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Business and Human Resource Management

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B-B,B,C

112-120 points from 3 A levels.

112-122 Tariff points from the Access to HE Diploma.

Cambridge Pre-U score of 54-56.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

5 GCSEs at grade C/4 or higher including English Language or Literature

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

29

29 points from the IB Diploma. 655/754 at Higher Level - 29 points from the IB Diploma. 664 at Higher Level.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H3,H3,H3,H3,H4-H3,H3,H3,H3,H3

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM-DMM

112-120 Tariff points.

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

112-120

112-120 points from 3 A levels, or equivalent.

112-120 points from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate including 2 A levels, plus the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate.

About this course


This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Other options

4 years | Sandwich | 2024

Subject

Human resource management

**This is a Connected Degree**

Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.

**Overview**

People are a vital business asset — and getting the human side of business right leads to a competitive advantage in industry.

Prepare for a successful career in human resources (HR). As a human resources manager you'll formulate policies that address modern workplace issues like flexible working, remote working and equality and diversity, and lead on strategies to recruit and retain the right workforce.

HRM covers the strategic approach to the employment, development and wellbeing of people in business. On this degree you'll develop your understanding of human resources in the context of business, as well as discovering the core business disciplines that make organisations successful.

You’ll apply your learning through real-world scenarios and learning projects, with opportunities including paid industry placements throughout your studies. If you take on a Business Consultancy Project you'll work on a live client project with a local business in your final year.

By taking an industry placement year before or after your third year, you’ll graduate with a year of experience in the workplace as well as your degree.

You'll graduate from this course with a head start in the job market, and be able to apply for Associate Membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) — something that is often only available after postgraduate study.

**Course highlights**

- Develop a holistic understanding of how businesses operate as you explore operations, business finance, marketing and data analysis alongside your human resource management modules

- Learn the human resource management skills you need in a post-Covid world, focusing on workforce retention and talent management, managing equality and diversity and developing creativity and business improvement

- Practise your skills by setting up recruitment campaigns and getting involved in simulated interviews, selection panels and employment tribunals

- Benefit from an active programme of specialist and industry talks and networking events

**Accreditation**

This course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

This means, if you successfully complete all the required modules, you'll be able to apply for Associate Membership of the CIPD when you graduate. This membership is sought-after by employers and is likely to give you an advantage when looking for your first job.

Please note that you will need to pay a membership fee when you apply for your membership.

**Careers and opportunities**

As a human resource manager you can work in any sector that you're passionate about, whether that's sport, charities, manufacturing, or maybe the arts.

Your CIPD accreditation means you're likely to earn more money and have more job options than your non-accredited peers (Reed UK).

Best of all is that this qualification opens up many possible career routes. You might want to specialise in workplace training and development, become an expert in employment law, or lead on business development.

Graduates of this course have secured jobs as:

- HR executive

- learning and development coordinator

- human resources business partner

- HR and employment law consultant

- internal auditor

- project manager

- police officer

- buyer

(Data sourced from HESA Graduate Outcomes Survey.)

Our Careers and Employability service can help you find a job that puts your skills to work in the industry when you finish the course. You can get help, advice and support for up to 5 years after you leave the University.

Modules

**Year 1**

Core modules in this year include:

- Business Accounting
- Business Operations and Systems Management
- Managing People in Organisations
- Marketing Principles and Practice
- Introduction to Human Resource Management
- Introduction to Business Analytics

There are no optional modules in this year.

**Year 2**

Core modules in this year include:

- Human Resource Development
- Human Resources For the Professional
- Leadership, Ethics, Governance and Sustainability
- People Resourcing and Talent Management
- Business and Law Undergraduate Work Placement Event
- Employability, Research and Professional Development

Options to choose from in this year currently include:

- Business and Employment Law
- Business Analysis and Decision Making
- Modern Foreign Language

**Placement year (optional)**
On this course, you can do an optional work placement year between your 2nd and 3rd years to get valuable experience working in industry. We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your situation and ambitions. You’ll get mentoring and support throughout the year.

**Year 3**

Core modules in this year include:

- Contemporary Employment Relations
- Strategic and Comparative Human Resource Management
- Dissertation - Organisation Studies and Human Resource Management

Options to choose from in this year currently include:

- Business Consultancy Project
- Cross Cultural Awareness For Business
- Discrimination and Conflict in Employment Law
- Business Improvement & Creativity
- Managing Equality & Diversity At Work
- Responsible and Sustainable Business

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

Assessment methods

You’ll be assessed through:

Individual and group coursework
Examinations
Online activities
Presentations
Your choice of independent research
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.

You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.

The way you're assessed will depend on the modules you select throughout your course. Here's an example from a previous academic year of how students on this course were typically assessed:
Year 1 students: 58% by written exams and 42% by coursework
Year 2 students: 15% by written exams, 17% by practical exams and 68% by coursework
Year 3 students: 27% by written exams and 73% by coursework

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£9,250
per year
International
£17,200
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Portsmouth

Department:

Faculty of Business and Law

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

94%
Human resource management

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Human resource management

Teaching and learning

78%
Staff make the subject interesting
94%
Staff are good at explaining things
94%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
85%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

89%
Library resources
94%
IT resources
100%
Course specific equipment and facilities
76%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

72%
UK students
28%
International students
26%
Male students
74%
Female students
53%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Human resource management

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£22,500
high
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

66%
Public services and other associate professionals
8%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
6%
Business, research and administrative professionals

This subject is much more common at postgraduate level, and so be aware that many of the good jobs in HR and personnel management go to graduates with Masters or other postgraduate qualifications in this subject. Work experience for first degree graduates can help to get around the lack of postgraduate qualifications, but if you want to go into management you might find that Masters to be an advantage. Although human resource roles are much the most common outcome for graduates from these courses, they take those jobs in an impressive array of industries so there are plenty of options for the kind of employer you can work for. If you would like to know about graduate prospects for your chosen course more specifically, head to an open day to talk to tutors about what previous graduates went on to do.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Human resource management

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£22k

£22k

£27k

£27k

£34k

£34k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here