Human Resource Management

• PGDip: You study 8 modules.
• MSc: You study 8 modules, plus a research project.

View Modules

• Download the Programme Specification
• View the Programme Regulations

This programme has three intake dates per year: January, April and October. 

The programme is available online and is fully supported by a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), as well as study materials and help from academic staff. It allows you to study anywhere in the world and fit your studies around your other commitments.

The degree offers the flexibility to complete in one year, or up to five years depending on your desired study pace.

Study materials

You will be able to access study materials developed by academics at Birkbeck including course handbooks, textbooks and recorded lectures or dedicated audio recordings, and you will have access to an extensive online library.

You will be able to discuss your work with fellow students and tutors using a conferencing system. You will discuss topics in tutor groups of normally around 30 students.

All study materials (articles and/or set texts) are included in the programme fee, with the exception of materials required to carry out the Dissertation.

Online support

The programme uses tutor supported computer conferencing as the main mode of communication between staff and students. Tutors oversee all modules; they respond to queries, monitor discussions and provide general guidance. When you register, we will give you access to your Student Portal. You can then access your University of London email account and other key resources:

• The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) enables access to course materials, resources, and activities.
• The Online Library provides access to over 100 million academic electronic items comprising E-books, E-journals, conference proceedings, etc. In addition, students can request items which are not held in the library via the library's Inter-Library loans service with the British Library.
• Senate House Library provides free reference access for all registered distance and flexible learning students.

Student support

We are committed to delivering an exceptional student experience for all of our students. You will have access to support through:

• The Student Advice Centre – provides support for application and Student Portal queries.
• TalkCampus – a peer support service that offers a safe and confidential way to talk about whatever is on your mind at any time of day or night.

Time commitment

Modules are offered across three terms of eleven weeks from Oct to Dec (Term 1), Jan to March (Term 2) and April to July (Term 3). This 11 week period includes 9 weeks of guided study followed by a personal study week. The assessment period for each module is in the final week of each term.

You can study at your own pace (provided you complete your qualification within five years). The MSc is made up of 180 credits and you should expect each credit to take up around 10 hours of study.

Assessment

Each module is summatively assessed by a final assessment (worth 90% of the overall mark), with the exception of the Research Project modules (Research Proposal and Dissertation). The final assessment is typically a two-hour unseen written examination or 3,000-word written report/essay.

For each module (except for the Research Project modules), satisfaction of the minimum tutor supported computer conferencing requirements is worth 10% of the overall mark.

The Research Proposal module is assessed by a 3,000 word research proposal.

The Dissertation module is assessed by an 8,000-10,000 word dissertation.

Assessment is usually held in December, March and July (at the end of each term). Written exams are held at approved centres around the world (mainly Ministries of Education or the British Council). Each centre charges a fee for hosting exams.

More about assessment

What qualifications do you need?

You need the equivalent of a UK second-class honours degree (e.g. bachelor). If you don't hold a degree but you have relevant industry experience and have completed the The Manager's Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Managing People at Work MOOC, we will consider each case on its merits.

To study modules on an individual basis, you should meet the same criteria. If you do not meet them, we may still consider your application if you can demonstrate your ability to undertake advanced study.

Find equivalent qualifications where you live.

English Language requirements

You need a high standard of English to study this programme. You will meet our language requirements if you have achieved the following within the past three years:

• (IELTS) International English Language Testing System - 6.5 overall (with 6 in reading and writing).
• (TOEFL) iBT Test of English as a Foreign Language - 92 overall (with 22 in reading and writing, and 20 in speaking and listening).
• Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English.
• Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English (at grade C or above).
• Duolingo: must achieve an overall score of at least 120.

Computer requirements

We set minimum basic computer requirements because your study resources are accessed via the Student Portal and it is vital that you can access this regularly. For this degree, you will also need Adobe Flash Player to view video material and a media player (such as VLC) to play video files.

More about computer requirements.

If you have studied material as part of a previous qualification that is comparable in content, level and standard to our Organisational Psychology or Human Resource Management modules, you might be exempted from the equivalent course of our degree. This process is known as Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) or Exemption. You will not need to study or be assessed in the module(s) to complete your award.

To be considered for RPL you should make a formal request within your application when applying online. Alternatively, this can be done through an online enquiry, once you have submitted your application.

You may apply for recognition of prior learning (RPL) mapped against a maximum of one module.

You may not apply for recognition of prior learning for the modules of the Research Project (Research Proposal [OPM410] and Dissertation [OPM610]).

More about RPL and the application process

Your qualifications will need to be assessed by specialist academics on a case by case basis, before we can approve recognition and accreditation of Prior Learning. This is called discretionary RPL and involves a non-refundable application fee.

You will need to be eligible to study the programme and will need to provide the following for your RPL application to be considered: a completed RPL request form, the supporting documentary evidence (normally a transcript and syllabus of your previous studies) and the fee payable.

Note: All discretionary RPL requests must be submitted by the dates specified for the January, April, October intake in the year that you apply. Once submitted, we must receive all required supporting evidence by the deadline stated.

Further information on rules regarding RPL is covered in the Recognition of Prior Learning section of the appropriate Programme Regulations and Section 3 of the General Regulations.

