Post-secondary non-tertiary education

Post-secondary non-tertiary education provides learning experiences building on secondary education, preparing for labour market entry as well as tertiary education. It aims at the individual acquisition of knowledge, skills and competencies lower than the level of complexity characteristic of tertiary education. Programmes at ISCED level 4, or post-secondary non-tertiary education, are typically designed to provide individuals who completed ISCED level 3 with non-tertiary qualifications required for progression to tertiary education or for employment when their ISCED level 3 qualification does not grant such access. For example, graduates from general ISCED level 3 programmes may choose to complete a non-tertiary vocational qualification; or graduates from vocational ISCED level 3 programmes may choose to increase their level of qualifications or specialise further. The content of ISCED level 4 programmes is not sufficiently complex to be regarded as tertiary education, although it is clearly post-secondary.

The completion of an ISCED level 3 programme is required to enter ISCED level 4 programmes. However, these entry requirements may be lower than for tertiary programmes at ISCED level 5, 6 or 7.

Usually, programmes at this level are designed for direct labour market entry. In some education systems, there are general programmes at this level. Such programmes typically target students who have completed ISCED level 3 but who want to increase their opportunities to enter tertiary education.

Programmes classified at ISCED level 4 may be referred to in many ways, for example: technician diploma, primary professional education, or préparation aux carrières administratives. For international comparability purposes the term ‘post-secondary non-tertiary education’ is used to label ISCED level 4.

For the definition of post-secondary non-tertiary education, the following criteria are relevant:

Main criteria
a) Orientation;
b) Complexity of content higher than ISCED level 3 and below the level of tertiary education; and
c) Entry requirements.

Subsidiary criteria
None.

ISCED level 4 programmes are not considered to be tertiary education and are typically vocational and terminal programmes that prepare for the labour market. General programmes at this level can exist in some education systems. Programmes designed to review the content of ISCED level 3 programmes – for example, with the aim of preparing students for tertiary education entrance examinations – should be included in ISCED level 3.

ISCED level 4 programmes often serve to broaden – rather than deepen – the knowledge, skills and competencies of participants who have completed a programme at ISCED level 3. Programmes are often not significantly more advanced than programmes at ISCED level 3, but the content is typically more specialised or detailed than at the upper secondary level of education. Programmes are clearly less advanced than at the tertiary level and can be provided in a variety of institutional settings, not only those considered as post-secondary non-tertiary institutions.

This level includes adult education programmes similar in complexity of content to the education given in programmes already classified at this level.

Two dimensions differentiate education programmes at ISCED level 4:
• Programme orientation; and
• Level completion and access to higher ISCED levels.

Programme orientation

The following two orientation categories are defined:
• General education; and
• Vocational education.

Level completion and access to higher ISCED levels

The following three level completion and access sub-categories are defined for ISCED level 4:
• No completion of ISCED level 4: modules or stages of programmes which are too short for level completion. These do not give access to first tertiary education programmes at ISCED level 5, 6 or 7. Successful completion of such modules or stages does not count as completion of ISCED level 4.
• Completion of ISCED level 4 without direct access to first tertiary programmes at ISCED level 5, 6 or 7: programmes designed primarily for direct labour market entry.
• Completion of ISCED level 4 with direct access to first tertiary programmes at ISCED level 5, 6 or 7: programmes designed primarily to expand access to tertiary education.