Diploma of Business

The Diploma of Business at Berkeley Business Institute is a one-and-a-half-year qualification that gets you into the working parts of running an organisation: how money moves, how people are managed, how a business plan is put together and how a team delivers on it. You will study units in areas such as accounting fundamentals, marketing, business communication, economics, and management principles. Assessment is a mix of exams, reports, group projects and presentations, so you graduate used to the kind of work an employer will actually ask you to do.

How the qualification is structured

Australian diplomas sit at Level 5 on the Australian Qualifications Framework. This one is delivered over 1.5 years, typically across semesters or trimesters, and is made up of individual units of study, each carrying a set number of credit points. You need to pass all required units to graduate. The exact unit list and credit-point total are set by the institute, so check the official course page for the current structure.

Because this is a diploma, it is more hands-on than a bachelor degree. Expect case studies, simulated business tasks and group work rather than long research theses. Some institutes build in work-integrated learning or a placement with a local business, which is where you see how a real organisation handles budgets, rosters and customer issues.

What you will learn

By the end you should be able to read a set of financial statements, write a basic marketing plan, brief a team, and explain why a business made a particular decision. Those skills are portable across almost every industry. The diploma is also a common pathway: many students use it to enter the second year of a bachelor degree, or to move straight into an entry-level role and study part-time later.

This course suits school leavers who want a practical start, career changers who need business knowledge quickly, and people already working who want a formal qualification to back up their experience. If you are an international student, you will need to meet the institute's English requirement (IELTS Academic 6.0–6.5 overall is the common standard, with TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic and Cambridge C1 Advanced accepted as equivalents) and the separate English threshold set by the Department of Home Affairs for the Student visa. While studying, you can work up to 48 hours per fortnight, and after graduating you may be eligible for the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream. Tuition is published on the CRICOS register under course code 105032H. Confirm all details, including unit lists, credit points and intake dates, on the official page before you apply.

• Administration officer, local councils, hospitals, universities and private firms all need people who can keep records, schedules and correspondence running.
• Accounts clerk or payroll assistant, work in an accounting practice, a small business or a shared-services team processing invoices, reconciliations and pay runs.
• Customer service or sales coordinator, retail groups, banks, insurers and telecommunications companies hire diploma graduates into team-based roles with clear promotion paths.
• Marketing assistant, support campaign delivery, social media, events and market research for agencies or in-house marketing teams.
• Business development support, help prepare proposals, track leads and maintain client relationships in professional services, construction or manufacturing.
• Team leader or supervisor, with a few years' experience, diploma holders often step into front-line management in hospitality, logistics, retail or aged care.
• Pathway to further study, use the diploma for credit towards a bachelor degree in business, commerce or management at an Australian university.