A Higher National Certificate (HNC) is a vocational higher education qualification offered by higher education institutions and further education colleges. The attainment level is one below that of a Higher National Diploma (HND) and two below that of a Bachelor's degree.
Studied fulltime, an HNC normally takes one year, or two years if taken part time. It is quite common for those who have passed an HNC to upgrade their qualification by either undertaking a further level to obtain an HND or another two levels to obtain a Bachelor's degree.
