Between them UK universities and colleges of further and higher education offer over 45,000 degree and diploma courses (entry 2001).

So what's the difference?

Degrees Most degree courses last 3 or 4 years, although certain courses such as medicine, architecture etc. may require longer periods of study. Entry requirements for degree courses vary depending on the institution and the course chosen.

Diploma courses Diploma courses may either be DipHE (Diploma of Higher Education) or HNDs (Higher National Diploma). HNDs and DipHEs usually last two years, with the possibility of proceeding to a degree conversion course on completion. Diploma courses are usually vocational in nature.

Which subject? Which career? Before choosing a specific course it is essential to conduct some research into your eventual career aims. You may already have a career idea in mind and intend to study a specific 'vocational' course in order to achieve your aim, for example, veterinary science, medicine or librarianship. If you haven't got a specific career idea, you may like to check out entry requirements for various careers you're interested in before committing yourself to a course.(www.connexionscard.gov.uk) If you've already chosen the subject you want to study but are unsure which careers your subject may be useful for a good starting point is www.prospects.csu.ac.uk - which contains information on what graduates do?

Entry requirements For students applying to start higher education courses from 2002 a new entry requirements system - the UCAS tariff - has been introduced. The new tariff has been designed to take into account the changes in post 16 education and will allow more accurate comparisons to be made between different types of qualification. For more detail, check out the UCAS website on www.ucas.com