COUNT is more than what I have

Question

I have a SQL statement

SELECT COUNT(appl.applicantID) 
FROM course_Batch pD 
INNER JOIN applicant appl ON pD.programmeID = appl.programmeID
GROUP BY pD.programmeID

So, in my applicant table, I've 2 applicants tied to a record in my course_Batch.

However, when I use that SQL statement I pasted above, I get 4. Because in my course_Batch table, I've multiple records under 1 programme ID.

ProgrammeDetail table with sample data:

-------------------------------------------
|  programmeID  |   programmeRequirement  |
-------------------------------------------
|     P01       |          20             |
|     P01       |          20             |
-------------------------------------------

Applicant table with sample data:

-----------------------------------
|   applicantID  |   programmeID  |
-----------------------------------
|    A001        |      P01       |
|    A002        |      P01       |
-----------------------------------

Is there a way to achieve this?

---------------------------------------------------------------
|  programmeID  |   programmeRequirement  |   applicantCount  |
---------------------------------------------------------------
|   P01         |          20             |         2         |
---------------------------------------------------------------

Answer 1

Use INNER JOIN . It will give your expected result

 SELECT
    programmedetail.programmeID,
    programmedetail.programmeRequirement,
    COUNT(
        DISTINCT (applicant.applicantID)
    ) AS applicantCount
FROM
    programmedetail
INNER JOIN applicant ON programmedetail.programmeID = applicant.programmeID
GROUP BY
    programmedetail.programmeID,
    programmedetail.programmeRequirement;

By clicking on the below link you can see your expected result in live which you want.

SQL Fiddle Demo