Diploma in Information Technology
Foundation IT skills and a pathway into degree study
About this programme
A foundation qualification that gives you the core knowledge, technical fluency, and hands-on skills to step into the IT workforce or progress into degree-level study. You’ll build a strong IT foundation and then specialise in one of our three industry-aligned areas.
Scope of study
A strong common IT foundation across all majors, followed by focused study in your chosen major and an applied Industry Project that puts your skills to work on a real-world problem.
Key features
- A strong common IT foundation across all majors
- Choice of three industry-aligned majors
- An applied Industry Project that puts your skills to work on a real-world problem
- A direct pathway into the Bachelor in Information Technology
- Curriculum designed to support entry-level industry certification pathways
- Access to advanced virtual labs in Cybersecurity, Cloud, Data, and Software Development
Choose your specialisation
This qualification lets you specialise in one of three areas that are consistently among the most in-demand across the global technology job market. You carry your specialisation through your studies, building genuine depth while keeping a strong, broad IT foundation.
Cybersecurity & Information Security
Protect organisations from the threats that never stop evolving. You’ll learn to defend networks and systems, monitor for and respond to security incidents, manage risk, and help organisations meet their security and compliance obligations.
What you’ll study: Security operations, network and system security, identity and access, incident response, digital forensics, cryptography, and governance, risk & compliance.
Where it can lead: IT Security Technician, Cybersecurity Analyst, SOC Analyst, Security Operations Lead, Incident Response Specialist, GRC Analyst, Information Security Manager
Software Applications & Cloud
Build the software and cloud services people rely on. You’ll learn to develop web and mobile applications, work with modern cloud platforms, and adopt the DevOps practices that get software into users’ hands reliably and at scale.
What you’ll study: Programming, web and mobile development, cloud services, APIs and microservices, DevOps and CI/CD, software architecture, and quality and testing.
Where it can lead: Junior Developer, Software Developer, Application Developer, Full-Stack Developer, Cloud Support Engineer, DevOps Practitioner, Cloud Solutions Architect, IT Applications Manager
Data Analytics & Business Intelligence
Turn data into decisions. You’ll learn to prepare and model data, build dashboards and reports, apply statistics and machine learning, and tell the story behind the numbers so organisations can act with confidence.
What you’ll study: SQL and data preparation, business intelligence platforms, data visualisation and storytelling, applied statistics, machine learning for analysts, and data governance, privacy and ethics.
Where it can lead: Junior Data Analyst, Data Analyst, BI Analyst, Analytics Consultant, BI Developer, Senior Data Analyst, BI Manager, Head of Analytics
Entry requirements
Completion of secondary education or a recognised equivalent, plus English proficiency. Alternative entry may be available through recognition of prior learning.
Pathway
Graduates can progress into the Bachelor in Information Technology with advanced standing where appropriate, or — with bridging — into ETAS engineering degrees.
Learn by doing — advanced virtual laboratories
Practical work happens in advanced virtual laboratories you launch straight from the learning portal.
- Cybersecurity Range — Attack and defend isolated networks in a safe, contained environment; run realistic security-operations and incident-response scenarios.
- Cloud Lab — Provision, scale, and monitor real cloud environments across major cloud platforms.
- Software Development Lab — Collaborative code repositories and modern application stacks for full-stack and mobile development.
- Data & Analytics Lab — Data workbenches, BI dashboards, and notebook environments for applied analytics.
- AI Notebook Environment — GPU-backed notebooks for applied machine-learning work.
- Networking & Systems Lab — Virtual networks, servers, and services for hands-on networking and systems work.