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The course covers a wide range of topics, rooting fundamental HR principles in a contemporary business context. You’ll learn about the core functions of a business alongside specific HR themes such as recruitment, professional development, ethics and employment law.

The degree is structured to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of human resource management, while allowing you to choose from a range of options. You’ll be able to explore specialisms in areas like social media and global HR and study in a highly practical way through project management or work placement modules.

In the first year, you’ll study a number of general business management topics (marketing, data management, the global economic context for business) and receive an introduction to the basics of people management. This ensures you understand the role of HR within the larger function of a business, connecting staff management to the successful running of an organisation.

In the second year you will further develop your understanding of HR in a practical setting. You’ll learn about coordinating the HR function within a business as well as rewarding and incentivising staff, employment law, accounting for HR professionals and professional development. There are also a number of optional modules to choose from in the second year; you can opt to focus on information systems or social media and choose between a project management task and a work placement.

In the final year you will look at human resource management in an international context and develop additional skills in consultancy and corporate social responsibility that will be fantastic for your employability prospects and enable you to diversify as your career develops. The optional modules in the final year include entrepreneurship, employee engagement, global human resource management and a module in ‘Contemporary Developments’ that tracks historical changes in the relationship between employer and employee.

We use a huge range of teaching methods to ensure you develop new skills and techniques as well as the specialist HR knowledge you'll need in your career. We care about your employability, so our staff provide exceptional support throughout your degree.

Here are some of the ways you’ll learn throughout the course:

▪ Lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops.
▪ Role-plays: e.g. playing the role of employer/trade union in a mock negotiation. This may be filmed to enable you to reflect and receive feedback.
▪ Practical tasks: e.g. designing, delivering and evaluating some training, or writing a job description and person specification.
▪ Independent study, supported by our specialist business library and a selection of digital materials, handbooks, notes and other resources.
▪ Working in a team to share ideas and insights.
▪ Guest speakers representing a cross-section of business and HR expertise.

There’s also a fantastic opportunity to travel abroad, where you’ll work on a social enterprise project with fellow students from other countries. In previous years, our students have travelled to Bahrain, China, the United States and Thailand, to name a few.

You'll develop key skills in every module you take and we’ll also support you with the latest thinking from our business research centres.

The course is ideal preparation for a career in HR – you will learn the specific, practical skills that employers need, while also learning about broader business topics that can be applied in a variety of roles and industries. The course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, demonstrating to employers that your knowledge of HR will be comprehensive and up-to-date.

You will also have the option of studying an entrepreneurship module that will be valuable for students who want to start their own businesses – our very own Knowledge Dock is an on-campus resource that can help you incubate your business ideas and secure funding.

Our location in east London gives us access to some of the most iconic, innovative and dynamic businesses in the world; from the established financial centre of Canary Wharf, to booming Stratford and the surrounding area known as the ‘Silicon Roundabout’. We host events, conferences and workshops at UEL in partnership with many of the businesses that are right on our doorstep and give students the opportunity to gather experience and contacts during their degree.

This business-led approach extends all the way through the course, with the opportunity to take a work placement module, learn from business leaders in the region, visit local organisations and network with professionals.

We place emphasis on a vocational approach to teaching, allowing you to develop a wide range of employability skills through experience and training. We also have a superb employability team that works with students to find placements, projects, graduate schemes and full-time employment, combining careers advice with practical training in interview technique and CV writing.