Business and Human Resource Management with Integrated Foundation Year

Business and human resource management together provide a formation that addresses both the broad operation of organisations and the specific challenge of managing the people within them. Business management provides frameworks for understanding strategy, finance, marketing, operations and the competitive environment. Human resource management focuses on how organisations attract, develop, motivate and retain their people, covering recruitment and selection, performance management, reward, learning and development, employment law and employee relations.

Together they prepare you for a wide range of roles in organisations where both commercial and people management skills are valued.

At the University of Sunderland you will study business and human resource management over four years of full-time study, with an integrated foundation year that provides a smooth and supported introduction to degree-level study for students who are returning to education or who want to strengthen their academic foundations before the main degree begins. A sandwich year and the opportunity for a year abroad extend the programme with significant professional and international experience, and work placement is integrated throughout. The typical tariff of 104 reflects a genuinely inclusive programme that provides real access to degree-level business education.

Graduates work in HR management, talent acquisition, learning and development, employee relations, organisational development, recruitment consultancy, operations management and general business management roles across every sector of the economy. Many pursue professional HR qualifications through the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, using the degree as an academic foundation for membership and career progression. Others go on to postgraduate study in HRM, business, management or employment law.

The combination of business understanding and people management knowledge is particularly valued in medium and large organisations where the ability to think both commercially and in terms of people is a genuine competitive advantage.