Why choose the School of Business Management
This course offers a guaranteed 12-week placement, a dedicated work-placement coordinator and on-going support.
You also have the opportunity for consultancy experience during the second year of the degree.
The HRM academic team are experienced industry professionals, active within the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) as well as in consultancy and research.
About the course
On this course, you explore key areas of human resource management (HRM) - such as talent management, leadership and motivation, data management and interpretation, and employee relations - while engaging with real-life HRM situations and problems. You are also able to undertake a fully supported, 12-week placement within a real business where you can immerse yourself in the world of HR, building your knowledge and practical experience. Many of our placement students have gone on to work in the same company upon graduation.
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.
Industry links
Our placement students work with established companies to support their HR function; they are all local to the University and have experience of working with our students.
Companies include Enterprise, Raja Packaging and Luton Borough Council, among many others.
Your student experience
Gain the knowledge, skills, behaviours and graduate competencies employers value and need in the HRM field, in line with the CIPD professional accreditation.
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.
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
Studying our Human Resources Management (with placement) BSc (Hons) course will equip you with the knowledge and skills in the combined areas of business and human resources management (HRM). As a human resource (HR) professional, it is important that you actively understand organisational issues from staff to management. This is where our Human Resource Management Foundations unit will develop your knowledge to demonstrate the skills and behaviours you need to meet professional standards in the industry. In other core areas of study, you will explore key concepts, theories and practices of human resource management (HRM) such as recruitment and selection, training and development and employee relations in our HR and Work in Organisations unit. Moreover, with technology becoming a prevalent tool in businesses, you will explore The Role of HR in The Digital Age and discover how human resource management has evolved and is developing with changes in technology.
As a fundamental skill, our unit in Applied Numeracy for Business will give you the confidence to develop the mathematical and numerical skills used for decision making and problem solving for businesses. In your second year, you will also be introduced to The Strategic Context of HRM where you will unpack theory around strategic HRM approaches in different business contexts while learning to make informed judgements in Employment Relations as a crucial skill in the HRM sector. One of the main components in this course is our Work Placement unit which is an excellent opportunity for you to gain practical experience by applying your knowledge and skills through working within the industry. You will move on to address Contemporary Issues in The Workplace and how HR functions should respond to them while considering the implications for policy making and practice for people management. As an essential skill, our Management and Leadership unit will also introduce you to theories and practice in this field alongside persuasive communication techniques so that you are equipped to solve problems and contemporary organisational issues.
HR Analytics and Data unit will expose you to the fundamentals of HR analytics, how data is used in the HR environment, and the ethical issues and limitations that arise from this. With accreditation from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), this course will also prepare you for an organisational role in the HR profession with our unit in Developing Professional HRM Practice. This will develop your understanding of the skills required to work in the sector against the CIPD Profession Map and support you in creating your own personal development plan. Finally, you will conduct a thorough piece of academic research and/or a practical project in our Business Project unit and to support you with this, our unit in Data and Research Methods for Business will provide you with the knowledge and skills to conduct research and analyse data in a business context. To prepare you for your career, our unit in Beginning your Professional Business Journey will help to ease your transition into the workplace and provide an insight into professional business environments.
In line with the Business School's commitment to practice-based education and to a learning experience which is active reflective collaborative and creative a large part of the assessment will relate to the 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. All of this comes together in being able to demonstrate rigorous Human Resource practice for an organisation. Methods of assessment vary according to the learning outcomes of a particular unit and the stage of the study.
In line with the Business School's commitment to practice-based education and to a learning experience which is active reflective collaborative and creative a large part of the assessment will relate to the 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. All of this comes together in being able to demonstrate rigorous Human Resource practice for an organisation. Methods of assessment vary according to the learning outcomes of a particular unit and the stage of the study.
You will be assessed using a range of assessments during your studies. This will include a mixture of closed book examinations courseworks reports tests posters group work and presentations and others will form assessments of their work. To assess this range of integration of theory and skills into sound practice we use a range of methods encompassing summative and formative assessments. You will encounter many different kinds including the ones listed below some of which are used in combination and for example a report might be required as an outcome of a time-limited assessment task.
Reports: you analyse a business problem and propose solutions.
Presentations: present proposals as if to your manager to the board of a company or to a client.
Time-limited tasks: on a set day you will be given a task which you will need to complete in a set time such as 48 hours or five days.
Academic writing: used to demonstrate clear critical thinking you might be asked to write an essay or a short summary of a theoretical debate.
Appraisals: just as in business you use appraisals to assess your own learning and to set your personal and academic development objectives.
Projects: these are assessed in a number of ways depending on the task defined by our business partner. Typically you will need to prepare an analysis report or presentation which is suitable for the business partner and a longer piece of work which sets out the 'behind the scenes' work which underpinned the output for business. It is in the longer work that we expect to see explicitly your application of theory and critical thinking which underpin good HRM practice. You will usually also prepare a project review.
Project reviews: you analyse and evaluate the way you worked on a project and set out how you would work more effectively on a similar task in future.
Exams: as well as conventional exams using set questions and case studies exams can be the outcome of a group task. You might work on a large task together and then sit an exam to show your individual learning from the task.
Portfolio: you will plan and record your CPD activities using the CIPDs HR Profession Map as a guide to the knowledge skills and behaviours you need to develop to be ready to work in HR.
For all assignments you will have an assignment brief which clearly sets out what is required and you will be given the criteria which your tutors will use to mark your work. Throughout the course your learning will be supported using various methods of formative assessment and feedback which will take place both in-class and off-class activities. Informal formative feedback will be an ongoing feature of the unit and will be provided through class discussion presentations etc. You are encouraged to seek feedback and use it effectively. On-line activities such as discussion boards videos podcasts etc. will also provide opportunities to obtain feedback and enhance your learning experience. This is to help students progress their studies and support their continuing development. You will receive feedback on all your assessments. Using this feedback is essential to improving your learning process and your grades on future assignments.
Careers
You will be equipped for starting a career as a HR professional with all the knowledge and experience to hit the ground running in a HR practitioner role within a variety of organisational contexts. Equally your skills would enable you to excel in a range of more generalist people management roles.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,535 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
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