Top-up Degrees (from HND) - Anyone Done This?

[danza]

Assuming I don't balls-up my Engineering HND (looking very good so far), I'll be very interested in doing a one year top-up to BSc(Hons) in a few years time.

I know it'd give me the edge over other people with just the HND, which in itself is a decent qualification, but there's one thing that is bugging me. Is a BSc in engineering really that much better? A BEng I assume would be the way to go, but this is not an option for various reasons, mostly I assume are due to the academic implications involved over the BSc.

Has anyone done this? I've heard through a friend of a friend at my college (Central Sussex in Crawley), that the top-up year is actually easier than completing the HND itself, which surprises me somewhat (although good students are really pushed hard on the HND at Crawley).

It's not cheap either at £3,300 or thereabouts for the final year, but I would have a degree which as I said, could be very useful. But the BSc in Engineering - is it really all that (absolutely no offence intended)? What will I gain from it academically versus the HND?

Any thoughts?

 

[dl763]

I've got a HNC In Business IT and I'm unemployed right now after being made redundant in December. Fortunately I havent got the extra 3k owing on top of what I owe my dad at the moment.

Can go either way really...

 

[Reasteh]

I did a HND in Computing, was going to do the top up to a degree but decided not to and managed to get a job in IT on 17k a year to start. 2 of my friends did the top up, 1 now works in malta as a web designer and the other is still job hunting. So yeh as said can go either way.

 

[Gypo]

Did Internet Technologies HND for 2 years and then bridged it to a degree topup in Applied Information Technology - loved it.

 

[danza]

I've got a HNC In Business IT and I'm unemployed right now after being made redundant in December. Fortunately I havent got the extra 3k owing on top of what I owe my dad at the moment.

Can go either way really...

That sucks.

I'm fortunate enough to be in a position where it is quite unlikely that I'll be made redundant, but equally unfortunate to be in this position due to the fact I can't (do not want to) go any further up the ladder. I don't earn enough money, and never will in my current company.

I did a HND in Computing, was going to do the top up to a degree but decided not to and managed to get a job in IT on 17k a year to start. 2 of my friends did the top up, 1 now works in malta as a web designer and the other is still job hunting. So yeh as said can go either way.

Good stuff. I plan to complete my HNC year, then consider moving on to a better paid position on the premise that I'm completing (or will be) a HND, and hoping to progress to degree level on completion.

My soul regret in life is that I didn't do this sooner. I'm almost 28, and was at a point a couple of years back where I couldn't see a good future for my wife and I when we started a family. My boss told me several years ago that it (the HND) isn't worth it (i.e. we won't pay you more and don't want you to leave either). They wouldn't support me financially or with respect to study time, so I've had to self fund and work full time. I feel like such a fool for not doing this sooner, because at times work is intolerably cack, increasingly so of recent. It is a good motivator to work hard though.

 

[iraiguana]

More qualifications = more opportunities to a point. I do not know the industry well enough you plan to go into directly with HND or BSc. If the BSc is so poorly respected compared to the BEng is it worth it? Would you be overlooked for jobs you can do with BSc due to people having a BEng.

Not trying to put you off as you will always be more employable with some experience and more qualifications.

 

[Appelhanns]

I did my HND in automotive engineering and now topping it up with 2 years for a BEng in mechanical engineering. The people on the HND who were not great with the maths and physics were encouraged to do the BSc rather than the BEng. Don't know if this helps at all lol.

 

[Reasteh]

what sort of engineering are you looking to get into? all the design engineers at my place needed at least a degree to get a look in.

 

[Mucky_Pup]

I'm currently doing my second HNC, and hopefully going on to a BEng (Hons) the end of this year, and lucky for me, my work is paying for it so that's 9-12 grands worth of loans I don't need to worry about, lol.

 

[danza]

I'd love a design based role as a starting point. The main issue is I don't have much experience in design thus far.

I could do a BEng, but the HND would only get me into the second year at my local uni, and that would be on a full time course which is totally impractical. There are more distant unis that offer largely distance learning based Mechanical BEng courses, but TBH I think I'd like the support from and interaction with actual people, not just via the internet and the odd drop-in.

My maths is not currently a strong point, but I'm willing to break my balls to get myself where I need to be. I've deferred the the maths-based subjects to the final (third) year of my HNC (Analytical Methods For Engineers and Engineering Science). Lots of people do this anyway, especially those without maths at A-level. I'd like to do Mechanical Priciples in my final year, which effectively gives me all the units that are required for a Mechanical Engineering HND, even though my course title is Manufacturing Engineering.

...and lucky for me, my work is paying for it so that's 9-12 grands worth of loans I don't need to worry about, lol.

Git.

 

[Mucky_Pup]

How are you on a third year of an HNC? Mine only took 2 years, and is taking me (currently) only one extra year, so that I have both a Mechanical and Electrical / Electronic due to using units out of my Mechanical HNC.

 

[danza]

I'm doing a 3 year HNC + 1 year to complete the HND (I'm nearing the end of the second year, not on the third yet).

Most people do 4 units in their first year and 6 in the second to complete the HNC. A further 6 is usually taken in the third year for the HND. However, they tend to be people with backing from their company and day release, so they can focus on their study and take on more units.

I have a 42 hour working week with no company support at all, and already have to go to college for 2 extra evenings until 9:30 PM, so I've had to go at a steadier rate. I'll have to go to college 3 evenings next year though, which will be a bit of a pain (although for less hours each evening). I'm doing 4 units per year to complete the required 16.

 

[Mucky_Pup]

I did 18 units in 2 years for my OND as soon as I left school, then got my apprenticeship and did 12 units over 2 years for my Mechanical HNC, but I needed an Electrical HNC to go to uni though, so I currently do 1 unit from the first year, and 4 units from the second year, and should have my Electrical HNC by June/July, then I'll apply for uni.

 

[[TW]Fox]

A BSc is definately worth and is far better than a HND - a BSc is a proper degree, a HND is seen as the sort of thing people who dont know what to do waste a few years dossing around on at college.

 

[danza]

I did 18 units in 2 years for my OND as soon as I left school, then got my apprenticeship and did 12 units over 2 years for my Mechanical HNC, but I needed an Electrical HNC to go to uni though, so I currently do 1 unit from the first year, and 4 units from the second year, and should have my Electrical HNC by June/July, then I'll apply for uni.

Sounds cool. I did an advanced modern apprenticeship with C&G and NVQ level 3, which I started at the age of 19. Immediately after school, I bummed about at college doing a-levels from which I eventually dropped out. After completing my apprenticeship, I unfortunately waited 4 further years before going on to do my current course. One reason I didn't do it sooner was finance - I was saving for a deposit on our first house. I probably could have made it work though.

A BSc is definately worth and is far better than a HND - a BSc is a proper degree, a HND is seen as the sort of thing people who dont know what to do waste a few years dossing around on at college.

You've pretty much said what I think there, at least with the dossing around bit. I went in thinking a HND was all I'd need, but quickly looked around to see a lot of immature kids in it for the fact they get paid time out of work and generally act the wideboy with their friends, missing deadlines and not giving a toss (not all of them are like this, more than I thought there would be though). I guess the number of idiots dwindles the further up you go though!