Our External Certificate in Biblical Studies is a college-level qualification, broadly equivalent in curriculum and required workload to the first year of our residential degree. To earn the certificate, you have to successfully complete ten subjects (click on the module title for more information on the contents of the course):

DL01 Old Testament Survey
DL02 New Testament Survey
DL03 Communicating the Bible
DL04 Understanding the Bible
DL05 The Holy Spirit
DL06 Basic Doctrine
DL07 Spiritual Gifts
DL08 Church History

DL09 Church Leadership
DL10 Pastoral Theology

Click here to download a pdf file with all the module information.

Frequently Asked Questions about Distance Learning

Each module consists of a self-contained study guide (no need for purchasing extra textbooks at this level). As well as the course content, the study guide contains a series of multiple choice tests for you to check your own understanding of the material, and a number of further study tasks. You can choose any eight of these tasks to write up in about 500-750 words and submit them for marking – a personal tutor will be appointed for you by the college to answer any questions you may have, help you through the programme and give you feedback on your coursework.

To complete the college level modules generally takes about 30-50 hours’ study for a single module and 50-75 hours for a double module. There are no term dates, so you start as and when you want, and proceed at your own pace and in your own time. You have three months to complete each module, and we recommend you should aim to spend 3-5 hours a week on study to keep your momentum. You can study the modules you choose in the order you want, though they are arranged in a logical order, and it makes sense to start with module one and work your way down. One advantage of distance learning is that you pay for the modules only when you are ready to order them – you don’t need to pay for the full programme up front unless you want to.

If you want to work towards a validated qualification, we recommend our BTh degree instead. You can use the External Certificate in Biblical Studies to gain admission into Level 5 (the second year) of the degree programme, but if you register for the certificate after 1 January 2007 there will be a £500.00 upgrade fee for that.

Please click here for an application form for this course.