HNC/HND Computing

SkidMarkKing · 26 Feb 2014 at 20:06

Hello. Over 2 years ago I finished a BTEC National in IT. As some of you may know im now working in a computer shop for minimum wage doing repairs etc.

Im looking at a way to progress and seem to have found a progression course from the BTEC Nationa level 3. Has anyone else found the "Computing and Systems Development HNC/HND" course worth doing? It says its level 4/5

Any ideas on how much it is usually as the college haven't posted prices yet?

I have looked at apprenticeships but I seem to be over qualified as I have a level 3. Also they pay £2 something a hour which would barely cover my travel costs as ide need to commute 18/20miles one way.

Thanks

Guest2 · 26 Feb 2014 at 20:10

My advise would be to try and get a job on something like service desk in the financial / legal sector then move up from there. Good companies will give all the training and courses you need to progress

SkidMarkKing · 26 Feb 2014 at 20:12

Guest2 said:
My advise would be to try and get a job on something like service desk in the financial / legal sector then move up from there. Good companies will give all the training and courses you need to progress

Ok bud. I was wondering if the course is during the day time as it will effect my current job and I don't want it to effect current income (in a negative way).

Will keep searching

Sucks when a supermarket job pays more than my assistant manager job in IT lol

rabhaw · 26 Feb 2014 at 20:27

Well am a student in Scotland, Glasgow city and so far i have sat 2 hnc and currently doing a hnd they all cost £1285 each.

but dont know what it is like in england for course prices.

you could try a student loan if you plan on the hnc/hnd course see if that can help you out.

hope i shed some light on this for you

SkidMarkKing · 26 Feb 2014 at 20:31

rabhaw said:
Well am a student in Scotland, Glasgow city and so far i have sat 2 hnc and currently doing a hnd they all cost £1285 each.

but dont know what it is like in england for course prices.

you could try a student loan if you plan on the hnc/hnd course see if that can help you out.

hope i shed some light on this for you

Ahh, main problem after that is finding a job well paid enough to pay it off ,lol.

Ideally I should look for a job with training included or something where the employer sends employees of on courses as I am 23 :/

Greg0986 · 26 Feb 2014 at 20:55

Doing the NHD now and while I enjoy it, it does get stressful. There is a lot of programming, and if your mind is not setup for programming, you might struggle. That should not put you off though, as I HATE programming, but I am managing

It costs £6000 a year at my college, so £12000 for the 2 years. If I had to choose, as you are doing now, personally, I would have found a job, but that's just me.

danza · 26 Feb 2014 at 21:44

IIRC it costs about £700/unit. HNC consists of 10 units, HND consists of 16. This is the cost for the engineering courses at two local technical colleges. It went up in cost five-fold about 18 months ago once government subsidy was pulled.

Dunks · 26 Feb 2014 at 21:46

danza said:
IIRC it costs about £700/unit. HNC consists of 10 units, HND consists of 16. This is the cost for the engineering courses at two local technical colleges. It went up in cost five-fold about 18 months ago once government subsidy was pulled.

That's an insane amount of money for HNC/HND level qualifications!

zoomee · 26 Feb 2014 at 21:50

woot! - They still doing the BTEC national in computer studies! - I did that course back in 1996!! - I started the HND in Business IT but gave up after 6 months and jacked uni in all together as I was more interested in field work with hardware.

Best advice I can give if your looking to go that route is to concentrate on getting work experience for about a year then look for proper work

- I did a year in a computer shop in stirling, then started work for 2 years with an EPOS company (PC's with small printers lol) - That got me more than enough experience to join the company I'm still with 15 years later! (obviously moved up since then lol).

GL mate - Experience counts for a lot these days hth

Guest2 · 26 Feb 2014 at 21:57

The thing is, what do you actually get back out of an HNC/HND?

Why not just self study and pay for exams in things like MCSE, CCNA, CCA etc.

I went to university and have a Business Computing BSc under my belt but I dont think its worth the 18k I still owe 7 years later!! Having said that I would rewind time and do it all again if I could

Instead of an expensive course, how about self study combined with call centre work? Show you are good on the phone and have some knowledge of computing and certain areas like Windows, Office, Active directory, Exchange and Citrix then apply for service desk jobs.

Sargatanas2511 · 26 Feb 2014 at 22:22

My HNC and HND which I finished last year and am now on a degree, were £95 per unit, paid for by SAAS (Scotland). I can't see it being much more in England but I may be wrong.