Computing Qualifications in Great Britain
To get a job in computing, you normally need to have a computing qualification of some kind.
Students can study for a wide variety of computing qualifications.
After leaving school, students can study for further qualifications at a college of further education or a university. If they have gained enough qualifications at school, they can study for a Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Higher National Diploma (HND) at a college, or a degree at a university. Otherwise, they can attend college to study for a vocational qualification known as a General Vocational Qualification (GVQ). In these GVQ courses, students study a number of subject modules and need to gain a certain number of credits to progress to the next stage. Students can gradually progress through different levels of the GVQ to an HNC, HND, and even a university degree.
There is wide variety of GVQ courses in computing including Information Technology (IT), Computing Support, and Programming, but students normally choose a course that has an emphasis on either software and programming, computing support, or business computing. The GVQ courses can be studied on a part-time or a full-time basis.
Although it is mostly men that choose to do these courses, women are also strongly encouraged to participate. The female student in this interview is living in Scotland and is at a Scottish technical college of further education studying for a Level 3 General Scottish Vocational Qualification (GSVQ) in Information Technology. The course has a technical computer support bias and involves subjects like software support, hardware support, and networking. The Communications subject is not about technical communications systems, but is about human communication and interaction. The course involves visits to computing departments in commercial organizations. As in most colleges and universities, there are a number of social activities for the students to enjoy. These are often organized by the Student Union, which is the official body run by students and representing the interests of students. This particular student also has a part-time job in the evening.