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Human Resource Management (Top-up) BA(Hons)

Undergraduate Open Days
Undergraduate Open Days

Overview

Why Human Resource Management?

This top-up course lets you build on your existing knowledge and skills to understand the role human resource management plays in a business, and how you can play a part in the industry too.

If you’ve already studied a business subject to diploma level and you want to understand the world of HR, then this course could be ideal for you.

How will you learn?

You will learn through practical application and delivered lectures, workshops, seminars and group work sessions.

  • This course will focus on the strategic elements of people resourcing and the contribution that these activities can make to organisational success and achieving a high performing workforce in a rapidly changing environment.
  • You’ll be given the opportunity to understand the professional skills needed in the HR industry including how to recruit and inspire staff.
  • You’ll have the chance to develop your potential as a Human Resource Management (HRM) professional while looking at wider industry issues too in order to help you develop your business acumen.
  • You’ll have the chance to build up a knowledge of how HRM can help to create a high performance workplace, all by attracting, retaining, developing, managing and rewarding staff.

You'll have the opportunity to learn broader range management theories (in relation to strategy and cross cultural management) which will help you to analyse and solve problems in a globally interconnected environment.

What subjects will you cover?

You’ll explore subjects such as People Resourcing, Human Resource Development, Employment Relations, Strategy in Context, The Future of Work and Managing Across Cultures.

Key Information

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for this course are normally one of the following:

  • Higher National Diploma or equivalent (eg two year advanced diploma level or comparable qualifications, or European equivalent to 120 ECTS points).
  • Foundation degree or 120 ECTS.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

Start dates

22 September 2025

Duration

1 year full-time
2 years part-time

Course Detail

Core modules:

People Resourcing

People Resourcing covers a wide range of people management issues from pre-employment (corporate and HR strategic planning, recruitment, and selection), initial and continuing employment (socialisation, performance management), to release from employment (redundancy, retirement, exit interviews). The module will focus on the strategic elements of people resourcing and the contribution that these activities can make to organisational success and achieving a high-performance workforce in a rapidly changing environment.

Human Resource Development

Ever wondered how training and developing employees can add value to an organisation? This module will explore this, looking at how investing in staff in this way builds increased commitment and enhances skills. After a review of HRD, how we identify, plan, develop, deliver, and evaluate training, we will consider interventions to support learning organisations as well as exploring the theories surrounding HRD.

The Future of Work

This module adopts a perspective to examine the dynamics, complexities, and uncertainties of a modern world of work. Topics on the future of work will be studied in a national and global context. You'll explore the impact at an individual, organisational, and societal level of the need for efficiency and effectiveness in managing a diverse workforce, the impact of technological change, and the changing relationship between employers and employees. Through the module you'll develop a critical understanding of the workplace as employees and managers of the future.

Employment Relations

This module focuses on the theory and practical application of Employment Relations in the workplace. It will help develop an understanding of core employment legislation and management interventions that can be applied in the workplace to enable the effective management of the employment relationship.

Managing Across Cultures

In this module, you'll explore how culture affects business and management. You'll learn the essential knowledge and theories in cross-cultural management, which will enable you to compare cultures systematically. You'll also investigate the latest developments in cross cultural research, which will develop your capability in understanding and analysing cross cultural scenarios. You are encouraged to develop an open-minded approach to cultural differences and an understanding of culture’s influence on business and management.

Strategy in Context

In this module you’ll gain an understanding of how organisations develop their strategies in relation to different aspects of their environment. You’ll study how both the internal context (e.g. organisational structure, routines and resources) and external context (e.g. institutional systems, industry structures and competition) shape organisational activities and the strategic decisions that individual managers make.

On average 15%* of the study time on this course is spent in lectures, seminars, workshops etc. Study and assessments will be based on your choice of modules. Your module specification/course handbook will provide full details of the assessment criteria applying to your course.

Feedback (either written and/or verbal) is normally provided on all coursework submissions within three term time weeks – unless the submission was made towards the end of the session in which case feedback would be available on request after the formal publication of results. Feedback on final coursework is available on request after the publication of results.

*based on 22/23 programme specifications

  1. The University of Huddersfield has been rated Gold in all three aspects of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023. We were the only university in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West to achieve Gold ratings in all three aspects of the TEF among those announced in September 2023. In fact only 13 Universities, out of the 96 that were announced in September 2023, were Gold in all three ratings.

  2. Our teaching staff rank first in England for the proportion with higher degrees and teaching qualifications, as well as being top five for those holding doctorates (HESA 2025). So you’ll learn from some of the best, helping you to be the best.

  3. We are second in the country for National Teaching Fellowships, which mark the UK’s best lecturers in Higher Education, winning a total of 24 since 2008 (2025 data).

  4. We won the first Global Teaching Excellence Award, recognising the University’s commitment to world-class teaching and its success in developing students as independent learners and critical thinkers (Higher Education Academy, 2017).

Visit ‘Our experts’ page where you’ll find in-depth profiles of all our academic staff

At Huddersfield, you'll study the Global Professional Award (GPA) alongside your degree* so that you gain valuable qualities and experiences that could help you to get the career you want, no matter what your field of study is. On completion of the Award, you'll receive a GPA certificate from the University of Huddersfield, alongside the specialist subject skills and knowledge you gain as part of your degree, which may help to set you apart from other graduates.

Giving students access to the Global Professional Award is one of the reasons the University won ‘Best University Employability Strategy’ award at the National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2021. Find out more on the Global Professional Award webpage.

*full-time, undergraduate first degrees with a minimum duration of three years. This does not include postgraduate, foundation, top-up, accelerated or apprenticeship degrees.

What makes us different?


Wondering what makes Huddersfield Business School different? 

It’s more than just awards and accreditations. In this video, students and staff share their experience of our supportive community, strong industry links, and hands-on projects that bring business to life. It’s not just about lectures and seminars — it’s about building real connections, gaining practical experience, and preparing for your future.

Discover more about the course

Your Career

Discover the job roles our graduates are working in now.

Professional links and accreditation

Recognised connections to give you an extra edge when you graduate.

Inspiring Graduate

Get inspired by real students and their careers.

Careers advice

Check out the personalised guidance we offer you.

Student Support

Discover all the support available so you can thrive.

Further Study

Learn about pursuing a Master’s or PhD at Huddersfield.

Research Excellence

See how our innovative research shapes what you'll learn.

Important information

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons:

Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment. We may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and if you are unhappy with the change we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

Changes to option modules

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. We will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes

We will only make major changes to non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes the outcomes, or a significant part of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum. For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff being unable to teach due to illness, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to pandemics, other disasters (such as fire, flood or war) or changes made by the government.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will consult with affected groups of students and any changes would only be made in accordance with our regulations. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you let us know before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for any additional tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so and you may be eligible for an exit award depending on how far through your course you are.

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed in accordance with the student protection plan.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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