Are There 1-Year Diploma Courses At Unisa?

Unisa does not offer one-year diplomas. Its diplomas carry 240 or 360 credits at NQF Level 6, and students may register for at most 120 credits a year, so a 240-credit diploma takes at least two years and a 360-credit diploma at least three. What you can finish in one year of full-time study at Unisa is a 120-credit qualification, such as a higher certificate.

Unisa qualifications by size

Qualification	Credits	NQF level	Minimum time at 120 credits a year
Higher certificate	120	5	One year
Advanced certificate	120	6	One year
Diploma	240 or 360	6	Two or three years
Advanced diploma	120	7	One year (needs a diploma first)
Bachelor’s degree	360 or 480	7 or 8	Three or four years
Postgraduate diploma or honours	120 or more	8	One year or longer

Most Unisa students study part time and take longer than the minimum. Unisa’s rules also set a maximum: four years for a 120-credit qualification, six for 240 credits and eight for 360 credits.

One-year options if you want to start working sooner

• A higher certificate. For example, the Higher Certificate in Accounting Sciences. See Unisa higher certificates and their requirements.
• An advanced diploma, if you already hold a relevant diploma.
• A short learning programme. These do not lead to a certificate, diploma or degree, but some take less than a year. See registering for short learning programmes.

Load rules that decide how fast you finish

• A normal maximum of 60 credits a semester or 120 credits a year.
• Final-year students with an average of at least 55% may apply for 24 extra credits.
• Most undergraduate modules are 12 credits, so 120 credits is about ten modules a year.

Check the exact structure of any diploma on Unisa’s website, and estimate costs with Unisa’s fee quotation tool. Related: how long a higher certificate takes and how many credits a diploma has.

Frequently asked questions