Human Resource Management (With Professional Practice Year) (Accredited)

This course equips you with the knowledge, skills, behaviours and graduate competencies that employers value and need, in line with the CIPD professional accreditation. You explore key areas of human resource management (HRM) such as talent management; operational management; leadership and motivation; data management and interpretation; selection and recruitment; and employee relations. You may also take up opportunities to engage with real-life HRM problems, allowing you to carry out practical projects that emulate working as a professional manager.

Professional Practice Year
Take your course over four years and include a Professional Practice Year after your second year of studies. It is an opportunity to apply your learning in the workplace while enhancing your knowledge and skills through fee-free paid practice. It also builds your CV and industry contacts with many students progressing to employment within their practice-year organisation or institution.

Course accreditation

We are an accredited Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) centre. This means all of our HRM courses are professional-body accredited, giving you access to Level 5 accreditation and increasing your employability in the HRM profession, on successful graduation.

Your student experience

Learn from expert tutors, active within the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), and in both consultancy and research.

Develop your understanding of how HRM works with other business disciplines, enabling you to fit into numerous organisation roles.

Apply what you have learnt to real-life situations experienced by companies and organisations globally.

Build the confidence and problem-solving skills needed to be an effective manager across a range of organisations and settings.

Benefit from HRM-focused employability events throughout the academic year, including careers fairs and immersive CV events.

Learn from employer site visits and visits to the University by employers and local HR managers, who to share their HRM stories - a great way to network and ask questions relating to HRM career development.

Gain from having regular engagement and support from CIPD members and branch officials, helping you make a smooth transition into the world of HRM employment.

Course modules

In addition to your Practice Placement Year, you may study the following modules within your core studies.

Year 1
Applied numeracy for business – Develop key numeracy skills vital for your future employability. Beginning your professional business journey – Take on business challenges and collaborate with peers in a professional environment. Human resource management foundations – Understand the organisational issues relating to staff, the role of HRM and the key HR professional standards. The role of HR in the digital age – How the digital economy and future of work is changing the landscape of people management. HR and work in organisations – Identify, understand and evaluate people’s behaviour in organisations and the relationships between the organisation, individuals and groups. People resourcing and development – An overview of the way different organisations manage resourcing and development activities, and which practices are most effective.

Year 2
Employability and the future workplace – Prepare for future employment, with a clear awareness of the skills and attributes you bring to a HR role. Employment law – Study the law governing the employment relationship and the regulation of working life, including the influence of European law. Data and research methods for business – Investigate research and data-analysis methods to support you in applying research findings to business issues. Innovative practice in HRM and HRD – How to manage and share knowledge in an organisation, and boost performance through human resource development. The strategic context of HRM – Build a sound understanding of the business and external factors affecting organisations and the impact of these factors on the HR role. Employment relations – Develop the skills to make informed decisions about current and emerging employment relations and employee reward practices.

Year 3
Developing professional human resource management practice – Build your personal and professional effectiveness alongside your understanding the practicalities of the people profession. Management and leadership – Using real-life examples of current organisational issues, learn to solve problems by applying management and leadership principles. Contemporary issues in the workplace – The importance of people professionals in understanding and anticipating workforce needs. HR analytics and data – Understand how data is analysed and utilised in HR, and the ethical issues and limitations attached to using HR/people information. Business project – Independently design, plan, manage and execute a research project.

We make every effort to ensure the information here is accurate; however, for the most up-to-date information, visit our website.

In line with the Business School’s commitment to practical applied education, a large part of the assessment will relate to your demonstration of your ability to do HRM in practice.

We will want to see that you understand the theory and have developed critical thinking skills which help you evaluate the relevance of what you have learned.

To assess this range of integration of theory and skills into sound practice, we use a range of methods including:

Project work, reports, case studies (78%)
Presentations, posters (9%)
Formal exams (13%)