Business and Human Resource Management

Business and human resource management is a degree that prepares you for the organisational and people dimensions of working life. Business management covers strategy, finance, marketing, operations and entrepreneurship, giving you a broad understanding of how organisations function and compete. Human resource management adds a specialist focus on the people who make organisations work, examining how to recruit and retain talent, how to develop and motivate employees, how to formulate policies around flexible and remote working, equality, diversity and inclusion, and how to navigate the legal and ethical frameworks that govern employment.

At the University of Portsmouth you will study this three-year full-time programme, which includes a sandwich placement year, a year abroad and embedded work placement opportunities. The sandwich year allows you to apply your developing knowledge in a real organisational setting, and the year abroad gives you the opportunity to experience business education and working culture in another country. You will develop both the strategic business thinking and the practical HR knowledge to take on roles that require you to bridge operational and people challenges.

The typical entry tariff is around 120 UCAS points, and Portsmouth's location in the South East gives you access to a varied business and public sector landscape.

Graduates enter a wide range of organisations and roles. HR management, talent acquisition, learning and development, employee relations, people analytics and organisational development are all career paths that the degree directly supports. Many graduates enter graduate training schemes with large employers in the retail, financial services, public sector, healthcare, hospitality and professional services industries.

The business management component also opens routes into project management, operations, consultancy and general management. Postgraduate study in human resource management, organisational psychology, employment law or business is a further option, and professional membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development is a goal many HR graduates pursue alongside their careers.