The Professional Development Programme
The Professional Development Programme is an opportunity to explore and develop the knowledge, understanding and skills you need to support your career progression and achieve a postgraduate qualification.
We have an excellent reputation with employers and students for the relevance of our teaching and learning for management development. Our Professional Development Programme offers flexibility of study and includes practical input from employers. You can choose to work towards a specific postgraduate qualification in management or human resources. At each stage of study you can step off with a certificate or a diploma, or you can choose to continue your study to master's level. Alternatively, from the CML, CHRM or CM online you can apply to progress directly onto the MBA, providing you meet all the entry requirements for the Oxford Brookes MBA programme.
As an employer you can benefit from your employee developing new skills and undertaking their dissertation in an area valuable to your organisation.
As a student, whichever programme you choose within the Professional Development Programme, you will have a unique opportunity to develop and explore the skills of the practitioner within a challenging academic framework. Individual programmes develop knowledge and understanding and fine tune your judgement and personal management skills.
Professional Development Programmes
- Certificate in Management and Leadership
- Diploma in Management and Leadership
- MA in Strategic Management and Leadership
- Certificate in Human Resource Management
- Diploma in Human Resource Management
- MA in Human Resource Management
Key aim
The key aim of our Professional Development Programme is to provide you with the skills and confidence to meet the challenges of your role within your organisation. The modular structure of these programmes allows you to join and leave upon the completion of each stage of the programme. The programmes are supported by reflective activities, encouraging a lifelong approach to learning and personal development.
Teaching and learning
During the certificate and diploma stages of your programme, the teaching team use a range of teaching and learning strategies, including case studies, video material, interactive seminars, presentations and guest speakers. The master's-level final year is built around a series of one-day workshops that are designed to support you in the preparation of your dissertation. This diversity provides a dynamic environment for all the participants to network and share experiences. (The CML and CHRM share a common first semester allowing you to change from one programme to the other during this period).
Accredited quality
Programmes which achieve accreditation by a professional body are subjected to rigorous assessment of academic content and relevance to that profession. The Certificate and Diploma in Management and Leadership are accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), which sets the standard for management education in the UK. The Certificate and Diploma in Human Resource Management are accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Europe's largest HR and development professional body. You can therefore be sure that you are joining a programme of high academic quality, which is universally recognised by employers.
Attendance
Years 1 and 2
The Certificate in Management Online has no face-to-face teaching and is delivered through the Oxford Brookes University Virtual Learning Environment. For the face-to-face programmes, attendance consists of up to one afternoon and evening per week, normally Tuesdays for the Certificate in Management, Wednesdays for the Diploma in Human Resource Management, Thursdays for the Diploma in Management and Leadership and Fridays for the MA programmes.
Master's level
During the MA year you attend a series of one-day workshops that are designed to support you in undertaking a 20,000-word dissertation founded on a major piece of practice-based independent research. Dissertations are normally designed not only to encourage your personal development and managerial expertise but also to deliver value to an organisation.
Management Development
The Professional Development Programme facilitates, over three years, your progress from the Certificate in Management through to the diploma stage and on to a specialist master's degree.
The programme provides intermediate exit points at the end of each academic year, allowing you the opportunity to progress to the next level or leave with either a Certificate in Management, a Diploma in Management and Leadership or Human Resource Management, or a master's degree in Management, Management of Innovation and Change or Human Resource Management.
Your route to a master's degree in three years
The Professional Development Programme facilitates your progress, over three years, from the Certificate in Management and Leadership or the Certificate in Human Resource Management through to the diploma stage and on to a specialist master's degree.
The programme provides intermediate exit points at the end of each academic year, allowing you to progress to the next level or to leave with either a Certificate in Management and Leadership or the Certificate in Human Resource Management, a Diploma in Management and Leadership or Human Resource Management, or a master's degree in Strategic Management and Leadership or Human Resource Management.
Each level of the programme involves a strong, work-related focus and the assessment strategy requires you to apply course-based learning to work-based contexts by undertaking a series of work-related assignments, enabling you to build and share experience. Students are drawn from a wide range of public and private sector organisations.
