Course Overview
NCFE Level 4 Diploma: Data Engineer (HTQ)
Awarding Organisation | NCFE |
Teaching Institution | London School of Commerce & IT (LSCI) |
Programme Title | NCFE Level 5 Diploma: Data Engineer |
Name of the final award | NCFE Level 5 Diploma: Data Engineer |
Higher Education Qualification Framework | Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ) |
Level | Level 5 |
Qualification number | 610/5972/9 |
Duration of study | 1 year |
Credit Value | 120 |
Guided Learning Hours (GLH) | 540 |
Total Qualification Time (TQT) | 1200 |
Mode of Study | Full Time (FT) |
Minimum Age | 18 |
Intakes | September; January; April |
Course fees (correct at the time of publication in April 2026) | £6,185 |
About this qualification
A higher technical qualification (HTQ) is a prestigious, kite-marked qualification aimed at meeting employers’ needs and increasing learner engagement in level 4 or 5 technical education. This HTQ content has been aligned with the Data Engineer apprenticeship standard.
This qualification aims to:
- provide the knowledge, skills and behaviours that are needed to enter occupations across the country
- be understood and recognised as high quality by employers and so have national labour market currency
- give learners confidence that those qualifications are recognised by employers and are perceived to be a credible, prestigious and distinct pathway.
Aims and Objectives
This qualification aims to:
- focus on the study of data engineering within the digital sector
- offer breadth and depth of study, incorporating a key core of knowledge
- provide opportunities to acquire a number of practical and technical skills.
The objectives of this qualification are to provide learners with knowledge, skills and behaviours related to the following areas:
- data engineering principles and foundations
- data architecture and management
- data pipelines and automation
- software development for data products
- data analytics, business intelligence and incident management
- professional practice and continuous improvement in data engineering.
Achieving this qualification
To be awarded this qualification, learners are required to successfully achieve 120 credits overall, which is a minimum of a pass in each of the 6 graded mandatory units. To achieve this qualification, learners must successfully demonstrate their achievement of all LOs of the units as detailed in this Qualification Specification. A partial certificate may be requested for learners who do not achieve the full qualification but have achieved at least one whole unit.
Progression
Learners who achieve this qualification could progress to the following:
- employment: data engineer
- machine learning engineer
- data architect
- ETL developer
- further education: related apprenticeships
- higher education: data science degree.
Entry Requirements and Guidance
This qualification is designed for learners who want to advance their career within data engineering. It may also be useful to those with suitable industry experience, learners studying other related qualifications within the digital sector, or for those studying qualifications in the following area:
- data analyst.
There are no specific prior skills/knowledge a learner must have for this qualification. However, learners may find it helpful if they have already achieved a level 4 qualification.
Learners registered on this qualification should not undertake another qualification at the same level, or with the same/a similar title, as duplication of learning may affect funding eligibility.
Course structure
To be awarded this qualification, learners are required to successfully achieve 120 credits overall, which is a minimum of a pass in each of the 6 graded mandatory units.
Mandatory units
NCFE Level 5 Diploma: Data Engineer | Credit value |
Unit 01 Data engineering principles and foundations (K/651/6932) | 20 |
Unit 02 Data architecture and management (L/651/6933) | 15 |
Unit 03 Data pipelines and automation (M/651/6934) | 25 |
Unit 04 Software development for data products (R/651/6935) | 25 |
Unit 05 Data analytics, business intelligence and incident management (T/651/6936) | 20 |
Unit 06 Professional practice and continuous improvement in data engineering (Y/651/6937) | 15 |
How the qualification is assessed?
Assessment is the process of measuring a learner’s skill, knowledge and understanding against the standards set in a qualification.
This qualification is internally assessed and externally quality assured portfolio of evidence, including task-based assessments.
The assessment consists of:
- an internally assessed portfolio of evidence, which is assessed by the teacher/assessor, internal quality assurance by the College and externally quality assured by NCFE.
Learners must be successful to gain the NCFE Level 5 Diploma: Data Engineer. All the evidence generated by the learner will be assessed against the standards expected of a level 5 learner for each LO.
Resubmission
Learners are only permitted one resubmission of internally assessed work, who fail a component at the first attempt. In these circumstances, learners can only achieve a pass grade for the relevant components.
Student Finance
This qualification may be eligible for funding.
A Tuition Fee Loan is available to most UK students. The loan is administered by the Student Loan Company. The tuition fee loan is paid directly to the College.
A maintenance loan for living costs is also available. The amount a student get depends on his/her personal circumstances and household income.
The online calculator (https://www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator) will give an accurate idea of what level of student funding a student may be eligible for.