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People strategy that builds high-performing, fair organisations
Online or on campus

Human resource management is both a craft and a strategic system. This MSc equips you to design talent acquisition, performance, reward, learning and employee relations systems that create organisational capability while meeting legal and ethical standards. You will practise evidence-based HR, workforce analytics and inclusive design, and complete a consultancy-style capstone with a live or simulated organisational client. Ideal for aspiring HR business partners, people operations leaders and line managers taking strategic people responsibility. MSc Human Resource Management is taught as one award, not a list of unrelated modules. The published length is 18 months, and the credit total is 36. Students move from Strategic Human Resource Management through Strategic Human Resource Management; Organisational Behaviour & Workplace Psychology; Talent Acquisition, Assessment & Employer Brand; Employment Law & Employee Relations; Learning, Development & Leadership Capability; Performance, Reward & Total Rewards Design, and finish on MSc HRM Capstone Consultancy Project. Each course has a question, a method, and a submission. In this field, students diagnose one organisation and carry a decision through to a recommendation. Reading is a case, a short financial extract, and a stakeholder note. The artefact a marker expects is a consulting brief a manager could use. The award is built so that a graduate can do the following in practice: Design integrated HR systems aligned to business strategy Apply employment law principles to complex workplace issues Use people analytics for workforce planning and retention Teaching assumes the student can read a source, attempt a problem before the seminar, and revise after feedback. Attendance at live seminars is part of the design. The capstone or final course must use the methods of the earlier courses; a project that ignores them does not pass. The pages for each course name the topics that are examined. Those topics are the syllabus. A brochure line is not a substitute for them.
Curriculum informed by CIPD professional standards and contemporary research on high-performance work systems. Stacks upward from the Graduate Certificate in Human Resources for career switchers.
Faculty spotlight
CIPD-qualified Professor Daniel Osei leads employment relations; Dr. Emma Laurent covers inclusion systems and bias-aware assessment design.
Study online
Online tuition is free. Online examinations are free. There is no exam fee for online study.

On-campus study
Prefer to learn at our Edinburgh campus? Campus tuition and campus examinations are charged. The published campus price is on each programme page.
| Code | Course | Credits · hours |
|---|---|---|
| HRM501 | Strategic Human Resource Management Strategic Human Resource Management (HRM501) is a 3-credit course on MSc Human Resource Management, with 30 notional learning hours. By the end, students can diagnose one organisation and carry a decision through to a recommendation, using Strategic Human Resource Management as the working context rather than a generic management example. The course is taught in three movements. First, students establish the terms and the decision the course is about. Second, they apply the method to a case, dataset, text, or design and compare it with a weaker alternative. Third, they revise the work after feedback and state what the conclusion cannot support. Preparation uses a case, a short financial extract, and a stakeholder note. Seminar time is for the decision, not for reading the materials aloud. Assessment is a consulting brief a manager could use. A pass requires a clear method, evidence a marker can check, and an explicit limit. Credit is not awarded for summary alone.
| 3 · 30 h |
| HRM502 | Organisational Behaviour & Workplace Psychology Organisational Behaviour & Workplace Psychology (HRM502) is a 3-credit course on MSc Human Resource Management, with 30 notional learning hours. By the end, students can read a finding and say what it shows about behaviour, and what it does not, using Organisational Behaviour & Workplace Psychology as the working context rather than a generic management example. The course is taught in three movements. First, students establish the terms and the decision the course is about. Second, they apply the method to a case, dataset, text, or design and compare it with a weaker alternative. Third, they revise the work after feedback and state what the conclusion cannot support. Preparation uses one empirical paper, one methods critique, and an ethics note. Seminar time is for the decision, not for reading the materials aloud. Assessment is a critical review that a non-specialist manager could follow. A pass requires a clear method, evidence a marker can check, and an explicit limit. Credit is not awarded for summary alone. This course does not confer a psychology, counselling, or clinical licence.
