The Diploma is a new qualification which combines theoretical study with practice experience and develops skills highly valued by employers and universities. Diplomas give students an insight into work and will help them make decisions about their future direction without closing down options. Diplomas will provide the skills and knowledge needed for progression into employment and into further and higher education.

Who will do a Diploma?
Diplomas will suit students of all abilities who are attracted by a course that combines theoretical and practical learning. The courses will give a strong grounding in specific sectors or subjects, but will also ensure students have wider skills and knowledge to prepare them for work in any field and for further and higher education.

Who has designed the Diploma?
Employers have been integral to the creation of the Diploma. They have worked with representatives from universities, schools, colleges and awarding bodies to set out what students with Diplomas need to have learnt. The qualifications are offered by all the main awarding bodies.

Key Messages

• The Diploma combines theoretical study with practical experience and develops skills highly valued by employers and universities. It is part of a national programme to provide young people with more options, to encourage them to continue learning for longer.
  
  
• The Diploma bridges the historic divide between academic or vocational options - it provides the best of both worlds. Functional skills in English, maths and ICT are at the heart of the curriculum so that no young person leaves education without them. And the Diploma guarantees the personal, learning and thinking skills that universities and employers demand of today's young people.
  
  
• We know that the Diploma will be valued by employers and universities - they helped design it to ensure that all young people are equipped with the right knowledge and skills for life and work in the 21st century.