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Course Details

EQF/MQF Level

Level 5

ECTS Credits

120 ECTS

Duration of Study Programme

2 Academic Years

Awarding Body

Pearson (UK)

Intakes

October & January

Malta/EU Price

€9,000

Course description

The Higher National Diploma in Hospitality prepares you for a role in supervisory management in the Hospitality Industry. This is the world’s largest industry and comprises of hundreds of different types of operation, from guest houses to hotels, bars to cafe’s, nightclubs to events, contract catering to large scale conferences. This course is designed to prepare you to specialise in a range of administative and managerial positions within these fields.

This emphasises the use of knowledge and practical skills in areas such as hospitality operations, banqueting and conference management, food and beverage operations, customer servicing, facilities operations, and human resources management, etc. It provides specialist routes of studies that relate to individual professions within the hospitality world. To fully complete this HND qualification, you must first obtain the HNC (1st year) and then proceed to the HND (2nd year).

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

  • Develop in-depth knowledge, to understand and develop skills in the fields of different areas of hospitality, licensed retail, food and beverage or leisure and tourism sectors.
  • Analyse, synthesise and summarise information on hospitality management critically.
  • Read and use literature on hospitality management with a good, critical understanding.
  • Apply subject knowledge and understanding to address familiar and unfamiliar problems.
  • Have the capacity to give a clear and accurate account of a subject, assemble arguments in a logical way and engage in debate and dialogue both with specialist and non-specialist subjects.

What you will study

You will study modules such as:

  • The Contemporary Hospitality Management

The aim of this unit is to provide students with knowledge and understanding of the hospitality industry. Gaining insight into how hospitality organisations function within the wider business environment.

Students will examine the purpose of different hospitality organisations, exploring the size, scale and scope of the hospitality industry. Students will explore the skills requirements and the challenges that hospitality organisations have with recruiting sufficiently skilled staff to support business growth. Students will consider the external factors that impact the hospitality industry and will gain an understanding of what drives supply and demand for hospitality products and services. Students can then use the knowledge, understanding and skill sets gained in this unit to be able to identify, and take advantage of, potential trends and developments.

  • Managing the Customer Experience

The aim of this unit is to provide students with background knowledge and understanding of how hospitality businesses manage the customer experience from the initial needs analysis through to after sales follow-up.

During the unit, students will be able to map the journey that a customer makes through a hospitality business, identifying crucial touch points and recognising how these touch points can be managed to optimise the customer’s experience.

Students will consider how technology is changing the way customers interact with hospitality businesses and how digital initiatives should complement existing customer journeys whist recognising that online and offline consumers are distinctly different. Students can then use this knowledge to provide customer service both within business and services and on-line contexts to meet required standards.

  • Professional Identity and Practice

With employment opportunities and career progression becoming increasingly competitive, it is vital that new employees appreciate the value of the correct skills and competences expected by employers.

This unit aims to guide students through the process of self-assessment of skills and competences, personal career planning and the application of different learning and development approaches within a work environment. Students are not necessarily expected to engage in work activities, however self-assessment and design must be applied within a specific work context to avoid it being generic. This unit compliments Unit 13: Work experience, to apply theory to practice as content links closely together.

The unit will also give students direction on how to prepare for job applications and interviews in a formalised manner, with the aim to improve career prospects.

Students are expected to undertake a practical interview arranged and guided by the tutor or relevant employer.

  • The Hospitality Business Toolkit

This unit is designed to provide students with key skills for becoming competent managers in a hospitality environment. Allowing them to understand key principles with regard to key performance indicators both financial and non-financial.

This unit aims to give students the opportunity to develop their business acumen, covering a number of different business activities applied within the hospitality industry context. These include forecasting and budgeting, interpreting financial statements, recruitment and retention of staff, effective communication and dealing with legislation and regulation.

  • Leadership and Management for Service Industries (Pearson-set)

This unit is a Pearson-set unit. Tutors will choose a topic based on a theme and selection of topics provided by Pearson (this will change annually). The unit will enable students to explore and examine a relevant and current topical aspect of leadership and management in the context of the service sector environment.

This unit also enables students to gain understanding of leadership and management principles, and to review their potential for a career in management in the service sector. After exploring organisations’ structures and cultures they will learn classical management theories and leadership styles and how these are applied to managing commercial organisations.

In addition to the students gaining a good understanding of how management theories are practiced in today’s industries they will evaluate effective management and leadership skills for the service industries through application and reflection on skills required and applied in a service industry context.

  • Managing Food and Beverage Operations

The aim of this unit is to provide students with background and operational knowledge of the food and beverage industry. Students will examine the different kind of businesses found within the hospitality sector and the standards associated with them.

