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Introduction
Why choose this course?
Overview
Progress your career and enhance your HR professional practice with our Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management and the MA in Human Resource Management.
You will develop core HR skills and knowledge. As well as the ability to understand and evaluate issues of strategic importance to Human Resource Management (HRM).
These part-time courses use a combination of on-campus and online learning. You will benefit from the flexibility of our virtual learning environment and face-to-face interaction with tutors and classmates.
In Year 2 you can choose to study for the full MA in HRM or opt for the Postgraduate Diploma in HRM. Both lead to Associate membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development CIPD and there is a full briefing during Year 1 to help you make this choice.
The programme is fully accredited by the CIPD against the Profession Map (2018). The Profession Map specifies the Knowledge and Behaviours expected of people working in HR and gaining membership of the CIPD.
Modules
Compulsory modules
People Resourcing and Talent Management
This module will give you an understanding of the principal internal and external environmental contexts of contemporary organisations and how these affect both organisational and HR strategies. You will engage with leading edge practices for planning and recruiting organisational workforces, including the risks and benefits of using technology, and learn how to create an integrated people plan.
Employee Engagement, Performance and Reward
This module will provide you with a critical understanding of how contemporary organisations can elicit employee engagement and performance, and the challenges associated with doing so. It presents theoretical perspectives on the individual and collective employment relationship as the basis by which you can understand the challenges of managing employees – drawing on the key themes of authority, power, and control - and how the levers at management’s disposal, notably, those associated with reward and performance management can be deployed to best effect. The module also explores dysfunction and conflict in the employment relationship from both theoretical and practical standpoints, and the role of the HR professional in managing the relationship between stakeholders.
Learning, Development and Coaching
You will gain a critical understanding the contribution that learning and development can make to individuals and organisations, together with practical skills in designing and implementing leading edge Learning & development programmes. You will develop the critical understanding required to develop a coaching programme in the workplace and to participate in a coaching style of management.
Employment Law
It is essential for everyone working in HR to develop knowledge, understanding and skills required to brief organisations on how current and future developments in employment law (British Jurisprudence) impact on HR practices, and to give up-to-date, timely and accurate advice concerning the practical application of employment law in the workplace. The module promotes critical reflection on theory and practice from an ethical and professional standpoint, and provides opportunities for applied learning and continuous professional development.
Understanding Organisations and Managing Change
This module provides a framework for understanding and analysing organisations with a particular reference to group processes, cultural dynamics, leadership and change. Organisations and the processes of organising are analysed from different theoretical perspectives. Knowledge and skills are developed to enable students to manage and support change more effectively, ethically and professionally.
Contemporary Issues and Challenges for HRM
This module introduces contemporary themes associated with critical management and organisation theory, with the objective of creating an in-depth and critical understanding of some of the challenges posed in work and organisations today. Such challenges include work intensification, increasing inequalities, algorithms, managing ethically, changing patterns of work such as the gig economy, crises and the employment relationship, digital transformations, and alternative organisational forms.
The module draws on the multiple and often competing perspectives on the study of organisations (e.g. capitalist political economy, diverse economies and post-capitalist work organisation) to explore current debates and reflect on the latest developments and what they mean for HR practitioners and future HRM practice.
Developing Skills for Business Leadership
You will investigate a HR management or organisational practice issue using primary and secondary data, justified and supported by detailed reference to relevant theories and concepts from literature. You will make recommendations for implementation and practice. A number of skills workshops throughout the course are designed to develop your thinking and skills and you will be assigned an individual supervisor to support you. One of the key skills for professionals in HR is to be able to investigate, diagnose and report on relevant business issues and make practical recommendations for change or improvement within an organisation. During this module you will be taken through the key areas required to successfully complete the management research report. The applied nature of the report develops a critical evaluative approach, your empirical investigation and analysis skills, and your academic research and business report writing skills.
Critical investigation skills
This module provides students with a framework for understanding and researching organisations. Students encounter organisation theory and research methods, learn to deepen their organisational knowledge and develop valuable research skills. The module shows students a range of theoretical perspectives, providing critical awareness of the complexity of organisations & organisational processes. Students are introduced to the stages of research, (research design, data collection and analysis methods, & research ethics). Armed with knowledge of organisational theory and research methodologies, students develop a viable research proposal. In semester 2, students take part in a pilot project, which gives hands-on experience of ‘doing’ research. Based on this, students produce a reflective essay designed to inform their own research projects. Sessions on quantitative and qualitative data analysis, the use of computerised analysis packages, and dissertation writing complete the module.
Final Project
Compulsory modules
Research Project
The research project allows students to undertake a self-managed process of systematic enquiry within the domain of their Masters programme. It aims to generate high quality, rigorous and systematic applied research as part of which the students have reflected critically on the theoretical and philosophical assumptions underpinning the process alongside the ethics of undertaking management research. The degree to which the project is ‘applied’ is flexible – from addressing a broad issue in HRM to researching a specific issue within an organisation.
