Tertiary Accredited Courses


The accredited tertiary courses are either National Certificate courses for one year or National Diploma courses for two years. 
 
Admission requirements: A student needs to have completed his matric or an equivalent school leaving certificate. Alternatively, a student needs to complete two short tertiary courses offered by Pocket Classrooms. 
 
Application procedures: Each application is assessed individually based on its own merits. To enrol, complete the registration form and we will contact you after assessing your application. To enrol, click the "Sign Up" icon on the home page or click here (https://pocketclassrooms.net/Home/student_registration/ZA)
 
Please note that the tertiary accredited courses are not offered entirely online and students are required to attend physical classes for up to 45 days per year. These classes may be in Johannesburg or if demand exists, they can be held in any location where demand exists. Typically, they commence in January and end in November.
 
 

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

The purpose of the Further Education and Training Certificate: Beauty and Nail Technology are to develop the self-directed skills and knowledge of those employed in the beauty industry as nail technologists, beautician or make-up artists. It is designed for people who wish to extend their range of skills and knowledge of the industry and those wishing to follow a career in the beauty industry. The qualification is aimed at developing the necessary task skills, task management skills and job/role management skills of those working or intending to work in the beauty industry. The learners will be able to integrate the generic salon requisite skills, knowledge, values and attitudes with those specific to the beauty industry, ensuring the business in which they operate runs smoothly and offers excellent customer service according to industry standards.

This qualification is awarded to people who have demonstrated the relevant skills and knowledge required to perform a range of beauty services at a basic level within the salon environment. It will lead to entrepreneurial opportunities for learners already operating or joining this profession and enhance the self-image of each individual learner as he/she becomes more professional. Holders of this qualification are able to conduct the prescribed beauty service in a professional manner and maintain service excellence in all their operations.

The Further Education and Training Certificate: Beauty and Nail Technology are flexible enough to be offered informal education for those not in employment and as well as in an occupationally directed workplace for learners already employed in the beauty industry.

On achieving this qualification, the learner will be able to:

  • Set up a salon business.
  • Coordinate and perform a salon service.
  • Perform beauty services.
  • Perform nail services.

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

This qualification is for any individual who is, or wishes to be, involved in the Administration function in any organization or business in any sector, or field as well as in non-commercial organizations such as clubs and charitable organizations. It contains all the competencies, skills and values required by a learner who wishes to access the National Certificate in Business Administration Services at NQF: Level 4.

The core component contains competencies in Information Handling, Communications, Enterprise/customer service, Technology, Organisation skills, Self-development, Teamwork, and Business policies and procedures. The elective component allows the learner to gain specialist knowledge, skills and insight in the areas of Reception, Executive Administration, Financial Services and Banking, Legal administration and Human Resources.

Learners working towards this qualification will find that the acquisition of competence in the unit standards, which make up the qualification, will add value to their work performance. This qualification is intended to enhance the provision of service within the field of Administration within all sectors.

Through building day-to-day administration skills, as well as general operational competencies, the qualification ensures the progression of learning, enabling the learner to meet standards of service excellence required within the administration field of learning.
The qualification will provide the broad knowledge, skills, and values needed in the administration field in all sectors and will facilitate access to, and mobility and progression within, education and training for learners who:

  • Were previously disadvantaged or who were unable to complete their schooling and were therefore denied access to Further Education and Training.
  • Have worked in this field for many years, but have no formal qualifications and would like to achieve this qualification through the process of RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) and/or formal study
  • Wish to extend their range of skills and knowledge of administration within their respective industries so that they can extend their competency levels.

    The qualification has building blocks that can be developed further in qualifications at a higher level. It also focuses on the skills, knowledge, values, and attitudes required to progress further. The intention is:
  • To promote the development of knowledge, skills, and values that are required for service excellence within the field of administration.
  • To release the potential of people.
  • To provide opportunities for people to move up the value chain.

