Diplomas
News (August 2010)
If you have seen in the news that the government are making cuts to the Diploma, you may be concerned that this will affect you if you choose to study a Diploma now. But there's no need to worry! In York, we are committed to the Diploma, because we believe it is a valuable qualification that many young people can benefit from – and feedback from students already on the courses has been that they enjoy them.
The three subjects that have been cut are 'additional' subjects (Humanities, Language and Science), which were due to start in 2011, and were not part of the original plan for Diplomas. Because these subjects are largely academic, you should be able to find GCSEs and A levels that cover broadly the same areas instead. The 14 Diplomas listed below will continue, and as long as we get enough students interested to make up viable teaching groups, we will run as many of them as we can.
Our schools and colleges are committed to work in partnership, so that you can take Diplomas that are taught at other schools. In York we have so many schools close together that it is not too difficult to have students travelling to a different school for one day a week. This has been a successful system for the last couple of years, and we are going to continue with it!
Diplomas are new qualifications for 14 to 19 year olds, which first appeared in 2008.
They offer a mix of classroom learning, creative thinking and hands-on experience – all designed to prepare you for wherever you want to go in life.
They'll be delivered to students across the city at York College and many York schools and you can choose from:
- Business, Administration and Finance
- Creative and Media
- Engineering
- Hair and Beauty studies
- Information Technology
- Society, Health and Development
Starting for the first time in September 2010, we will be running:
Within the next couple of years, you will also have the options of:
- Construction and the Built Environment
- Environment and Land-based studies
- Hospitality
- Manufacturing and Product Design
- Public Services
- Retail Business
- Travel and Tourism
At 14, you'll probably consider either a Foundation or Higher Diploma.
At 16, you could consider the Foundation, Higher, or Advanced Diploma, depending on your GCSE results.
Each diploma will be only be run in a small number of schools and colleges. If you want to study a diploma that is not available at your school, that's not a problem! You can study the rest of your subjects in your school, and travel to a different school nearby for one day a week to study the diploma. Talk to your teachers and Connexions adviser to find out more about how it works, and if a diploma would be the right option for you.
We will try to run all the diplomas listed, but please be aware that we normally need a minimum of about 10 students to make a course viable - if we don't get enough interest in a particular subject, we might not be able to run it. Again, discuss it with your Connexions adviser if you are worried about this.