Learning and teaching
You will be provided with:
highly structured, user-friendly written lecture and course materials
audio and video podcast materials recorded by course tutors
virtual tutorials, including in real time
discussion forums - student and tutor led.
Our teaching staff are from our Department of Business and Management within the Business School. You will also learn from visiting speakers from business and industry, local government, consultancies and research bodies.
You'll develop the following skills in more intensive workshops:
team building and problem solving
people management - such as interviewing, negotiating, managing disciplinaries and grievances
leadership and influencing
data handling and presentation skills, using IT applications.
Entry Criteria
ENTRY REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
Home Office Share Code
For EU students only.
IF no Qualification
Please provide CV with at least 2 years of work experience, and employee reference letter.
Entry requirements
Specific entry requirements
Applicants are normally graduates with at least one year's experience in a full-time HR role. Non-graduates require at least 3 years' experience in an HR role or a role with significant responsibility for people management.
Students who already hold a Level 7 Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Mamagement from a recognised institution can apply to take the MA in one year using their diploma as a fast-track entry route; that is “Admission with Credit”.
For Direct entrants for the MA: A Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management from a recognised institution.
Candidates are required to provide a reference evidencing their work experience and may need to provide a supporting academic reference as well as proof of qualifications.
Our standard entry requirement is three A-levels or equivalent qualifications. In some cases, courses have specific required subjects and additional GCSE requirements. In addition to A-levels, we accept a wide range of other qualifications including:
the Welsh Baccalaureate
the Access to Higher Education Diploma
a BTEC National Certificate, Diploma or Extended Diploma at a good standard and in a relevant subject
the International Baccalaureate Diploma
the European Baccalaureate Diploma
Scottish qualifications – five subjects in SCE with two at Higher level or one at Advanced Higher level, or three subjects in Scottish Highers or two at Advanced Higher level
a recognised foundation course
T-levels*.
* T-levels are a relatively new qualification but are already included in the UCAS tariff. We welcome prospective students who are taking this qualification to apply. For some programmes with specific required subjects, particular subject areas or occupational specialisms may be required.
English language requirements
If English is not your first language you will need to have the following level of English language competency:
IELTS minimum 6.0 (with a minimum of 6.0 in reading and writing and 5.5 in listening and speaking).
The entry requirement for your course will be expressed as an IELTS level and refers to the IELTS Academic version of this test. We are now also accepting the IELTS Indicator test, you can find out more about the test on the IELTS Indication site. The University however does accept a wide range of additional English language qualifications, which can be found below.
The university’s English language requirements in IELTS levels are as follows:
Course IELTS level
All other undergraduate courses 6.0 overall with 6.0 in reading and writing, 5.5 in listening and speaking
Law, Architecture, Interior Architecture, English Literature (including combined honours), English Literature and Creative Writing 6.5 overall with 6.0 in reading and writing, 5.5 in listening and speaking
Health and Social Care courses 6.5 or 7.0 overall with 6.5 or 7.0 in all components (see individual entries for course details)
Nutrition BSc (Hons) 6.5 overall with a minimum of 6.0 in each component
Built Environment Foundation,
Computing Foundation,
Engineering Foundation 6.0 with 6.0 in reading and writing, 5.5 in listening and speaking
International Foundation Business and Technology,
International Foundation Arts, Humanities and Law 5.5 overall with 5.5 in all skills
International Foundation Diploma 5.0 overall with 5.0 in all skills
If you need a student visa you must take an IELTS for UKVI test.
International Foundation Diploma (Extended pathway) 4.5 overall with 4.5 in all skills
If you need a student visa you must take an IELTS for UKVI test.
Assessment
ASSESSMENT METHODS
1. INTERNAL ENGLISH TEST if you don't have an English accredited certificate
2. Academic Interview
Learning and assessment
These courses will provide you with the knowledge, understanding and skills required for the challenging role of a human resource professional. Both are practice-based and academically rigorous.
The MA stage is a research-based programme that has been developed to help you progress to management roles or consultancy. Combining theory and practice, it gives you the opportunity to gain specific insights into organisational design. Then to focus on an area of HR that is of specific interest.
Assessment
Most modules are assessed through a combination of course-work (typically 80%) and a group based assessment (typically, 20%). There are no written exams.
We use a range of assessment methods, including:
individual assignments
group work
presentations
portfolio, to demonstrate continuing professional development
individual research reports.
Research
There are two research clusters in the International Centre for Coaching and Mentoring Studies and the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice which relate to this subject:
Work and Organisations
Management and Entrepreneurship Education.
Career Opportunities
You will develop practical knowledge, expertise and valuable insights from visiting HR professionals and specialists from a wide range of industries who run workshops and deliver lectures.
This programme is an excellent way of providing you with a springboard for progress in your career in HR. The programme enjoys a high completion rate and is supported by a tutorial team comprising research active and experienced HR practitioners.
Through workshops and group working you develop your team working skills and build long-lasting networks, enabling you to share your experiences as you progress in your career.
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