Please note, Middlesbrough College is open as usual on Friday 24th January, but we do expect some travel disruption due to high winds. Please stay in contact with your tutors as some classes may be required to be online where staff are unable to make their way to site.
What is a Higher Technical Qualification?
June 3, 2024
Are you looking for an alternative to a full degree, to upskill in the industry you are already in, or to change your career completely? Well, a HTQ course may just be the answer for your career endeavours! With so many to choose from and all the opportunities they can offer, we thought we would break it down for you in this blog!
HTQs are the new, shiny, and industry-approved way of building your skills and knowledge to prepare you for employability. HTQs can be Level 4 and Level 5 qualifications, offered to students over the age of 18. These flexible courses are an effective way of upskilling yourself in the career you currently work in, whilst keeping it hands-on and relevant.
Why choose a Higher Technical Qualification?
HTQs are another alternative route of upskilling and learning if a degree or apprenticeship doesn’t sound like something that will work for you. HTQs are designed for technical sectors, so when you qualify, you’ll be able to apply everything you learnt from the classroom to the real world. The University Centre Middlesbrough also offers industry-level equipment and experienced tutors so you are guaranteed to be ready for whatever your next steps are when you qualify.
What HTQs can I study?
There are multiple types of HTQs, with more expected to begin by September 2024 all over the country. The University Centre Middlesbrough is the perfect environment for those who wish to stay local, with small and focused class sizes. The sectors we offer HTQs in currently are:
Construction
- HNC in Building Services
- HNC in Civil Engineering
- HNC in Construction Management
Engineering
- HNC in Electrical and Electronic Engineering for England
- HNC in Instrumentation Operations
- HNC in Mechanical Engineering
- HND in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- HND in Mechanical Engineering
- HND in Operations Engineering
What can I do after my HTQ?
There are different paths that you can take in your career once completing a HTQ. Most often, students complete a Level 4 (HNC) and continue their studies onto Level 5 or Level 6 and progress! Or you could go straight into employment and work your way up. With the industry around our HTQs constantly growing and evolving, having courses designed around real work can prepare you straight for employment after completing them. It’s whatever works best for what you are interested in achieving. So, what opportunities and roles can our HTQ courses lead to?
Construction
- Building services engineer
- Facilities manager
- Energy manager
- Project manager
- Maintenance engineer
- Civil engineering technician
- Site supervisor
- Structural engineer
- Highways engineer
- Geotechnical engineer
- Water resource engineer
- environmental engineer
- Construction manager
- Quantity surveyor
Engineering
- Electrical technician/engineer
- Field service engineer
- CAD engineer
- Power system engineer/technician
- Instrumentation technician/engineer
- Control system technician
- Maintenance technician
- Calibration technician
- Mechanical engineer
- Quality control technician/engineer
Our HTQ courses open many doors to careers and progression! To look into some more job profiles in better detail and to find out which courses are most suitable to take, follow this link to the Prospects website. Type in what careers you are interested in to find out what you need to do to get there or have a look at roles within industries for some inspiration!
To find out more information about applying to a HTQ course or if you wish to get in touch, follow this link to our dedicated Higher Technical Qualification page!