Individual Professional Award
Mode of Attendance: Distance Learning
Description
The Short Course Scheme has been a tremendous experience, enabling my return to higher education while balancing career and family. I have applied the thinking and learning gained to my work with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, designing with stakeholders an incentive-based project for tourism and forestry.
Grant A Ritchie – Manager, NER Planning Unit
Whether you’re looking to update your professional skills, or wanting to sample distance learning before embarking on a postgraduate degree, we offer our modules for individual study.
The Individual Professional Award (IPA) scheme enables you to study one or more outside the structure of a formal CeDEP degree programme.
Most students study for IPAs over the course of a study year (30 weeks: February to October). However, for selected modules**, there is a second entry point during the year where students can study for an award in a shorter period (15 weeks: June to October). For further information and a list of modules available for June entry, see the Study Modules section at the bottom of this.
Benefiting from the Individual Professional Award
In general, the Individual Professional Award caters for three categories of students:
Category I - Professional Updating
Those wishing to take an individual module or modules on a one-off basis for reasons of professional updating and/or special interest. They may select from any of the modules shown in the list below.
Category II - Sampler
Those wishing to ‘sample’ a programme before deciding whether to apply for MSc, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate registration. These students are advised to choose from the modules available, one which is a core module from the programme of interest to them.
Category III - Qualifier
Those required to pass one module initially in order to qualify for consideration for entry to the Postgraduate Certificate. These students MUST select one module from the list of core modules of your proposed programme of study
Registration and Examination
Entry to study an IPA is at the discretion of CeDEP, with each application assessed on merit. As with all CeDEP qualifications, registration is with the University of London.
Registration is for one year only, and students will be examined at the end of the study year*. On satisfactory completion of the module(s), including examination, students receive an IPA certificate from the University of London.
IPA students who are subsequently registered for either the MSc or Postgraduate Diploma will be credited with any relevant modules successfully completed under the IPA scheme.
Students may complete a maximum of three IPA modules.
*IPA Module R106 Research Methods is examined through written assignments rather than final written examination. For more information on assessment and examinations see the Assessment page.
Modules available as Individual Professional Awards
**Module also available for June enrolment.