The fees below apply if you begin during the 2022-2023 session. These may increase by up to 5% per year.

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More about programme fees.

*The online examination administration fee is charged for each examination paper held online, including resits. This does not apply to any coursework submissions.

Additional Costs

You will also need to budget for exam centre fees, which are paid directly to the venues where you sit your exams.

How to pay your fees.

Please note: all student fees shown are net of any local VAT, Goods and Services Tax (GST) or any other sales tax payable by the student in their country of residence. Where the University is required to add VAT, GST or any other sales tax at the local statutory rate, this will be added to the fees shown during the payment process. For students resident in the UK, our fees are exempt from VAT.

Further information on Sales Tax.

Your payment provider may apply additional transaction fees (if in doubt, please check with them before making a payment).

Further information about fee payment options can be found in the “How to pay your fees” link above.

Graduates of this course go on to become training professionals, motivators, careers advisers, managers and consultants within large multinational companies, government departments, or in any company where advanced knowledge of organisational psychology may be useful.

What do employers think of our graduates?

In some countries, qualifications earned by distance and flexible learning may not be recognised by certain authorities or regulators for the purposes of public sector employment or further study. We advise you to explore the local recognition status before you register, even if you plan to receive support from a local teaching institution.

Birkbeck was founded in 1823 as the London Mechanics' Institute. It is unique in its special mission to enable mature students to gain higher education qualifications via part-time study. Consequently, staff are experienced in ensuring a flexible learning environment. 

Its Department of Organizational Psychology is the oldest and largest department of its kind in the UK and makes a major contribution to research in the field of behaviour at work. It is one of the principal providers of academic and professional training in occupational psychology within the UK. 

Programme Directors 

Dr Keely Jo Frasca joined the OPHRM programme in 2018 as a tutor and took on the role of Programme Director in 2022. She currently convenes the Selection & Assessment, Research Methods, Professional Development & Learning, Research Proposal, and Research Dissertation modules. Keely’s research interests include: organisational recruitment, selection and assessment, discrimination of minority groups, individual differences, and advanced quantitative methods. Keely holds a PhD in Organisational Psychology and is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (CPsychol), Member of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology, Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (FHEA), and Member of The Tutors’ Association (MTA). She is qualified in Occupational Psychometric Testing with the British Psychological Society and is certified by the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations. 

Jack Dybczak has been teaching and lecturing at Birkbeck since 2013 on a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In 2017, he joined the OPHRM team and took on the role of Programme Director in 2022. He is currently responsible for teaching Organization and Change Perspectives, Human Resource Strategies and the foundational and qualitative parts of Research Methods. His main research interests are the application of Postmodern Organizational Theory, Actor-Network Theory, and various forms of Discourse Analysis to issues of leadership and organizational change. 

Programme Team 

Dr Adrian Ward is an independent consultant specialising in the field of leadership, organisational development and executive coaching with over 25 years’ experience in these arenas. In a coaching and mentoring capacity, Adrian is experienced in helping leaders equip themselves with the skills, confidence and political acumen necessary to succeed in a complex, matrix structured environment. In addition to his practical experience, Adrian has a Doctorate in Organisational Psychology. His research interests centre on the issue of Organisational Politics and his thesis explored how Senior Executives make sense of this aspect of their leadership role.   

Aly Kelleher joined the OPHRM team as a tutor and research project supervisor in 2021. She is also the Programme Director and Admissions tutor for BSc Business Psychology Birkbeck. She lectures on a wide range of modules such as Motivation, Engagement and Job design, and Research Methods for Business Psychology. She also supervises research projects on the BSc in Business Psychology and the MSc OP programmes. Aly’s PhD research focuses on employee motivation, the Future Time Perspective and Job Demands-Resources theories, and the use of advanced quantitative statistics using R. Other research interests include (but are not limited to): employee wellbeing, engagement, diversity, and the work-home interface.  

Alice Cadwgan has worked across communications, organisational design and culture change for multinational corporations, brands and NGO's. In addition, she is a graduate with an MSc from Birkbeck in Organisational Psychology, alongside being the Director of Campaigns and Operations at Lynn, a communications consultancy powered by Behavioural Science. 

Head of Department of Organizational Psychology  

Mr Mark Stringer has spent the last 35 years in a variety of posts within business and academia in the UK. He joined Birkbeck in 2015 teaching and lecturing on postgraduate programmes, before becoming Programme Director of OPHRM in 2018. From 2022, he took on the role of Head of Department of Organizational Psychology at Birkbeck. Through teaching, supervision and research, his focus is to promote the use of interdisciplinary and critical tools to support those aiming to change organizational issues for the better. Mark’s PhD research looks at interpreting Employee Engagement via a Lacanian psychoanalytic lens. His wider research interests lie in qualitative approaches, influenced by both critical management studies and psychoanalytic, postmodern, structuralist, poststructuralist and intertextual interpretations of organisational life.

Without the cost of moving to London, studying for your University of London degree anywhere in the world represents excellent value for money. However, there are additional sources of support depending on where you live and how you choose to study.

More on funding your study