UK Higher Education is widely recognised for its excellent teaching and research quality. But recently, the QS Best Student Cities survey named London the best city to study in the world.
UK Universities offer students a huge variety of programmes to suit their career aspirations. No matter where you are in your student journey, there are course options waiting for you – like top-up degrees. And we can introduce you to what they are, who they’re for, and how they could kick-start your career in business.
As the name indicates – a top-up degree complements your existing Level 5 qualification to a full undergraduate, Bachelor’s degree (Level 6). Essentially, it is the equivalent of the final year of undergraduate study but it’s recognised the same way as full degrees are.
Typically, a UK undergraduate degree takes three years to complete. However, if you already hold a Level 5 qualification, a top-up degree allows you to enter at the final year of study. So essentially, you can get a bachelor’s degree in only one year.
You can top-up various NQF Level 5 qualifications such as a foundation degree, HND or any other equivalent.
Your choice will depend on your career path. Students often choose to top-up their Level 5 qualification (HND, foundation etc.) to gain access to graduate schemes, graduate-level jobs or postgraduate levels of study.
Our student, Shunan, chose to study our BA (Hons) Business (Top-Up) degree for the following reason:
“After I finished my studies, I want to try and find a job in the UK and apply for postgraduate study in a different subject so that I can learn something new and gain more knowledge.”
Our Northumbria University London Campus currently has eight top-up degrees on offer, with programmes covering subject areas such as business, international banking and accounting.
If you don’t already hold a Level 5 degree, you can still join one of our two-year top-up degrees. And if you don’t hold a Level 4 qualification, you can join our International Year One, progressing onto any of the specialisms below.
Top-up degrees available at our London Campus:
To learn more about how they can fast-track your career in business, you can visit our full range of Top-Up and Undergraduate degrees here.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2020 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness in March 2023.
