Review of Higher National Qualifications in Computing
It’s been a long time since I first announced that we were about to review a suite of the most popular HN qualifications in Computing, which I immodestly called “the HN Review”. The main reason for the delay was the HN Next Generation project, which was going to have a big impact on the design of all future HN awards. There was broad agreement that we (Computing) wanted to be part of that important change — and that meant waiting for HN Next Gen to get underway. I’m pleased to let you know that we’ve now been given the green light to proceed.
In the meantime, we carried out two scoping exercises — one to determine the changes needed to this suite of awards and the other to determine if there was demand for new HN qualifications in data science. The outcome was that we proposed that the “HN Review” should encompass the following qualifications.
HNC Computing
HND Computer Science
HND Data Science
HND Networking & Infrastructure
HND Software Development.
The existing HND Technical Support and HND Networking would be replaced by the new HND Networking & Infrastructure. The other important change is that HND Data Science is added to the family.
There has been broad support for this development plan. I provided an update at the recent Computing Conference. The proposals were well received. I was asked at the conference to move things forward, and promised to convene the first meeting of the Qualification Development Team. We’re currently in the process of doing that.
Please contact Helen if you’re interested in participating in the QDT or want to know more about our plans.
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