Students will be expected to learn the operational skills required to work within the food and beverage sector and gain an appreciation for the equipment and technology used in operations. Students will learn how they can gain commercial advantage both operationally and from a marketing perspective. Finally, students will also learn about which factors effect customer’s decision to purchase. Students will be able to use this knowledge as a foundation to develop a career in food and beverage management.

  • Managing Conference and Events

The aim of this unit is to give students a background knowledge and understanding of the events and conferencing industry. Students will be required to study the different types of events and profile real events from different events categories.

Students will learn how to set up a variety of conferences and the type of equipment and resources required to set up conferences and events.

Students will discover the different job roles in the events industry and the skills required for the roles. Students will evaluate their own skills to identify what they need to improve on to gain their desired roles.

Students will investigate the criteria required to run and manage a safe and secure event, both in terms of the physical venue and dealing with situations that might occur. On completion of the unit students will have a good understanding of the industry and the skills required and transferable skills in safety, which is invaluable for any area of the events sector.

  • Human Resource Management

The aim of this unit is to enable students to appreciate and apply principles of effective Human Resource Management (HRM). People are the lifeblood of any organisation and being able to attract, recruit and retain talented staff is at the core of all HRM activity. This unit will explore the tools and techniques used in HRM to maximise the employee contribution and how to use Human Resource (HR) methods to gain competitive advantage. Students will explore the importance of training and development in building and extending the skills base of the organisation and ensuring it is relevant to the ever-changing business environment.

Students will also consider the growing importance of becoming a flexible organisation with an equally flexible labour force, and become familiar with techniques of job design and with different reward systems.

The unit investigates the importance of good employee relations and the ways in which employers engage with their staff and possibly with trade unions. Students will gain an understanding of the law governing HRM processes as well as the best practices which enable an employer to become an ‘employer of choice’ in their labour market.

Upon successful completion of First Year, student is awarded an HNC (Higher National Certificate) at EQF/MQF Level 5 by Pearson. 

  • Research Project (Pearson-set)

This unit is assessed by a Pearson-set assignment. Students will choose their own project based on a theme provided by Pearson (this will change annually). The project must be related to their specialist pathway of study (unless the student is studying the general business pathway). This will enable students to explore and examine a relevant and current topical aspect of hospitality in the context of the hospitality environment and their chosen specialist pathway.

The aim of this unit is to offer students the opportunity to engage in sustained research in a specific field of study. The unit enables students to demonstrate the capacity and ability to identify a research theme, to develop research aims, objectives and outcomes, and to present the outcomes of such research in both written and verbal formats. The unit also encourages students to reflect on their engagement in the research process during which recommendations for future, personal development are key learning points.

On successful completion of this unit students will have the confidence to engage in problem-solving and research activities which are part of the function of a manager.

Students will have the fundamental knowledge and skills to enable them to investigate workplace issues and problems, determine appropriate solutions and present evidence to various stakeholders in an acceptable and understandable format.

  • Hospitality Consumer Behaviour and Insight

This unit is designed to enhance students’ knowledge and understanding of the consumer’s decision-making processes, from needs recognition through research, the evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase evaluation. While students will learn the underpinning theories and frameworks, they will also be expected to relate these to real-world examples, including their own personal experiences.

An important part of marketing is understanding the processes behind how a consumer makes the decision to purchase a product and/or service.

The knowledge, understanding and skill sets that students will gain on successfully completing this unit will enhance their career opportunities; whether setting up in business independently or being employed by a hospitality organisation.

  • Facilities Management

This unit provides a broad overview of facilities management and develops students’ ability to use relevant knowledge, ideas, and skills to compose procedures and methods to address operational issues. The unit prepares students to take responsibility for planning and delivering solutions by practicing autonomy and to make the best judgements in the operations at a management level. The students will gain specialised knowledge to utilise, with critical and independent thinking, to deliver the best results and develop strategies for managing and running businesses effectively.

The unit focuses on in-depth knowledge and essential skills to run the business effectively in a wide variety of contexts. These contexts include change management, people management, managing Health and Safety in the work place, outsourcing strategies, work place productivity, supplier relationships, benchmarking best practices, importance of quality, negotiation skills, sustainability and environmental management.

Students will critically analyse and discuss one of the fastest-growing industries around the globe. They will acquire a varied range of skills enabling them to illustrate regulatory obligations that have an impact on the facilities and how they are run. The unit aims to equip students with skills such as strategic planning, research, critical evaluation and presentation skills, as well as leadership and people management skills.

