Higher Diploma

A higher diploma is an academic award in Iraq, Libya, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and Oman. In Iraq it's one year after bachelor's degree,In Libya the award is equivalent to a bachelor's degree in engineering or technology, in Hong Kong and Ireland it is above the standard of the bachelor's degree. In the United Kingdom, the diploma is equivalent to higher tier (A*-C) GCSE.

A postgraduate university program is the 2-Terms Diploma (Arabic: دبلوم عالي ) course. The first year is made up of higher coursework, and students write a thesis after the 2 terms. The entrance requirement for this programme is a pass mark (50-59%) for the bachelor's degree in the same discipline.

In terms of level, the Post graduate Diploma (Arabic: دبلوم عالي ) is comparable to a 1-year WO master’s degree in a similar specialization in the Netherlands.

The Higher Diploma AKA High Diploma (Arabic: دبلوم عالي) in Libya is an award from a national institute of technology or engineering given to the students who fulfil the requirement of passing 120 to 140 academic credits, it was started in 1990 by ministry of education and training as a degree equivalent to bachelors in engineering or technology with emphasis on the practical studies that benefits the local market comparing to the "theoretical approach" was taken by the universities. The student granted Higher diploma has the right to join a graduate course directly without any extra classes as clearly stated in the law of higher education in Libya, and to be employed in the government with the same employment degree and state as the one who has B.Sc degree as also stated clearly in the law of employment.

From 2009 the government has issued a law in which the institutes of higher education will change into Colleges of Higher Education and to change the degree that given by them to bachelor's degree, in order to meet the world standards.

In the UK, the higher diploma is a level 2 qualification on the Regulated Qualifications Framework, following the recently introduced 14- to 19-year-old Diploma system for the UK, which follows two levels, lower tier (Level 1) and higher tier (Level 2). To proceed to A-Levels in England Northern Ireland and Wales, you have to have completed a specified amount of qualifications at least equivalent to A*-C GCSE (Level 2).

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