CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management for School Business Professionals

The CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management for School Business Professionals is designed to:

• Expand knowledge in key HR and people management areas and allow you to substantiate your experience with a qualification.

• Allow for your school or trust's context to be considered as part of the assignments to ensure that the programme provides practical benefits to both you and your organisation. This is implemented within MOL’s delivery method and design.

• Develop knowledge and offer you an opportunity to stand out from your peers.

• Provide confidence and assurance in your knowledge and skills.

• Provide a gateway to CIPD Associate status.

Core units

The six core units are delivered via Live Online, which includes live, interactive webinar sessions delivered by an MOL’s industry expert tutor. The core units have been contextualised especially for SBPs and the education sector.

You don’t need to worry about an emergency occurring in school (e.g. Ofsted visit) that means you miss a live online session. All live sessions are recorded to enable you to access them on demand and you will also have access to all of the relevant on demand resources for each unit, should you need to.

Optional units

The optional units are delivered either live online or on-demand. You will need to choose one of the three optional units to complete. You can then choose whether you complete it online on-demand or whether you join an Open cohort* for this unit (live online).

*An open cohort is made up of learners from a variety of different sectors and backgrounds. Joining an open cohort is a great way of learning how other HR professionals do things in their sector / organisations.

This Associate Diploma programme is approximately 12 months in length.

Each module takes around 5-6 weeks when studied via live online delivery.

You can expect study between 8-10 hours on average per week during a module. The time spend studying will vary depending on your ability as a learner, your existing knowledge/experience and which unit of the programme you are studying at the time.

MOL’s dedicated Customer Experience Team will be in contact prior to the start of the programme to outline how the programme will run and to deal with any queries or concerns you may have at the outset. When your studies commence, they will also proactively contact you to make sure that you are OK, that the course is going well and to gather feedback on your experience of studying with MOL.

Whilst studying the Level 5 Associate Diploma, you will attend regular, live webinar sessions offering the opportunity to interact with your tutor and peers. The sessions are designed to be vibrant and engaging and will include elements such as group and paired work, discussion topics, Q&As and interactive polls whilst looking at areas of the CIPD syllabus.

MOL’s expert tutors are also available to support you whenever you need them. The tutors do not just provide information and advice within the live online, interactive sessions; they are on hand when you need them to provide dedicated support and feedback to guide you in your learning.

There are no prior entry requirements as such. The programme is aimed at learners who may already be working in an HR role and are looking to expand their experience and knowledge. For individuals who already hold a CIPD Level 3 or are perhaps educated to degree level, CIPD Level 5 is also a natural progression step.

All units are assessed via essay-based assignment. These assignments are usually 2,000–4,000 words in length, depending on the module.

We offer termly start dates for this programme. Upcoming start dates are listed below but generally take place 3 times per academic year in October, January and May.

We do require a minimum number of SBPs to book onto each intake to ensure that the programme can run as a dedicated contextualised programme for school business professionals. We run a cohort of the Level 5 Associate Diploma on a rolling basis and each term, a new intake of SBPs joins the existing cohort and everyone starts the next unit together.

It is important to remember that the units have been designed to be completed in any order.

The benefits of this approach are:

• Flexibility – we are able to offer multiple start dates for this programme throughout the year.

• Networking – it allows you to network with a wider range of SBPs as they join the cohort.

• Support – you can gain insights and receive guidance from the other SBPs on the programme who have already completed some of the units.

Yes, CIPD membership is a prerequisite to undertaking any CIPD related qualification. If you do not currently hold CIPD membership then you can order student membership directly through CIPD.

There is an ISBL member rate and a non-member rate for all our training programmes. All rates quoted below are inclusive of VAT and per person:

ISBL member rate: £2,160

Non-member rate: £2,400

PLEASE NOTE: The above prices DO NOT include CIPD membership. This needs to be ordered directly through CIPD.

One of the benefits of being an ISBL member is being able to access the member rates for training and conferences. If you are not a member, you can find out more about joining ISBL by clicking here.

To be able to access the ISBL member rate, your membership needs to be active before you book your place on the programme.

The full cost must be paid in full before you start the programme. Our Terms & Conditions can be found here.