When your son or daughter has completed their Apprenticeship they may wish to make further progress in their profession. More and more apprentices are now going on to obtain higher-level qualifications to support them in their careers.

There are a number of options, depending on the level of education or career goal that they want to attain and the way that they want to study:

• Vocational training, leading to NVQ levels 4 or 5. These are common in the accountancy or insurance skill areas. The higher-level NVQs allow you to gain professional qualifications leading to membership of the relevant Association or Institute.
• BTEC Higher National Certificate (HNC). This is the typical route for engineers and those involved in construction. An HNC is equivalent to the first year of a degree course.
• BTEC Higher National Diploma (HND) – a qualification that is common in a number of skill areas, including management. Your HND will allow you to join a degree course to gain a full degree, with one or two years' further study, depending on the subject.
• Foundation Degree – this is a new class of degree, developed especially for those following work-based learning routes. They can be studied on a full-time or day-release basis and are similar level to HNDs. They can be topped-up to an Honours Degree by further study.
• Honours Degrees – these are only usually available as full-time qualifications, lasting from 3 to 6 years, depending on the subject. Some are available as ‘sandwich’ courses, where a year is spent on work experience following the first 2 years of study, and a final year is spent back in the university. Many now offer the final year as a part-time option for those accessing the course from an HND or Foundation Degree.
• There are two other degree-level qualifications available – Certificate in Higher Education and Diploma in Higher Education. These are typically taken by those in nursing, care and other health-related areas.