What are NQ'S (National Qualifications) and NC's (National Certificates)?
NQ or National Qualification and NC or National Certificate courses are first level courses. As such no previous knowledge of your chosen subject is required.
The typical entry requirements for an NQ or NC course is 3 or 4 Standard Grade passes at a level 3 or above, however for some NQ and NC courses no formal qualifications are required. Please see our course directory for the specific entry requirements for the course you are interested in.
NQ or NC courses are usually made up of three National Unit Credits and an external assessment. One Unit Credit is equivalent to 40 hours of learning.
Most commonly an NQ or NC course will require one year of study. On successful completion of the course students can choose to progress on to a Higher National Certificate (HNC) or a Higher National Diploma (HND) course. Alternatively they could go into full time employment.
At the City of Glasgow College we offer NQ & NC courses across a number of subject categories. For our full list of NQ & NC courses please see our course directory.
Click below for information on the other qualifications offered by the City of Glasgow College.
- What is an HNC (Higher National Certificate)?
- What is an HND (Higher National Diploma)?
- What is a SVQ (Scottish Vocational Qualification)?
- What is a MCA (Maritime & Coastgaurd Agency) qualification?
