What you'll learn
- Differentiate professional prompt engineering from ad-hoc prompting and explain the six-stage prompt lifecycle
- Diagnose prompt failures using the five-lever framework and minimise prompts for reliability
- Select, order, and apply exemplars; implement chain-of-thought and self-consistency for reasoning tasks
- Design scoped system prompts that enforce persona, refusal, and fallback behaviour across conversations
- Produce schema-validated structured output and implement validation/repair loops
- Create parameterised, versioned templates and assemble reusable prompt libraries and multi-step chains
- Build evaluation sets, define metrics, and run A/B comparisons to prevent regressions
- Harden prompts against injection and failure, measure hold-rates, and apply domain-specific patterns in a capstone system
Curriculum
Module 1: Foundations & Diagnostic Toolkit4 topics
- Engineering Mindset & Prompt Lifecycle
- Five-Lever Framework Diagnostics
- Prompt Minimisation & Conflict Resolution
- Quiz: Module 1: Foundations & Diagnostic Toolkit
Module 2: Exemplars & Reasoning Techniques5 topics
- Zero- vs Few-Shot Decision Framework
- Exemplar Selection & Ordering Effects
- Chain-of-Thought & Self-Consistency
- Answer Isolation & ReAct Pattern
- Quiz: Module 2: Exemplars & Reasoning Techniques
Module 3: System & Role Prompt Design4 topics
- System vs User Prompt Separation
- Scope, Refusal, and Fallback Behaviour
- Persona & Tone Consistency
- Quiz: Module 3: System & Role Prompt Design
Module 4: Structured Output & Validation5 topics
- Structured Output Principles
- Schema Design & Enums
- JSON Mode, Function Calling & Validation
- Repair Loops & Edge-Case Handling
- Quiz: Module 4: Structured Output & Validation
Module 5: Templates, Versioning & Prompt Chaining5 topics
- Parameterised Templates & Placeholders
- Versioning & Library Governance
- Task Decomposition Principles
- Prompt Chaining & Checkpoints
- Quiz: Module 5: Templates, Versioning & Prompt Chaining
Module 6: Evaluation & Regression Testing4 topics
- Building Representative Eval Sets
- Metric Families & Scoring Methods
- A/B Comparison & Regression Gates
- Quiz: Module 6: Evaluation & Regression Testing
Module 7: Safety, Injection & Failure Handling4 topics
- Prompt Injection Threat Landscape
- Layered Defences & Least-Privilege Design
- Graceful Degradation & Hold-Rate Measurement
- Quiz: Module 7: Safety, Injection & Failure Handling
Module 8: Domain Patterns & Capstone Integration4 topics
- Domain Patterns & Guardrails
- Capstone Requirements & Rubric Walk-through
- Integration Workflow & Portfolio Delivery
- Quiz: Module 8: Domain Patterns & Capstone Integration
About this course
A practice-oriented course that moves learners from casual prompting to engineering robust, versioned, and safety-hardened prompt systems. Through a logical eight-module progression, professionals learn to design, evaluate, harden, and document prompts that perform reliably at scale.
Prerequisites
- •DILR Certified GenAI Practitioner (001) or equivalent familiarity with role/task/context prompting and basic few-shot use