Education | Higher Nationals

Why am I doing this? The ‘return on learning’

13 min ago By Ben

I studied to be an architect but, despite my HE qualifications, I’m not designing buildings. Does this mean that my higher education was a failure as I didn’t get that ‘return’ I expected for the sacrifices I made? If this was purely a financial investment, where a fixed amount is invested and then a fixed amount is returned to the investor, I would have lost out significantly. So why is it that I consider my HE experience anything but a failure and actually, that I got quite the return on my learning?

Contract Cheating - a risky business…

1 month ago By Yasmin

What is Academic Misconduct and ‘Contract Cheating’?

Academic Misconduct could be any form of cheating that happens in connection to a formal academic exercise.

Higher Technical Education - the current landscape

1 month ago By Rebecca

Our contributions to the consultation are worth sharing, as they demonstrate just how strongly the BTEC Higher Nationals (HNs) meet the government’s requirements for higher quality level 4 and 5 technical education, which can help meet the economy’s needs for more level 4 and 5 technical skills.

The role of learning in the 100-year life

5 months ago By Kirsty

If you were born in 2007 in the UK, there is now a 50% chance that you will live to be 103. That means that your 10-year-old brother, cousin or child will live for 38 years after the traditional retirement age. As you can imagine, this means that their working lives will change. They may have to work for longer to fund a longer retirement or explore a variety of jobs at different points in their lives. The upshot of this is that the role of learning will change. Pearson’s mantra of #AlwaysLearning will become even more of a reality and lifelong learning could really mean learning throughout your whole life. So how will the role of learning play out if you live to be 103?

Top tips on how to ace your assignments

6 months ago By Charlotte

For the majority of us completing assignments may seem daunting or even impossible at some points. However, you will come across assignments during your HN, so you will have to face up to your fear of them. Having completed assignments for many years, I thought it would be useful to share my top tips on how to ace your assignments. So fear not, and follow my top tips...

The University Challenge

6 months ago By Jas

Studying at a University and obtaining a degree can sometimes seem unattainable - financially, academically and socially. This is fortunately becoming an ever-growing myth. In a globalised, modern world, the options available are becoming increasingly broader and exciting. “How?”, “Why?” and “What are my options?” should be questions you ask yourself when you’re thinking about your opportunities after completing a BTEC Higher National. Hopefully, I’ll help you realise that anything is possible when it comes to Higher Education.

Do you care about the quality of your education?

8 months ago By Ben

Let’s face it, if I asked you the question in the title directly, you’d answer “Yes” immediately. Similarly, if I asked you for an example of high quality education I’m sure you’d be able to give me at least one, even if it took a bit longer to think of it. But, if I then asked you why you’d chosen that example and why that education was ‘high quality’, the answer may not arrive before we’d given up on this conversation all together.

How do you do Scholarship?

9 months ago By Rebecca

Scholarly activity is a key part of high quality higher education delivery. It can take many forms, for example research, conference/event attendance and /or delivery of presentations/workshops, consultancy to industry, curriculum development that involves literature searching or work with a Higher Education Institution, and industrial secondments.