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

This General Education and Training Certificate: Business Practice is for utilization by all members of the population. Anyone preparing to become employed, or self-employed, in any business whatsoever would be the persons most likely to be attracted to this qualification. In fact, many newly (or not-so-newly) appointed personnel, or struggling entrepreneurs, could benefit from part or all of this qualification. It seeks to embed the six key literacies required by business organizations: Numeracy, Literacy, Entrepreneurial, Financial, Technological and Cognitive.

The GETC: Business Practice integrates the literacies into one qualification while also allowing each to be addressed separately in short courses and skills programs, based on the constituent unit standards.

Furthermore, this Certificate allows a seamless movement into the New Venture Creation learning way, thus providing bridging between South Africa's First and second Economies.

The Fundamental Component of the qualification enables learners to communicate and work with figures in a business environment, while the Core component offers empowerment in the areas of technology, life orientation, human and social sciences (customer service), economics and management (entrepreneurship), as well as cognition theory and practice. The qualification is aimed particularly at entry-level personnel, including those that operate their own business or are part owners in a business. It provides a grounding in the key business essentials while offering a range of elective choices which assist in preparing learners for the world of work.

The GETC would also suit non-entrepreneurs as it offers all the grounding required for operating in the business environment in South Africa.

The learner successfully completing this qualification will have gained the knowledge and ability to:

  • Use fundamental skills in a business environment.
  • Make appropriate use of Information and Communications Technology in an office setting.
  • Incorporate a range of life skills in an employment or self-employment situation.

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

This qualification is intended for persons who already work as Contact Centre and/or Business Process Outsourcing agents or who wish to join the contact centre and/or Business Process Outsourcing industry. The qualification provides an introduction to contact centre and/or Business Process Outsourcing operations. The qualification will equip learners with the underpinning knowledge and skills to be able to supply high-quality customer service.

Learners will be provided with competencies to handle both inbound and outbound interactions/traffic, within different types of operations of contact centre and/or Business Process Outsourcing. The qualification develops skills in the use of various communication channels e.g. telephone, fax, email, internet, intranet, multifunction devices, webchat, SMS and letters. The qualification also develops skills in dealing with walk-in clients. The qualification will also provide learning opportunities in the knowledge and skills required to perform back-office processes and tasks. Learners will have the opportunity to learn, develop and practice the skills required to make an effective contribution in a general contact centre and/or Business Process Outsourcing environment.

The qualification is the first in a learning pathway for people working in the call centre and/or BPO environments.

Learners accessing this qualification will be able to work in call centres involving marketing, account management, sales, hospitality, tourism, emergency services, retail, telecommunications, financial services, credit control, etc. The qualification covers the foundational areas of the contact centre and/or Business Process Outsourcing agent's role in the workplace.

On achieving this qualification the learner will be competent in:

  • Providing effective customer service in a contact centre and/or Business Process Outsourcing industry.
  • Using communication technology in the contact centre.
  • Capturing data to track interactions.
  • Working effectively as a team member in a group.

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

A person acquiring this qualification will be able to manage first line managers in an organisational entity. First line managers may include team leaders, supervisors, junior managers, section heads and foremen. The focus of this qualification is to enable learners to develop competence in a range of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values including:

  • Initiating, developing, implementing and evaluating operational strategies, projects and action plans, and where appropriate, recommending change within teams and/or the unit so as to improve the effectiveness of the unit.
  • Monitoring and measuring performance and applying continuous or innovative improvement interventions in the unit in order to attain its desired outcomes, including customer satisfaction, and thereby contributing towards the achievement of the objectives and vision of the entity.
  • Leading a team of first line managers, by capitalising on the talents of team members and promoting synergistic interaction between individuals and teams, to enhance individual, team and unit effectiveness in order to achieve the goals of the entity.
  • Building relationships using communication processes both vertically and horizontally within the unit, with superiors and with stakeholders across the value chain to ensure the achievement of intended outcomes.
  • Applying the principles of risk, financial and knowledge management and business ethics within internal and external regulatory frameworks in order to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the unit.

