About Us
About Higher Nationals
Higher Nationals are professional higher education qualifications, recognised as equivalent to the first two years of an honours degree, which means you can study more affordably and locally for your first two years, and then top up to your final year and complete a degree in your chosen field. They are also ideal for anybody who wants an industry-recognised qualification providing the skills and experience to support your progression to or within in employment.
Work-related learning
Higher Nationals have been co-designed with industry, employers and professional bodies. They are therefore widely recognised by industry and higher education as the principal vocational qualification at Levels 4 and 5. Every year, over 100,000 students like you, from over 60 countries around the world, are studying a BTEC Higher National and finding success in both university and employment.
Support while you study
As a Higher Nationals student, you will have access to a specially designed range of digital resources, to ensure that you’ll have the best possible experience during your course. These are available on our free dedicated platform for Higher National students - HN Global.
You’ll be able to access free online learning to develop your study skills to support your higher education learning, and career development resources to support you to prepare for the real world. With HN Global, you can also participate within a community of other BTEC Higher National students from around the world, via online forums, to discuss anything relevant to your course.
Progression to university
We work with universities in the UK and around the world, explaining the content, structure and purpose of BTEC Higher National qualifications, so that the universities recognise your value and accept applications from you as a BTEC Higher National holder onto a degree programme. You can currently top-up your HNs to over 1500 degrees worldwide and we continue our work to grow this number.
Visit our Pearson Degree Finder to find all the current articulations.
Where to study BTEC Higher Nationals anywhere in the world?