Who is the course for?

The Level 4 Diploma is WSET School's flagship qualification.  It is designed to prepare people for responsible jobs within the wine and spirits business.  The course will not only develop product knowledge to a specialist level, but will also enable students to acquire skills, eg. in research and report writing, that will continue to be of use beyond the course.  The course is taught by industry experts, many are MWs, all have up-to-date knowledge of contemporary issues related to wines and spirits.

The School runs diploma courses in London, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester.

The course is suitable for those within the trade either working in or wishing to progress into management roles and for the serious wine enthusiast wishing to build on knowledge gained at Advanced level and acquire expertise in wine tasting.  The WSET Diploma is viewed universally as the stepping-stone to the Master of Wine qualification.

The Level 3 Advanced Certificate is the required entry qualification for anyone wishing to enrol on the Diploma course.  Students who have studied outside of the UK, who hold the WSET International Higher Certificate and the Diploma entry qualification, will be able to join the Diploma programme.  No other qualifications are accepted for enrolment on the London Wine & Spirit School Diploma programme.

The Diploma is a unitised qualification and requires a student to prove competency through a variety of assessment methods attached to the six units required for the Diploma.  A Student must pass all six units to obtain the WSET Level 4 Diploma.  All London Wine & Spirit School course programmes will prepare students for their WSET Awards unit examinations through an integrated programme of lectures, tastings, tutorials, feedback tests and essays.

Students will be expected to spread their study towards the Diploma over two consecutive years, students will need to take on substantial amounts of self-study in addition to the course hours.  For day-time courses the course will be divided into two semesters, semester one must be studied before commencing semester two.  Evening courses are divided over four terms of 10 or 12 two hour evening sessions and will cover the same subjects as the day-time courses and are available as a whole Diploma programme only.  The Diploma may also be studied by Online Distance Learning

Students wishing to study the Diploma in less than two years will only be allowed to do so after successful completion of Semester One, including all tests and examinations and assessment by the Director of Education.

For those attending a block release course it is essential that a substantial amount of study takes place prior to the course start.  It is strongly recommended that the course is booked in sufficient time to receive the study materials a minimum of four weeks prior to the commencement of the course.

Further general information and details about payment options are available in the booking form
 2009/2010 Diploma Booking Form (729KB)

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  2009/2010 Diploma Specification (6148KB)