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Higher National Diploma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Higher National Diploma (HND) is a higher education qualification in the United Kingdom.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the HND is a BTEC qualification awarded by Edexcel and in Scotland is a Higher National awarded by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.[1][2] The attainment level is roughly equivalent to second year of university, a Diploma of Higher Education and a foundation degree but being below that of a bachelor's degree. An HND takes two years of full-time study, or one year full-time following successful completion of a a Higher National Certificate; part-time study takes longer.[3]
In Scotland an HND is Level 8 on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework and in England, Wales and Northern Ireland it is Level 5 on the National Qualifications Framework.[4][5] It is quite common for those who have achieved a HND to add to their qualification by progressing to other levels such as professional qualifications, or a degree. It's graded similar to GNVQ - Pass, Merit and Distinction with Distinction the highest grade and Pass the lowest grade.