·  Enhancing the development of teams and team members through facilitating the acquisition of skills, coaching, providing career direction, and capitalising on diversity in the unit.

The skills, knowledge and understanding demonstrated within this qualification are essential for the creation of a talent pool of experienced and effective middle managers that represents the demographics of the South African society. This qualification will create a leadership cadre for the South African society throughout multiple industries and sectors both private and public.

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

This qualification enables learners to develop towards becoming professional hairdressers. This is the first of three qualifications which culminate in a professional hairdressing qualification. This Qualification is designed to serve as an introduction to the hairdressing industry and provide the learner with the basics of hairdressing. In particular, the NQF Level 2 qualification should result in the learner becoming a competent Operator, capable of:

  • Operating safely within the salon environment.
  • Maintaining professional standards of hygiene and image.
  • Completing straightforward hairdressing services, such as shampooing and conditioning, unsupervised.
  • Competently assisting the professional stylist with more complex services.


The elective unit standards provide for a wide range of possible areas of focus from providing an early opportunity to tackle units standards such as dreadlocks and braiding which are core unit standards at later levels, through some computer-oriented unit standards on email, the internet, and word-processing, to more specialised salon areas such as advanced massage.

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

This diploma will be useful to people who operationalise some aspects of the core processes and practices at a basic level across the four role clusters in human resources management and practices:

  • Strategic planning for human resources management and practices.
  • Acquisition, development, and utilisation of people.
  • Establishment and improvement of labour and employee relations.
  • Compensation and administration related to human resources management and practices. 

Holders of the qualification will be able to operationalise some aspects of the core human resources management processes at a basic level and integrate them into an organisation's business processes.

Holding the qualification will enable holders to enter learning programs for a generalist degree in Human Resources Management and Practices.

Holding this qualification could serve as a requirement for professional registration at the associate level.

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

A person acquiring this qualification will be able to manage first line managers in an organisational entity. First line managers may include team leaders, supervisors, junior managers, section heads and foremen. The focus of this qualification is to enable learners to develop competence in a range of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values including:

  • Initiating, developing, implementing and evaluating operational strategies, projects and action plans, and where appropriate, recommending change within teams and/or the unit so as to improve the effectiveness of the unit.
  • Monitoring and measuring performance and applying continuous or innovative improvement interventions in the unit in order to attain its desired outcomes, including customer satisfaction, and thereby contributing towards the achievement of the objectives and vision of the entity.
  • Leading a team of first line managers, by capitalising on the talents of team members and promoting synergistic interaction between individuals and teams, to enhance individual, team and unit effectiveness in order to achieve the goals of the entity.
  • Building relationships using communication processes both vertically and horizontally within the unit, with superiors and with stakeholders across the value chain to ensure the achievement of intended outcomes.
  • Applying the principles of risk, financial and knowledge management and business ethics within internal and external regulatory frameworks in order to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the unit.
  • Enhancing the development of teams and team members through facilitating the acquisition of skills, coaching, providing career direction, and capitalising on diversity in the unit. 


The skills, knowledge and understanding demonstrated within this qualification are essential for the creation of a talent pool of experienced and effective middle managers that represents the demographics of the South African society. This qualification will create a leadership cadre for the South African society throughout multiple industries and sectors both private and public.

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

The purpose of this qualification is to provide learners with the knowledge to further their learning in the field of Business Administration, and in order to advance their careers, as well as to qualify for entry to an appropriate Diploma qualification at NQF Level 5.

