The Level 5 teaching diploma for post-16 education: four mandatory units, optional specialisms and assessed teaching practice.
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 is a different animal from every other programme on this site. It is not the second year of a subject degree but a teaching qualification for the further education and skills sector, comparable in level and purpose to a Certificate in Education. Its mandatory core is four units: Teaching, learning and assessment in education and training (20 credits), Theories, principles and models in education and training (20), Developing teaching, learning and assessment in education and training (20) and Wider professional practice and development in education and training (15). Learners then choose from an optional Group B list of 26 units, ranging from 3 to 15 credits each, to reach the total the specification requires.
The table on this site shows 75 credits against this programme. That is the mandatory sum as published by OTHM; the full qualification value including options is stated in the specification, and the optional units a learner selects determine how they reach it. Total qualification time is 1,200 hours with 360 guided, and it is regulated under 603/6069/0. Uniquely in this catalogue, it requires a minimum of 100 hours of teaching practice, observed and evidenced.
It is for people teaching or about to teach in colleges, adult and community learning, training providers, prisons and workplace training. It is not for schoolteachers (who need qualified teacher status through a different route) and it is not a Level 5 subject qualification for progression to a degree top-up in the usual sense, though universities do accept it towards education degrees.
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.
4 mandatory, 26 optional. Optional Units: Group B.
| # | Unit title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Mandatory units · 4 | ||
| 01 | Teaching, learning and assessment in education and training | 20 |
| 02 | Theories, principles and models in education and training | 20 |
| 03 | Developing teaching, learning and assessment in education and training | 20 |
| 04 | Wider professional practice in education and training | 15 |
| Optional Units: Group B · 26 listed | ||
| 05 | Develop and prepare resources for learning and development | 6 |
| 06 | Develop learning and development programmes | 6 |
| 07 | Equality and diversity | 6 |
| 08 | Evaluating learning programmes | 3 |
| 09 | Identify the learning needs of organisations | 6 |
| 10 | Manage learning and development in groups | 6 |
| 11 | Understanding and managing behaviours in a learning environment | 6 |
| 12 | Action research | 15 |
| 13 | Delivering Employability Skills | 6 |
| 14 | Effective Partnerships Working in the Learning and Teaching Context | 15 |
| 15 | Engage with Employers to Facilitate Workforces Development | 6 |
| 16 | Inclusive Practice | 15 |
| 17 | Internally Assure the Quality of Assessment | 6 |
| 18 | Preparing for the Coaching Role | 3 |
| 19 | Preparing for the Mentoring Role | 3 |
| 20 | Preparing for the Personal Tutoring Role | 3 |
| 21 | Principles and Practice of Lip-reading Teaching | 12 |
| 22 | Specialist Delivery Techniques and Activities | 9 |
| 23 | Teaching in a Specialist Area | 15 |
| 24 | Understanding and Managing Behaviours in a Learning Environment | 6 |
| 25 | Understanding the Principles and Practices of Externally Assuring the Quality of Assessment | 6 |
| 26 | Understanding the Principles and Practices of Internally Assuring the Quality of Assessment | 6 |
| 27 | Action Learning to Support Development of Subject Specific Pedagogy | 15 |
| 28 | Developing, Using and Organising Resources Within a Specialist Area | 15 |
| 29 | Action Learning for Teaching in a Specialist Area of Disability | 15 |
| 30 | Understanding Theories and Frameworks for Teaching Disabled Learners | 15 |
| Mandatory credits | 75 | |
Unit titles and credit values from the OTHM specification.
How LSPM sequences them. The four mandatory units are taught in the order listed, with teaching practice running alongside from the first month so that theory and observed practice inform each other. Optional units are chosen with an LSPM tutor in the first term from the Group B list according to the learner's teaching context: a learner in an English or mathematics setting, in special educational needs, or in a specific vocational area will be steered to the options that match. LSPM does not offer all 26 options every year; ask which are running before you apply.
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's entry list for this programme is longer than for any other in this catalogue and LSPM applies all of it: age 19 or over, a Level 3 qualification in the subject you will teach (or equivalent), access to at least 100 hours of teaching practice in an appropriate setting, English and mathematics at the level of the minimum core, and a criminal-record check appropriate to the setting. Applicants without a placement are helped by LSPM to find one but cannot start until it is confirmed, because the observed hours are mandatory.
A mix unlike the other programmes here: written assignments for the theory units, a portfolio of evidence from teaching practice including schemes of work, session plans, resources and assessment records, a minimum of eight observed teaching sessions across the programme with written feedback, and a professional development record. Optional units carry their own assessment appropriate to their content. 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.
Application for Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status through the professional body for the sector, for which a Level 5 teaching qualification is the usual prerequisite.
A BA (Hons) in Education or Education and Training top-up at universities that recognise the diploma.
Lecturer, trainer and assessor posts in further education colleges, adult education, apprenticeship providers and workplace training.
Because 75 is the sum of the four mandatory units as OTHM publishes them, and the rest of the qualification is made up from the Group B optional list. The total value is in the specification. We show what the source states rather than add a total of our own.
It is OTHM's Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training, which sits at the same level and serves the same purpose as the Diploma in Education and Training offered by other awarding bodies and the Certificate in Education offered by universities. Employers in further education generally treat them as equivalent; check with any specific employer.
You need a teaching context that provides at least 100 hours of practice with learners, observed by a qualified observer. Voluntary or part-time teaching counts if the setting is appropriate. LSPM can help you find a placement, but the programme does not start until one is in place.
It depends on where you teach. The Group B list covers subject-specialist teaching, inclusive practice, assessment, coaching and mentoring, and more. Your tutor will help you select options that fit your context and that LSPM is running that year.
It is the kind of Level 5 teaching qualification that the sector's professional body accepts as the basis for QTLS professional formation. QTLS itself is a separate process with its own requirements, which you undertake after the diploma.
The expectation that teachers in the sector have personal skills in English, mathematics and digital literacy at a level that lets them support learners in those areas. LSPM checks this at entry and develops it through the programme.
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.