of attendance. It is a university qualification in its own right, awarded by a university.
- It is equivalent in level and credit volume to the first year of a Bachelor’s degree, so it may let you enter year two directly, if the university accepts your previous study.
- It sits at the same level as an HNC, not the same level as an HND or a foundation degree, which are Level 5.
- It is funded through Student Finance: a tuition fee loan, plus a maintenance loan if you study full-time. Part-time students normally get the fee loan but no maintenance loan, which is set out below. It counts as higher education study if you apply for funding again later.
On this page
- What a CertHE actually is
- Is a CertHE worth anything?
- What you need to get in
- What you can study, and how
- CertHE, HNC, foundation degree and foundation year
- What a CertHE leads to
- How it is funded
- Questions people ask
What a CertHE actually is
A Certificate of Higher Education is a qualification awarded by a university after the equivalent of one year of full-time study at degree level. It carries 120 credits at Level 4.
Those two numbers are what make it a real qualification rather than a certificate of attendance. A standard three-year Bachelor’s degree is usually 360 credits: 120 at Level 4, 120 at Level 5 and 120 at Level 6. A CertHE carries 120 credits at Level 4, the same level and credit volume as the first year of that structure.
gov.uk lists it among Level 4 qualifications alongside the HNC and higher apprenticeships.
People arrive at one by two routes. Some enrol on a CertHE deliberately, often part-time while working, because a year is a commitment they can make and three years is not. Others complete the first year of a degree and leave, and may receive a CertHE as an exit award if they have met the required credits and the programme’s rules. The qualification itself is the same either way.
Is a CertHE worth anything?
As a standalone qualification, it is modest. Many graduate jobs ask for a full Bachelor’s degree, and a CertHE will not satisfy a requirement for one. Anyone telling you it is “as good as a degree” is wrong.
As a stepping stone, it is worth a year of your life. That is the point of it. Those 120 credits may be recognised towards a degree, and where a university accepts them for entry into year two, you finish in two further years rather than starting again from year one. Whether they are accepted depends on the subject, the module content, your grades and that university’s own credit-recognition rules.
What employers make of it depends entirely on the sector. In most of the graduate market it sits below the bar, because the bar is a Bachelor’s degree. But in some fields a CertHE maps onto a defined role rather than being a partial qualification: healthcare support work, early years practice and some technician grades use Level 4 study as the recognised step, and employers in those fields will often part-fund it. If you are already working in one of those sectors, check what your employer recognises before assuming you need the full degree.
There is a third thing it is worth, which is harder to put on a CV. If you have been out of education for fifteen years and are not certain you can still study, a CertHE is a way to find out over one year rather than committing to three.
What you need to get in
There is no single entry requirement, because each university sets its own. Across the courses on offer you will find all of these:
- A Level 3 qualification with a modest UCAS tariff. Often 32 to 64 points, which is well below what a degree in the same subject would ask. A single A-level, a BTEC or an Access to HE Diploma can be enough.
- GCSE English, and sometimes maths, at grade 4/C or Functional Skills Level 2.
- A portfolio and interview rather than grades, which is standard for creative subjects.
- Relevant work experience in place of qualifications. This is the route that matters most for adults, and many providers state explicitly that they welcome mature applicants whose qualifications differ from the usual requirements.
- Current employment in the field. Some CertHE courses, particularly in healthcare practice, are built for people already working in the sector and are not open-entry at all.
If you have been working in a field for years without the paperwork, say so in the application. For mature applicants that experience is frequently assessed in place of formal entry requirements rather than alongside them.
Some courses accept applications based on work experience alone, and we work with courses that offer this route. The University of Roehampton and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David both run CertHE programmes among the universities we place students with. Which courses are open to you depends on your subject and your background, so ask us and we will tell you which ones fit.
What you can study, and how
CertHE courses span a wider range than people expect. They exist in creative practice, science and engineering, healthcare, law, business and combined or open studies where you build your own subject mix.
That last group is worth knowing about if you are not yet sure what you want to do. A combined or open CertHE lets you take a year of degree-level study across several subjects and decide afterwards, with 120 credits banked either way.
Part-time study is common, which is the practical point for anyone working. A CertHE taken part-time usually runs over two years, with evening or day-release teaching. Because the qualification is only 120 credits, part-time study does not stretch into the open-ended commitment that a part-time degree can become.
Funding part-time study works differently from full-time, and the two loans do not behave the same way.
Part-time study has to reach a course intensity of at least 25% of the full-time equivalent before any funding applies, so a course taken at a low intensity may not qualify at all. Past that threshold the tuition fee loan is available from Level 4 upwards, so the fees on a part-time CertHE are covered.
Living costs are a separate question, and the answer is usually no. Student Finance England’s part-time application notes state that you will “normally only be eligible for a Maintenance Loan if you’re studying at level 6 or 7”. A CertHE is Level 4, so it falls outside that by default.
Two exceptions are written into the same notes. A Level 4 or 5 course that holds Higher Technical Qualification approval and started in academic year 2024/25 or later can attract a part-time maintenance loan. So can a small group of named Level 5 health courses, in dental health, dental therapy and operating department practice. Distance learning is excluded unless a disability prevents you from attending.