The qualification will allow entry into, or further development and expertise in, the following areas of application:

  • Accounting
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Business communication in a first and second language
  • Computer skills
  • Risk and project management
  • Business management and governance
  • Marketing
  • Corporate secretaryship
  • Business calculations

    Qualifying learners are capable of:
  • Engaging in sustained oral communication and evaluating spoken texts
  • Reading, analysing and responding to a variety of texts
  • Writing for a wide range of contexts
  • Using language and communication in occupational learning programmes
  • Representing, analysing and calculating shape and motion in 2-and 3-dimensional space in different contexts
  • Applying knowledge of statistics and probability to critically interrogate and effectively communicate findings on life related problems
  • Using mathematics to investigate and monitor the financial aspects of personal, business, and national issues
  • Accommodating audience and context needs in oral communication in a second language
  • Interpreting and using information from texts in a second language
  • Writing texts for a range of communicative contexts in a second language
  • Interpreting a variety of literary texts in a second language
  • Producing accounting reports
  • Recording and processing workplace transactions
  • Assessing legal contracts for business
  • Complying to legal requirements in business
  • Analysing people related risks in an organisation in order to control the risk
  • Demonstrating knowledge and understanding of South African law and the regulation of risk management
  • Determining risk exposure in order to manage the risk in a specific situation
  • Explaining the nature of risk and the risk management process
  • Developing administrative procedures in a selected organisation
  • Managing administration records
  • Applying efficient time management to the work of a department/division/section

    Qualifying learners will also elect to attain competencies from among the following:
  • Showing entrepreneurial competence
  • Managing entrepreneurial finance
  • Monitoring marketing information flow and collecting and processing marketing data
  • Identifying and utilising marketing resources to meet objectives
  • Liaising with a range of customers of a business
  • Describing features, advantages and benefits of a range of products
  • Applying basic business principles
  • Describing information systems departments in business organisations
  • Applying problem solving strategies
  • Investigating the use of computer technology in an organisation
  • Describing and installing a facsimile machine
  • Describing and installing computer printers
  • Describing and installing scanning systems
  • Describing and installing photocopier machines
  • Installing a personal computer or handheld computer and peripherals

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

The purpose of the Qualification is to develop the appropriate skills and knowledge required by a person for the establishment and development of a small to medium business venture and address the economic, administrative and behavioral (psycho-social) barriers that contribute to success in starting and sustaining the venture.

This qualification is intended for persons who wish to start, operate, manage and grow a new small to medium business venture. Learners attempting this qualification will be equipped with a variety of technical, business managerial and personal skills and strategies to help them succeed in the creation and sustenance of a business. The successful learner will develop a sound foundation for the application of these skills and knowledge to explore a diverse range of entrepreneurial opportunities.

Recipients of this qualification will be able to:

  • Demonstrate an ability to identify and create a new venture.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of interpersonal skills required in a business environment.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of basic economics within a market economy.
  • Manage a new venture by applying business principles and techniques.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the role of leadership and management.

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

The primary purpose of the qualification is to provide learners with:

  • A foundation of basic project management knowledge and skills which can be used to build further project management related competencies.
  • Competence to be an effective project team member.
  • Competence to provide administrative support to a project manager and team members.
  • Competence to provide assistance to a project manager of medium to large projects.

    As electives specialisation in:
  • Competence to plan, execute and control small, simple projects.
    OR
  • Competence in specialised technical areas to support project management processes.

    This qualification is directed at learners working:
  • As contributing team members on a moderately complex to complex project when not a leader or;
  • As a leader in the context of a simple project/sub-project. 


A simple project/sub-project is seen to be one that involves few resources and has a limited impact on stakeholders and the environment.

This qualification is intended for those with prior work experience or an NQF Level 3 qualification in project management or business administration or equivalent. The learners accessing this qualification will be working in or with project management teams or using a project approach to their business. These projects may be technical projects, business projects, government projects or community development projects and will cut across a range of economic sectors. This qualification is also of value to learners running their own business, as project management is an integral component of any business system.

Qualifying learners working on a project will have the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to function more effectively and in a professional manner, add value to their job performance and enhance their ability to follow and implement policies and procedures.

On achieving the applied competencies of the Qualification, learners may advance their career opportunities further into project administration, support services or management within an organisation, in all sectors.