How long does the Higher Diploma in Professional Communication take?

The Higher Diploma in Professional Communication runs for 15 to 18 months across on-campus, online and distance-learning routes, sharing one assessment calendar and a quarterly residential workshop for distance students.

Is the Higher Diploma in Professional Communication recognised by UK employers?

The Higher Diploma in Professional Communication is built around CIPD, SET and Chartered College of Teaching trainer competencies, so the qualification is read by UK employers as a serious L&D and internal-comms credential.

What are the entry requirements?

For the Higher Diploma in Professional Communication you need an Advanced Diploma, HND or Foundation Degree, or three years of relevant work experience, plus IELTS 6.0 for international applicants.

What does the Higher Diploma in Professional Communication cost and are scholarships available?

Fees for the Higher Diploma in Professional Communication vary by mode and domicile; employer-sponsored places and merit awards are reviewed each intake — contact LSCT admissions for the current fee schedule.

Higher Diploma in Professional Communication | LSCT | Harold International College of London

Course Overview

The Higher Diploma in Professional Communication sits within the Education & Professional Studies department at LSCT and is built for working adults who write, present and facilitate as part of their role but were never trained to do it formally. Delivered over 15 to 18 months on-campus in central London, fully online with live workshop weeks, or through distance learning, the programme treats communication as a measurable professional skill — not a soft extra — and assesses it the way employers actually do.

From the first week you will be drafting board papers, briefing notes, training materials and structured facilitation plans against marker rubrics derived from UK civil-service and CIPD standards. The portfolio you build is real-style: a learning intervention you could run on Monday, not an essay about why running it would be good.

The Higher Diploma in Professional Communication timetable is built around UK assessment realities: continuous coursework that produces the artefacts employers actually ask for, plus end-of-module case-based assessments rather than rote examinations. Tutors include working practitioners drawn from London-borough teaching networks and the wider DfE estate — not only academics — so the standard being marked against is the standard education employers apply at first interview. Students join one cohort intake per year, so the cohort moves through the programme together and forms the working network that matters when first education-sector job applications start going out.

Key Features

Syllabus aligned to CIPD L&D, the Chartered College of Teaching and SET trainer competencies — useful for staff who train or coach others.
Three study modes — on-campus near Holborn, fully online with synchronous facilitation labs, or distance learning with quarterly residentials.
Live facilitation lab where you run and receive coded feedback on a 45-minute training session.
Workplace project — design, deliver and evaluate a communications intervention in your own organisation.
Whitehall-style briefing module teaching the short-form writing standard expected in UK public service.
Plain English Campaign principles embedded across written assignments and assessed in marking.

What You Will Learn

You will graduate able to write for a board, design a learning session, run a structured facilitation, give and receive coded feedback, and evaluate whether your communication actually changed behaviour. Modules include:

Workplace Writing and Plain English
Briefing, Reporting and Decision Papers
Facilitation and Group Dynamics
Presentation and Public Speaking
Adult Learning Theory and Instructional Design
Stakeholder Engagement and Influence
Internal Communications and Change
Measurement, Evaluation and ROI of Communications
Inclusive Communication and Accessibility (WCAG basics)

Who This Course Is For

L&D officers, HR generalists and training coordinators who run sessions but want a recognised credential.
Public-sector staff whose role involves writing briefings, papers and Cabinet-Office-style submissions.
Team leaders moving into roles where the work is mostly meetings, papers and facilitation.
Career changers from teaching, journalism or charity-sector roles entering corporate L&D.

Career Pathways

Graduates move into communication-heavy roles across UK organisations — anywhere the work is making other people understand and act. The Higher Diploma sits at the level employers expect for an experienced practitioner, not a junior. Typical roles include:

Training and Development Officer (CIPD pathway)
Internal Communications Officer
Learning Designer (digital and classroom blends)
Stakeholder Engagement Officer (public sector)
Knowledge and Change Coordinator
Personal Development Trainer (commercial)

Many graduates progress to a top-up BA or directly to a Master's in Communications, L&D or Organisational Development.

One pragmatic note for prospective applicants: UK schools, colleges, nurseries and adult-learning providers are recruiting beyond pre-pandemic levels, and the Higher Diploma in Professional Communication is designed to produce the documented portfolio that gets a CV read rather than only an academic transcript that does not. Coursework is structured so that, on graduation, you can hand a hiring manager three or four pieces of evidence — a project, a report, a deck, a documented intervention — that map directly to a published UK job description. Personal academic tutors also run two one-to-one careers conversations during the programme to keep that mapping honest.

Entry Requirements

An Advanced Diploma (Level 5), HND, Foundation Degree, or equivalent prior study in education, HR, communications or a related discipline.
Three years' relevant work experience considered in lieu of academic prerequisites (mature applicants who present, train or write professionally).
English language: IELTS 6.0 overall (no band below 5.5) for non-native English speakers.
A personal statement and one academic or professional reference.

Why Study at LSCT

The London School of Commerce and Technology (LSCT) is a specialist higher-education provider based in central London and part of Harold International College. We teach in small cohorts so every student is visible to their tutor, run a single intake schedule that students can rely on, and partner with UK professional bodies so qualifications carry weight with employers. London puts Whitehall, the City, Silicon Roundabout, the Royal Courts of Justice, the West End and the NHS estate within a short tube ride of every classroom — and our students use that proximity in their projects, placements and graduate job hunts. For communication students that proximity is a teaching resource: tutors run briefing exercises against live Whitehall consultation papers and analyse internal-comms campaigns from London-based employers.

The teaching model is small-cohort and tutor-led on purpose. Discussion-based seminars, regular formative feedback and structured peer-review are how professional-judgement is built — none of which scales to large lecture halls. Personal academic tutors are assigned at enrolment, and every student has a named contact for academic, pastoral and career-related questions. UK and international students mix in every cohort, which becomes an active strength in case sessions, group projects and the education-sector network that follows you after graduation.

Beyond classroom contact, the Higher Diploma in Professional Communication makes deliberate use of UK-specific resources that international comparators cannot reach as easily: open government data on the gov.uk estate, parliamentary publications, House of Commons Library briefings, Bank of England datasets, ONS releases and the open-access research output of British universities. Throughout the programme, tutors expect professional-judgement writing — reflective, evidence-based and aware of statutory frameworks. Graduates often describe leaving LSCT with a set of writing and analytical habits they continue to use across a UK career — not only a transcript and a portfolio.

Apply for Higher Diploma in Professional Communication

Close the gap to a Bachelor's degree with the Higher Diploma in Professional Communication. Click Enrol Now to apply; admissions confirm your credit-transfer route within one working day, including any APEL credits you may carry from prior CIPD or facilitation training.