--- title: Dietetics Career Preparation url: https://thestudyguild.com/programmes/dietetics-career-preparation type: programme published: 2026-08-13 last_reviewed: 2026-08-13 reviewed_by: miriam-cole publisher: The Study Guild --- # Dietetics Career Preparation A 12-week live dietetics-preparation programme with marked pathway work, taught by a dietitian who will not let you use a protected title. ## Programme facts - Price: £449 (payment plans available, never discounted) - Format: Live online + self-paced - Live contact hours: 24 - Expected self-study hours: 48 - Duration: 12 weeks - Level: All levels - Tutor: miriam-cole ## Learning outcomes - State, in writing, that dietitian is a protected title and this certificate is not HCPC registration - Map an HCPC-approved dietetics degree against your current qualifications - Describe a dietetic-assistant or support role without impersonating a dietitian - Screen a nutrition question for presentations that need a registered dietitian - Write a referral note a dietitian could use - Refuse advertising language that implies clinical nutrition status ## Curriculum 1. **The protected title** — Dietitian is a criminal offence to use without HCPC registration. This certificate will say so. Topics: HCPC and approved programmes; What this pass is not; Advertising standards; Who this is for 2. **What an approved dietetics degree actually contains** — The science, placement and assessment a twelve-week cohort cannot compress. Topics: Clinical placements; Disease and medication; Why short diplomas skip this; Reading a university page 3. **AfN is a different register** — Registered Nutritionist is voluntary and still degree-level. It is not a consolation dietitian. Topics: UKVRN; ANutr and RNutr; What we still cannot award; Choosing a lane 4. **Dietetic assistant and support roles** — Honest NHS-adjacent work that does not steal the protected title. Topics: Reading a person spec; What support staff may do; What they must not do; Pathway plan part one 5. **Referral that a clinician can use** — The note, the timing, and the presentations you will not keep. Topics: Red flags; Eating disorders; Diabetes and renal diets; Practice cases 6. **Nutrition science without a protocol** — Enough physiology to know your limits, not enough to treat disease. Topics: What evidence actually supports; Supplements and claims; Where coaches already work; Where they must stop 7. **University applications without a fairy tale** — How to talk about prior learning without claiming credit the university will not give. Topics: Entry requirements; What this cohort is not; Funding questions we will not invent; Pathway plan part two 8. **Working alongside a dietitian** — The relationship that makes support safe rather than competitive. Topics: What to send; What not to undo; Shared clients; Language 9. **UK GDPR and health-adjacent notes** — Nutrition records are still personal data. Topics: What to write down; Retention; Subject access; Tools 10. **Advertising that would survive a complaint** — ASA territory, protected titles, and the bio you will actually publish. Topics: Before and after claims; NHS imagery; The word nutritionist; Marked copy 11. **If the destination is coaching instead** — When the honest next step is Nutrition Coaching Foundations, not a degree. Topics: Scope; The other Guild product; Insurance questions; Choosing 12. **Assessment clinic** — Live review of pathway plans against the rubric. Topics: Common fails; Resubmission; What to do on Monday; HCPC, not us ## Assessment A written dietetics-pathway plan of 2,000 words and a referral-and-advertising case, marked by Miriam Cole against a published rubric covering registers, scope and referral. Written feedback with one free resubmission. Work that uses the title dietitian, or treats this cohort as an approved degree, does not pass. ## Upcoming cohorts - 2027-01-11 to 2027-04-05 — Mondays 19:00–21:00 UK, 12 weeks (open, cap 18) - 2027-05-10 to 2027-08-02 — Mondays 19:00–21:00 UK, 12 weeks (open, cap 18) ## What is dietetics career preparation? It is live, assessed orientation for people targeting an HCPC-approved dietetics degree or an honest support role beside dietitians. It maps registers, referral and advertising. It is not dietetics. It cannot put you on the HCPC register. A twelve-week cohort that claimed otherwise would be selling a protected title, not training. ## Can this programme make you a dietitian? No. Dietitian is a protected UK title. Using it without Health and Care Professions Council registration is a criminal offence. Registration requires an HCPC-approved degree. This programme is preparation and support-role literacy. The certificate will say you are not a dietitian. That sentence is the product. Sources: - [Protected titles and the HCPC register](https://www.hcpc-uk.org/about-us/who-we-regulate/the-professions/) — Health and Care Professions Council ## How is this different from a self-paced nutrition diploma? Pathway work is marked by a dietitian who will fail protected-title overreach. The certificate names HCPC and AfN as routes we do not award. A self-paced diploma can teach macros. It cannot tell a university, an NHS recruiter or an insurer whether you knew this was not the degree. ## Should you do nutrition coaching instead of this programme? Yes, if your actual job is healthy-eating support for people without a clinical nutrition need. Nutrition Coaching Foundations is that product, with the same hard stop at disease and the title dietitian. Choose this cohort only if you needed the degree map and the support-role lane stated by someone who holds the register. ## Common questions **Why not just call this dietitian training?** Because that title is a protected profession. We teach the map to the degree and say so on the certificate. **Can I work in the NHS as a dietitian after this?** No. Dietetic posts require HCPC registration and an approved degree. **Is this an AfN pathway?** No. Registered Nutritionist still requires an AfN-accredited degree-level route we do not award. **Can I pay in instalments?** Yes. Interest-free plans total exactly £449. --- Source: https://thestudyguild.com/programmes/dietetics-career-preparation · The Study Guild