The second year of a computing degree in six units: build, store, analyse, manage, connect, deliver.
Level, credits, hours, units and Ofqual number are taken from the OTHM specification and the Ofqual register. Duration, study modes, fees and intake dates are set by London School of Planning and Management (LSPM), the approved centre.
This diploma covers the six things a general IT practitioner is expected to be able to do after two years of study: engineer software, design and query databases, analyse and design systems, understand management information systems, work with networked information systems and manage an IT project. Each is a 20-credit unit. Across the six that comes to 120 credits, a total qualification time of 1,200 hours and 480 guided learning hours, regulated under 603/3614/6.
The lower guided-hours figure compared with the business diplomas at the same level reflects how the units are taught: more independent practical work, less seminar time. Learners spend a large part of the 720 unguided hours building things: a small application, a normalised database, a network design, a project plan.
The programme is deliberately general. Learners who already know they want security should look at the Qualifi Cyber Security diploma or the OTHM Cyber Security Extended Diploma in the same sector; those who want the broadest possible base for a computing top-up, or who work in IT support and want to move into development or analysis, are the intended audience here.
Same awarding body, same sector, same Level 5 outcome. The Extended Diploma includes the Level 4 stage; the Diploma assumes you already hold it.
Choose this if you already hold a Level 4 qualification in a related subject and only need the Level 5 stage.
Choose this if your highest qualification is at Level 3 and you want one enrolment that ends at year-two equivalence.
6 of the Level 5 unit titles appear in both programmes. Whichever route you take, you finish in the same credit position: 240 credits across Levels 4 and 5. The Extended Diploma reaches it under one registration and one certificate; the Diploma assumes a separate Level 4 award came first.
6 × 20 credits.
| # | Unit title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Software Engineering | 20 |
| 02 | Database Systems | 20 |
| 03 | Advanced Systems Analysis and Design | 20 |
| 04 | Management Information Systems | 20 |
| 05 | Network Information Systems | 20 |
| 06 | IT Project Management | 20 |
| Total credits | 120 | |
Unit titles and credit values from the OTHM specification.
How LSPM sequences them. LSPM sequences Database Systems and Software Engineering first and together, because the software unit's practical builds on a database designed in the other. Advanced Systems Analysis and Design follows, then Network Information Systems and Management Information Systems as a pair, with IT Project Management last so that its assignment can plan the delivery of the system analysed earlier in the programme.
OTHM's published criteria, quoted as data. London School of Planning and Management (LSPM) checks each applicant against them before registration.
Source: OTHM specification. OTHM asks for a Level 4 diploma in a related subject or equivalent, at 18 or over, with English at a level suitable for study. LSPM does not require prior programming beyond what a Level 4 IT diploma provides, but at interview it asks applicants to describe something they have built or configured, however small, to check that the practical emphasis of the programme suits them.
Assignments are practical artefacts with written justification: a working software component and its design documentation, a database with schema and queries, a systems analysis report with models, an MIS evaluation, a network design and a project plan with schedule and risk register. Word counts are lower than in the business diplomas because the artefact carries much of the evidence. See how LSPM teaches and assesses for the marking and verification process.
LSPM's tutors mark and give written feedback. OTHM samples marked work before results are ratified. A referred submission can be reworked after feedback.
OTHM Level 6 Diploma in Information Technology.
Final-year entry to a BSc (Hons) in Computing, Information Technology or Information Systems at universities that map the six units; the database and software units are the ones most often scrutinised.
Junior developer, systems analyst, database administrator or IT project coordinator roles.
The specification does not prescribe one. LSPM teaches in a mainstream general-purpose language and accepts assignments in any language the tutor can assess; the unit assesses engineering practice, not syntax.
Security is treated within the networks and MIS units as a design concern, not as a subject in its own right. If security is your goal, compare this programme with the two cyber security programmes in the same sector.
OTHM allocates guided hours per qualification according to how it expects the content to be learned. IT units are heavily practical and self-directed, so a higher share of the 1,200 total qualification hours is unguided. It is not a measure of difficulty.
Yes, one capable of running a development environment and a database server locally. LSPM provides software and specifications for what is needed at induction; no paid licences are required.
Tell us what you hold now and we will say whether you are likely to meet OTHM's criteria; LSPM confirms eligibility and the next intake.