Certificates are academic qualifications and therefore legal documents that serve as proof that the Certificate holder successfully completed a specific Certificate course. The exact level of qualification could vary from country to country, but in South Africa Certificates are usually regarded as tertiary qualifications. This means that Certificates are obtained at tertiary institutions when students choose to further their education once they have left school. 


Not all Certificate programmes do however prescribe a Matric Certificate as a minimum entrance requirement. This means that students who did not complete their school education have the opportunity to further their education by obtaining equivalent qualifications. Certificates would therefore be equal to or at a higher level than Grade 10-12 qualifications, but fall just below Diplomas. One could therefore safely assume that Certificate courses are considered to be more advanced than that of high school programmes, whilst they do not yet meet the same academic standard as that of Diplomas or Degrees. 


Certificates are the entry level qualifications at tertiary level, while post graduate degrees (PGs) are at the very top of the scale. If you wish to leave school at any time after successfully completing at least Grade 10, you would, however, be able to enrol for certain Certificate courses at Colleges, Technikons, Academies or Institutes. These programmes usually stretch over a one-year period and often lead to more advanced Diploma courses.