Portrait of a Certificate
Who's applied for our new Certificate of Higher Education? The 'CertHE' launches this autumn and both the quality and number of students we will welcome on the course is high.
Of the one hundred and five applicants, just over 50% come from the UK, and another 20% come from the United States. The remaining 30% are a truly international gathering, hailing from Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Russia, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Botswana, Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan China, Belgium and Malta. The age range of applicants is broad too - as is the case with so many of our programmes - ranging from 24 to 74.
Applicants are evenly spread across the choice of nine subject areas on offer: Archaeology, Architectural History, Creative Writing, History, History of Art, Italian, Literature, Philosophy and Spanish.
This highly flexible Oxford qualification lets students accumulate credit from online courses, weekly classes and our accredited OUSSA summer school, and apply it toward an Undergraduate Certificate in one of nine subject areas. The Certificate is the equivalent of the first year of full-time study at University level. It's an excellent starting point for students embarking on - or returning to - education, as well as for those who wish to take their pursuit of a favourite subject to a higher level.
Thus far there have been fifty-five offers of places on the CertHE, and Dr Elizabeth Gemmill, the Course Director, will be conducting over forty interviews in the coming weeks for the remaining places on the course. Dr Gemmill, who personally interviews all applicants, said, 'I have been inspired by the careful thought that has gone into the applications and the unmistakable appetite for learning which they display.'
The vast majority of students on the Certificate are distance learners, and will be doing their classes primarily online. A handful will attend our weekly classes in Oxford. All students are required to do part of their studies in Oxford, which our students who live outside the south of England will likely accomplish through attendance at the Oxford University Summer School for Adults, a programme of week-long accredited classes.
The Certificate of Higher Education will have induction events - both online and in Oxford - in September.
The application period for the 2012 intake has now ended, but anyone who is interested in this programme may find they are already working toward their Certificate: it is possible to import credit, up to a maximum of 30 points, from OUDCE courses taken in the four years prior to registration. Thus, anyone interested in this programme can effectively make a start at any time.
Applications for the 2013 intake will open by December 1st, 2012. For more information about the Certificate in Higher Education, please see: www.conted.ox.ac.uk/certhe
Published 9 July 2012