  • Tourist Resort Management

The purpose of this unit is to give students an opportunity to explore the world of tourist resorts. Firstly, they will learn about the different types of resorts that exist in the world and focus on some of the management issues that are associated with managing them. Secondly, the students will focus on understanding the difference between an all-inclusive resort and an individually priced resort and the financial challenges that this brings.

Finally students will be expected to focus on a specific location of their choosing, they will then research a specific resort type of their choice and identify the type of customers that visit the location and why. Focusing on the consumer needs, students are then to produce a creative package tailored to the resort, outlining how the resort would be priced ensuring that the business would be profitable and how it would win business against local competition.

Students will be able to use the knowledge gained during this unit to help in a career as a general hotel manager or business entrepreneur.

  • Hospitality Business Strategy

The aim of this unit is to develop students’ awareness of the different kinds of strategy which could be used in an operational, tactical or strategic role for a hospitality organisation. This will be underpinned by a thorough knowledge and understanding of the theories, models and concepts which could significantly support an organisation’s strategic choice and direction.

On successful completion of this unit students will have developed sufficient knowledge and understanding of strategy to make a positive, efficient and effective contribution to the development of business plans and operational direction. This could be in the role of a junior manager responsible for having a specific input into an organisation’s decision-making and planning.

  • Customer Value Management

This unit is designed to enhance students’ knowledge and understanding of why it is important for marketers to enhance and manage the value of the customer interactions. Students will learn the underpinning theories and frameworks, and will also be expected to relate these to real-world examples, including their own personal experiences.

Organisations ideally seek a mutually beneficial relationship between themselves and their customers. This is particularly important when considering the costs associated with acquiring a new customer. It has been suggested that it can cost five times as much to gain a new customer as it is to retain an existing one.

Moreover, there is no guarantee that a new customer will be as loyal as a current one. Any organisation, whether for profit, non profit organisation (NGO) or a charity, seeks ways of retaining customers through enhanced customer experiences.

In order to retain loyal (and profitable) customers, organisations seek to understand them better. By understanding customers through the capture of relevant data, organisations can enhance a customer’s lifetime value. They then aim to build a relationship with the customers where they remain loyal and continue to purchase a range of products/services.

The knowledge, understanding and skill sets that students will gain on successfully completing this unit will enhance their career opportunities; whether setting up in business independently or being employed by an organisation.

  • Organisational Behaviour

The aim of this unit is to develop a student’s understanding of the influence culture, politics and power have on the behaviour of others in an organisational context.

Students will be in a position to apply the principles of organisational behaviour to a variety of business situations.

On successful completion of this unit students will have an understanding and awareness of key influences which affect the behaviour of individuals, teams and organisations as a whole. They will be able to use this knowledge to make an immediate and positive contribution in the workplace, whether that role is as part of a team or as a team leader. This will be achieved through a strong appreciation of working in a team, having a more profound perspective of what makes people and organisations do what they do, and how to adjust one’s own behaviour to reflect the circumstances and situation.

Upon successful completion of Second Year, student is awarded an HND (Higher National Diploma) at EQF/MQF Level 5 by Pearson. 

How you will learn

This diploma is delivered with a flexible classroom-based method, through a variety of course materials, case studies, discussions, presentations, enquiry-based learning and problem-solving activities. We provide you with key reading and research activities, and you will make the most of our own teaching portal.

Method of Assessment

The purpose of assessment is to ensure that effective learning has taken place of the content of each unit. Evidence of this learning, or the application of the learning, is required for each unit. The assessment of the evidence relates directly to the assessment criteria for each unit. The grading of BTEC Higher National qualifications is at the unit and the qualification level.

Each successfully completed unit will be graded as a pass, merit or distinction. A pass is awarded for the achievement of all outcomes against the specified assessment criteria. Merit and distinction grades are awarded for higher-level achievement.

Summary of grades

In order to achieve a pass in a unit
  • All learning outcomes and associated assessment criteria have been met
In order to achieve a merit in a unit
  • Pass requirements achieved
  • All merit grade descriptors achieved and all prescribed indicative characteristics
In order to achieve a distinction in a unit
  • Pass and merit requirements achieved
  • All distinction grade descriptors achieved and all prescribed indicative characteristics

Entry requirements

Have an ‘A’ Level standard of education; or

  • Relevant qualification at EQF/MQF Level 4 or equivalent
  • If English is not your first language, you will need: IELTS 5.5 or equivalent

Exemptions from providing evidence of English language proficiency may arise if you have studied your previous qualification in English.

Students should produce copies of certificates, full CV preferably in EuroFormat and passport-size photo.

Fees & funding

Current Fees

Full-time Part-time
Malta/EU €9,000 €9,000

Get Qualified

Refund through Get Qualified Scheme: €6,300*

Net Amount: €2,700*

*Terms and Conditions Apply

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