Short courses are ideal for students who wish to upgrade their skills or refresh their knowledge. It is also useful to those who wish to expand their e.g. managerial, technical or computer skills into new areas of interest. Short courses help enhance practice and improve competency, skills, and knowledge. But does a short course count as a qualification? To answer this question, we will first discuss what qualifications are before we look at short courses separately.
Qualifications
There are two types of qualifications: professional qualifications and academic qualifications. Both can be obtained by doing a course, whether it is a short course or full-time programme, online or contact. Both are also regulated by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). For certain occupations, you will be required to have academic qualifications, for example, medical professions.
Academic qualifications
Academic qualifications are qualifications which you obtain by studying full-time. The courses you do will allocate credits that count towards obtaining a full qualification.
The credit rating system rates 10 notional hours as equivalent to one credit. The minimum credits for a full qualification are 120 credits, which translates to 1200 notional hours of instruction and study. It generally requires one year full-time study at a registered and accredited institution. A full qualification also consists of fundamental, core, and elective learning.
Professional qualifications
Professional qualifications would be obtained by doing a course that has a very narrow focus. Generally, these can be classified as credit-bearing short courses. They are usually occupationally based and are regulated and accredited by an Education and Training Quality Assurance Body (ETQAs). There might still be a prerequisite of an academic qualification, but sometimes work experience will be accepted. Professional qualifications also allow you to specialise in certain directions.
Short Courses
A short course is defined as being a course with the duration of less than a year, and it might or might not be accredited. Some short courses count towards a qualification, others don’t. Many short courses are presented on online platforms instead of contact sessions.
We distinguish between credit-bearing and non-credit-bearing short courses:
Credit-bearing short courses
A credit-bearing short course needs to be registered and will award less than 120 credits in relation to its contribution toward a programme or qualification which will add up to 120 credits.
Non-credit-bearing short courses
A non-credit-bearing short course does not need to be registered and doesn’t award any credits toward a programme or qualification. Although non-credit-bearing short courses don’t need to be registered, SAQA does recognise the added value in certain career fields.
Why would I do a short course?
It is becoming more and more acceptable to build a career with short courses instead of having full qualifications. For certain careers, you will still need academic qualifications, but short courses make education accessible and affordable to a lot more people. You can find some information about the different ways in which online learning can help your career in this article.
