In brief

What you are signing up for

Web Design and Web Programming are the pathway pair here: the first is about layout, usability, accessibility and visual language; the second about making it function, from front-end scripting to talking to a database. Underneath sit the four common Qualifi IT units, covering professional ethics, quantitative methods, hardware and operating systems, and graphics editing with databases, and the graphics editing content in that last unit feeds the design work directly.

Learners often arrive having built a site or two with a template tool and wanting to understand what the tool was doing. By the end you will have designed, built and tested a multi-page site with a database behind it, documented your design decisions and evaluated it against accessibility standards. Compared with the E-commerce pathway, which takes interface design and Android programming as its specialist units, this diploma stays with the browser. It is 120 credits at Level 4 and does not include any vendor or design-body certification.

Intended photograph: Intended photograph: a learner comparing a paper wireframe against the same page rendered on a laptop, sticky notes marking accessibility fixes. Any teaching setting shown would be LSPM's; this site has no premises of its own.
Contents

The six units

  1. Information Technology and IT Ethics
  2. Mathematics and Statistics for IT
  3. PC Maintenance and Operating Systems
  4. Computer Graphics Editing and Database Concepts
  5. Web Design
  6. Web Programming
six mandatory units, no optional units 120 credits

Unit titles and credit values are taken from the Qualifi qualification specification. The order in which LSPM teaches them is set by LSPM and confirmed at enrolment.

Common core first, with Computer Graphics Editing and Database Concepts placed immediately before Web Design so the visual skills are fresh. Web Programming is last, building on the site designed in the previous unit.

Entry

Entry requirements

Qualifi sets the entry requirements for this qualification and LSPM, as the approved centre, applies them when it assesses your application. As published by the awarding body:

  • demonstrated some ability and possess qualifications at Level 3, for example ‘A’ Levels or vocational awards;
  • spent some time in an organisational role and shown they have capability and drive to develop;
  • seeking further professional development and to gain work related skills and know-how.

Source: the Qualifi specification. If you are not sure whether your qualification counts as equivalent, send us the details and we will put the question to LSPM's admissions team, who make the decision.

Qualifi's usual entry routes apply: Level 3 qualifications, organisational experience or professional development. Send us anything you have made on the web, however rough; enthusiasm shown in work counts with LSPM too.

Assessment

How you are assessed

A designed and built website with documentation is the main artefact, alongside written assignments for the common units. There are no exams. Ask LSPM about feedback on drafts and prototypes.

Assignments are set and marked by LSPM's tutors, moderated within LSPM and sampled by Qualifi before LSPM claims certificates. Draft feedback and resubmission arrangements are LSPM's own practice; confirm them at enrolment. How assessment works in full.

Progression

Where it leads, stated carefully

Level 5 Diploma in Information Technology from Qualifi, or a web-focused Level 5 pathway where offered.

Year-two entry to a web development, digital media or computing degree, if the university agrees.

Junior web developer or web designer roles, or freelance work with a proper portfolio behind it.

We do not name partner universities on this page. If and when LSPM shows us a written progression agreement for this diploma, it will be listed here with the date it was signed.

Readership

Who it suits

Likely to get a lot from it

  • Self-taught site builders who want to understand what the template was hiding.
  • Designers moving from print or graphics to the web.
  • Marketing and communications staff who maintain a site and want to own it technically.

Better served by something else

  • Anyone who wants mobile apps; the E-commerce pathway's Android unit is closer.
  • People looking for a pure graphic design course; this is an IT diploma with design in it.
  • Learners who want to avoid the maths and statistics unit, which is compulsory.
Questions

Asked about this programme

Which technologies are taught?

HTML, CSS and JavaScript in Web Design and Web Programming, with a server-side scripting language and a relational database for the dynamic parts. Frameworks are discussed but fundamentals come first.

Do I need design talent?

You need to care about users. Web Design teaches principles, layout and accessibility that anyone can apply; visual flair helps but is not assessed.

Web Design or E-commerce pathway?

If you want to build websites, this one. If you want interfaces and a mobile app, E-commerce. The four common units are identical so switching early is possible.

Documents

Read before you decide

Programme brochure

Brochure slot: PDF to be supplied by LSPM, with its fees, dates and tutor profiles for this programme. Ask us for it by email in the meantime and we will obtain the current version from LSPM.

Official specification

Qualifi Level 4 Diploma in IT – Web Design specification, published by the awarding body. The authoritative source for units, learning outcomes and assessment criteria. Also listed on the Ofqual register under 603/4783/1.

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