Two further traps for people already partway through. If you are continuing a part-time course that only attracted tuition fee support last year, you cannot pick up a maintenance loan now, even if the course has since gained HTQ approval. The same applies if you joined the second year or later of a course that only qualified for fee support in its first year.
So the planning assumption for a part-time CertHE is a fee loan and no living-cost support. The one question worth asking the university is whether your specific course carries Higher Technical Qualification approval, because that is what decides it.
From 1 January 2027 this changes under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, which extends maintenance support to designated in-person courses and modules under new credit-based rules.
CertHE, HNC, foundation degree and foundation year
These four get confused constantly, and the confusion matters because they sit at different levels and lead to different places.
| Level | Length | What it is | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CertHE | 4 | 1 year | A university qualification, the first year of a degree |
| HNC | 4 | 1 year | A vocational qualification at the same level, usually from a college |
| Foundation degree (FdA, FdSc) | 5 | 2 years | A standalone qualification, broadly equivalent in level and credit volume to the first two years of a degree |
| Foundation year | Preparatory | 1 year | Year 0, an entry route attached to a degree, not a separate award |
So a CertHE and an HNC are at the same level. The practical difference is where they come from and how they are taught: CertHEs are commonly university-based, while HNCs are often more vocationally focused and usually delivered by colleges or other providers. Some CertHEs are strongly vocational too, so the line is not absolute. For continuing to a degree at the same university, a CertHE is often the smoother path, because the credits came from that institution’s own modules.
The one most often mixed up with it is the foundation year, because universities sometimes describe them in similar language. The difference is real: a foundation year is a preparatory year that gets you onto a degree, while a CertHE is degree-level study that counts towards one. Our guide to what a foundation year is covers that route.
What a CertHE leads to
With 120 credits at Level 4 behind you, the next step is Level 5, which is year two of a degree. Several of the universities we work with assess CertHE holders for direct entry into year two rather than asking them to start again. Where that is agreed, you complete Level 5, then Level 6, and graduate with a full Honours degree.
It is an assessment rather than an entitlement. The university looks at your subject, your modules and your grades against its own requirements, and a decision at one university does not bind another.
Where entry into year two is agreed, that is two further years rather than three. Counting the CertHE itself, three years in total, the same as a standard degree but broken into stages.
If you already hold a Level 5 qualification instead, the final year alone is available as a top-up degree, which is one year to a full Honours degree.
The CertHE itself is a qualification you keep if you stop there. Some programmes also award an exit qualification at a later stage, such as a DipHE after Level 5, but that depends on the course rather than being automatic.
How it is funded
A CertHE is higher education, so it goes through Student Finance rather than any further-education route. A tuition fee loan covers the fees, and a maintenance loan is available if you study full-time.
The point to understand before you enrol: it counts as previous study. gov.uk’s rule is that you will usually only get student finance for your first higher education qualification, and a CertHE is one. If you complete a CertHE and later apply to fund a separate degree from scratch, the year you have already studied comes off your entitlement.
If a university accepts your CertHE for entry into year two of a degree, the funding position can differ from starting a new degree at year one. Your previous study still has to be taken into account either way.
From 1 January 2027 this is calculated differently again. The Lifelong Learning Entitlement replaces the current system with a single balance across your working life, and our guide to the Lifelong Learning Entitlement sets out how it is worked out. The government overview carries the headline figures.
Questions people ask
What is a CertHE equivalent to?
The first year of a Bachelor’s degree. 120 credits at Level 4, the same level as an HNC.
Is a CertHE a degree?
No. It is a higher education qualification below degree level. A full Bachelor’s degree is 360 credits across Levels 4, 5 and 6; a CertHE is the first 120.
Is a CertHE the same as an HNC?
They sit at the same level but are not interchangeable. The comparison table above sets out the difference. Both can lead on to further study.
Can I turn a CertHE into a full degree?
Yes, by continuing at Level 5 and then Level 6. Some universities admit CertHE holders straight into year two.
How long does a CertHE take?
One year full-time, or two to three years part-time, which is how most working adults do it.
Do I need A-levels to start one?
Not always. Entry requirements for mature applicants are often flexible, and relevant work experience is frequently accepted in place of formal qualifications. Some courses ask for a modest UCAS tariff, often 32 to 64 points, which a single A-level or a BTEC can meet.
Can I study a CertHE part-time while working?
Yes, and it is one of the more common ways to take one. Part-time usually means two years, often with evening or day-release teaching. Expect a tuition fee loan but no maintenance loan: Student Finance England normally limits part-time maintenance loans to Level 6 and 7 study, and a CertHE is Level 4.
Will my employer pay for it?
In some sectors, yes. Healthcare support work, early years and technician roles use Level 4 study as a recognised step, and employers in those fields sometimes part-fund it. Worth asking before you apply for a loan.
Not sure which level you should be starting at?
We work with universities offering CertHE courses and routes onward from them, including assessment for entry into year two. We check what your existing qualifications and work experience count for before you apply, and our service is free for students.