| 3 · 30 h |
| HRM503 | Talent Acquisition, Assessment & Employer Brand Talent Acquisition, Assessment & Employer Brand (HRM503) is a 3-credit course on MSc Human Resource Management, with 30 notional learning hours. By the end, students can justify a marketing decision with evidence rather than a slogan, using Talent Acquisition, Assessment & Employer Brand as the working context rather than a generic management example. The course is taught in three movements. First, students establish the terms and the decision the course is about. Second, they apply the method to a case, dataset, text, or design and compare it with a weaker alternative. Third, they revise the work after feedback and state what the conclusion cannot support. Preparation uses a brief, a channel note, and a measurement plan. Seminar time is for the decision, not for reading the materials aloud. Assessment is a campaign or content recommendation with audience, channel, and measure. A pass requires a clear method, evidence a marker can check, and an explicit limit. Credit is not awarded for summary alone.
| 3 · 30 h |
| HRM504 | Employment Law & Employee Relations Employment Law & Employee Relations (HRM504) is a 3-credit course on MSc Human Resource Management, with 30 notional learning hours. By the end, students can say who decides, under which rule, and draft a note a professional could read, using Employment Law & Employee Relations as the working context rather than a generic management example. The course is taught in three movements. First, students establish the terms and the decision the course is about. Second, they apply the method to a case, dataset, text, or design and compare it with a weaker alternative. Third, they revise the work after feedback and state what the conclusion cannot support. Preparation uses a statute or instrument, a case or policy paper, and a commentary. Seminar time is for the decision, not for reading the materials aloud. Assessment is a memo or draft clause with sources and a revision note. A pass requires a clear method, evidence a marker can check, and an explicit limit. Credit is not awarded for summary alone. This course is academic. It does not admit the student to practise law and it is not a qualifying law degree.
| 3 · 30 h |
| Code | Course | Credits · hours |
|---|---|---|
| HRM505 | Learning, Development & Leadership Capability Learning, Development & Leadership Capability (HRM505) is a 3-credit course on MSc Human Resource Management, with 30 notional learning hours. By the end, students can diagnose one organisation and carry a decision through to a recommendation, using Learning, Development & Leadership Capability as the working context rather than a generic management example. The course is taught in three movements. First, students establish the terms and the decision the course is about. Second, they apply the method to a case, dataset, text, or design and compare it with a weaker alternative. Third, they revise the work after feedback and state what the conclusion cannot support. Preparation uses a case, a short financial extract, and a stakeholder note. Seminar time is for the decision, not for reading the materials aloud. Assessment is a consulting brief a manager could use. A pass requires a clear method, evidence a marker can check, and an explicit limit. Credit is not awarded for summary alone.
| 3 · 30 h |
| HRM506 | Performance, Reward & Total Rewards Design Performance, Reward & Total Rewards Design (HRM506) is a 3-credit course on MSc Human Resource Management, with 30 notional learning hours. By the end, students can diagnose one organisation and carry a decision through to a recommendation, using Performance, Reward & Total Rewards Design as the working context rather than a generic management example. The course is taught in three movements. First, students establish the terms and the decision the course is about. Second, they apply the method to a case, dataset, text, or design and compare it with a weaker alternative. Third, they revise the work after feedback and state what the conclusion cannot support. Preparation uses a case, a short financial extract, and a stakeholder note. Seminar time is for the decision, not for reading the materials aloud. Assessment is a consulting brief a manager could use. A pass requires a clear method, evidence a marker can check, and an explicit limit. Credit is not awarded for summary alone.
| 3 · 30 h |
| HRM507 | Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (HRM507) is a 3-credit course on MSc Human Resource Management, with 30 notional learning hours. By the end, students can diagnose one organisation and carry a decision through to a recommendation, using Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging as the working context rather than a generic management example. The course is taught in three movements. First, students establish the terms and the decision the course is about. Second, they apply the method to a case, dataset, text, or design and compare it with a weaker alternative. Third, they revise the work after feedback and state what the conclusion cannot support. Preparation uses a case, a short financial extract, and a stakeholder note. Seminar time is for the decision, not for reading the materials aloud. Assessment is a consulting brief a manager could use. A pass requires a clear method, evidence a marker can check, and an explicit limit. Credit is not awarded for summary alone.
