What CIPD level should I study?

Hi Yasmin,

At the end of the day it depends on what level of experience you currently have. If it's just OK'ing your team's holidays then I'd go for the level 3 as you - being honest - have very little HR knowledge. If you're dealing with grievances, performance reviews, payroll, etc, then you have a fair knowledge of the day-to-days needs so given your current academic achievements I'd suggest level 5.

Learning is a pyramid. At the base, with GCSE's and A-levels, you are doing a very wide coverage of the subject but only a shallow depth of knowledge. By the time you get to PhD level you're doing an incredibly deep study of a small part of one particular area of the subject. For this reason I would definitely rule out a level 7. This is a master's level, so you will be doing one small area (eg: L&D) in great depth. Not enough of a spread of knowledge for day-to-day use in general HR.

There's also the question of money! For both level 3 & 5 courses you're talking about £2.5k-£3k, so which would give you the better return on your investment? If you do the 3 now you will almost certainly want to do the 5 later, which doubles your costs.

As you're already working I wouldn't give up to go to university, I'd do one of the online courses and continue working. Firstly it means you're earning whilst learning, secondly (and most importantly) you can apply your learning to your work as it happens. It is hard work though. I've done many Open University and similar online courses, I did a part-time MBA whilst working, and am currently doing my level 5 CIPD online. Juggling work and learning is very, very difficult and makes you appreciate just how easy it is learning at university!

I know this doesn't answer your question, but hopefully it will give you questions to ask yourself in order to decide. Good luck!

Hi Yasmin,

At the end of the day it depends on what level of experience you currently have. If it's just OK'ing your team's holidays then I'd go for the level 3 as you - being honest - have very little HR knowledge. If you're dealing with grievances, performance reviews, payroll, etc, then you have a fair knowledge of the day-to-days needs so given your current academic achievements I'd suggest level 5.

Learning is a pyramid. At the base, with GCSE's and A-levels, you are doing a very wide coverage of the subject but only a shallow depth of knowledge. By the time you get to PhD level you're doing an incredibly deep study of a small part of one particular area of the subject. For this reason I would definitely rule out a level 7. This is a master's level, so you will be doing one small area (eg: L&D) in great depth. Not enough of a spread of knowledge for day-to-day use in general HR.

There's also the question of money! For both level 3 & 5 courses you're talking about £2.5k-£3k, so which would give you the better return on your investment? If you do the 3 now you will almost certainly want to do the 5 later, which doubles your costs.

As you're already working I wouldn't give up to go to university, I'd do one of the online courses and continue working. Firstly it means you're earning whilst learning, secondly (and most importantly) you can apply your learning to your work as it happens. It is hard work though. I've done many Open University and similar online courses, I did a part-time MBA whilst working, and am currently doing my level 5 CIPD online. Juggling work and learning is very, very difficult and makes you appreciate just how easy it is learning at university!

I know this doesn't answer your question, but hopefully it will give you questions to ask yourself in order to decide. Good luck!