| 3 · 30 h |
| HRM508 | People Analytics, HRIS & Evidence-Based HR People Analytics, HRIS & Evidence-Based HR (HRM508) is a 3-credit course on MSc Human Resource Management, with 30 notional learning hours. By the end, students can define a measurable question, fit a method that can be checked, and report where it fails, using People Analytics, HRIS & Evidence-Based HR as the working context rather than a generic management example. The course is taught in three movements. First, students establish the terms and the decision the course is about. Second, they apply the method to a case, dataset, text, or design and compare it with a weaker alternative. Third, they revise the work after feedback and state what the conclusion cannot support. Preparation uses a dataset description, a methods note, and one published evaluation. Seminar time is for the decision, not for reading the materials aloud. Assessment is a project note with the question, the method, the result, and the limitation. A pass requires a clear method, evidence a marker can check, and an explicit limit. Credit is not awarded for summary alone.
| 3 · 30 h |
| Code | Course | Credits · hours |
|---|---|---|
| HRM601 | Change Management & Organisational Development Change Management & Organisational Development (HRM601) is a 3-credit course on MSc Human Resource Management, with 30 notional learning hours. By the end, students can diagnose one organisation and carry a decision through to a recommendation, using Change Management & Organisational Development as the working context rather than a generic management example. The course is taught in three movements. First, students establish the terms and the decision the course is about. Second, they apply the method to a case, dataset, text, or design and compare it with a weaker alternative. Third, they revise the work after feedback and state what the conclusion cannot support. Preparation uses a case, a short financial extract, and a stakeholder note. Seminar time is for the decision, not for reading the materials aloud. Assessment is a consulting brief a manager could use. A pass requires a clear method, evidence a marker can check, and an explicit limit. Credit is not awarded for summary alone.
| 3 · 30 h |
| HRM602 | Ethics, Wellbeing & Sustainable Work Ethics, Wellbeing & Sustainable Work (HRM602) is a 3-credit course on MSc Human Resource Management, with 30 notional learning hours. By the end, students can draw the system, name the constraint that binds it, and compare two responses, using Ethics, Wellbeing & Sustainable Work as the working context rather than a generic management example. The course is taught in three movements. First, students establish the terms and the decision the course is about. Second, they apply the method to a case, dataset, text, or design and compare it with a weaker alternative. Third, they revise the work after feedback and state what the conclusion cannot support. Preparation uses a system description, an indicator note, and a project option paper. Seminar time is for the decision, not for reading the materials aloud. Assessment is a recommendation for one decision, with the evidence and the downside. A pass requires a clear method, evidence a marker can check, and an explicit limit. Credit is not awarded for summary alone. This course does not confer a professional engineering licence.
| 3 · 30 h |
| HRM603 | MSc HRM Capstone Consultancy Project MSc HRM Capstone Consultancy Project (HRM603) is a 6-credit course on MSc Human Resource Management, with 60 notional learning hours. By the end, students can diagnose one organisation and carry a decision through to a recommendation, using MSc HRM Capstone Consultancy Project as the working context rather than a generic management example. The course is taught in three movements. First, students establish the terms and the decision the course is about. Second, they apply the method to a case, dataset, text, or design and compare it with a weaker alternative. Third, they revise the work after feedback and state what the conclusion cannot support. Preparation uses a case, a short financial extract, and a stakeholder note. Seminar time is for the decision, not for reading the materials aloud. Assessment is a consulting brief a manager could use. A pass requires a clear method, evidence a marker can check, and an explicit limit. Credit is not awarded for summary alone.
| 6 · 60 h |
Modules are assessed through a published mix of coursework, applied projects, and examinations. Exam windows are announced in advance so students in other time zones are not forced into overnight sittings. Alternative arrangements are available where documented.
The published duration is 18 months. Teaching language: English. Actual time-to-complete depends on mode and any recognised prior learning.
You may study this award fully online from your country, or — where published — on campus at Brigant. Online study does not require a student visa. Campus study may.
Degree tuition for this award is published as £0 / tuition-free on the online pathway. Examination or administrative fees may apply at checkout — never an annual tuition invoice. Check the Fees page for any extras.
Requirements are grouped on this page (academic, English, documents). Equivalent qualifications are considered. English may be waived after prior English-medium study.
Assessment is typically a mix of coursework, projects, and examinations. Doctoral awards include a thesis or dissertation and an oral examination. Details sit in the programme specification and module outlines.
Recognition of the award for local employment, professional licence, or ministry attestation is decided by your employer or regulator. University of Brigant publishes verification pages for certificates. We do not claim automatic equivalence in every country.
Start an application on this website. Progress is saved from the first step. Admissions: admissions@brigant.uk.
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