BA Events Management with Hospitality

Overview

Weddings, festivals, parties, conferences – hospitality events are big business. With a degree from the Edge Hotel School at Essex you’ll be right in the thick of it – gaining live experience while you study for a two-year accelerated degree.

With a student experience unlike any other, it may come as no surprise that the Edge Hotel School is ranked 3rd in the UK for overall student satisfaction for Tourism, Transport and Travel in the National Student Survey 2021. This result follows the previous ranking of 1st in the UK in the NSS2020, demonstrating a consistent level of excellence in delivering an exceptional student experience.

The BA Events Management with Hospitality is only available to students who do not require a VISA to study in the UK. Our three-year BA Events Management has very similar course content, but is structured differently to allow applications from prospective students with any fee status or VISA requirements.

Our Events Management with Hospitality degree prepares you for an exciting career in hospitality events management. Alongside your studies you will gain hands-on experience in a fully-commercial 4* hotel on the university campus, Wivenhoe House.

With around 45 weeks of study per year and up to six weeks of annual holiday you will be able to fast-track your degree and start your career sooner. In your final level you will work on a live events project to put all of the experience and knowledge gained throughout your degree into practice. Throughout the course you will study topics including:

Event planning and operations
Budget and resource management
Marketing and sales
Entrepreneurship and business strategy

The Edge Hotel School experience is unlike any other student experience, where you’ll will have the best of both worlds. Not only will you graduate from a fantastic university – you will develop your industry knowledge and professional skills by gaining valuable experience within a fully-commercial 4* country house hotel with real guests and customers.

Placement year

Students that wish to broaden their experience in different types of events will also be given the option to swap a rotation in our Events and Conference team for an external work experience during Level 5 of the course. This experience will last 4 weeks, and needs to be instigated by you. The Placement team at the University of Essex and staff of the Edge Hotel School will assist you in sourcing opportunities as well as improving your interview and CV-writing skills. This external work experience will be assessed in the same as your rotations in Wivenhoe House hotel and is a chance for you to experience a broad set of events that you might wish to pursue within your career.

Our expert staff

Our staff includes lecturers with both professional as well as academic backgrounds to ensure you are taught by people with industry-relevant experience themselves. Among our academic staff are a former organiser of the BRIT Awards, London Fashion Week and events for Her Majesty The Queen, a former hotel General Manager, a former Food and Beverage Manager for award-winning cruise lines and a Dr. (PhD) with international research experience.

Specialist facilities

Wivenhoe House, where you will gain experience, is a 40-bedroom country house hotel on the university campus with a brasserie restaurant and a busy conference and events function that hosts over 300 events and 50 weddings annually. If for any reason the hotel is subject to closures during rotations, we have developed a comprehensive platform of online skills and experience workshops to replicate the practical experience offer as closely as possible.
The Edge Hotel School has connections with a range of organisations across the hospitality and events industries – throughout your studies you can expect guest lectures, masterclasses and an annual careers fair to help further your career prospects. Supporters of the Edge Hotel School include The O2 , The Arora Group , BaxterStorey , Claridges, Dorchester Collection , EDITION Hotels, Exclusive Hotels and Venues, Georgian House Hotel, Hand Picked Hotels , The Landmark London ,Levy UK and Ireland , Moet Hennessey, Milsoms Hotels and Restaurants, Royal Lancaster London , the Savoy Educational Trust, Sbe – among many others.
The Edge Hotel Society hosts student-organised events including industry speakers, student social events and an annual ball.
As an Edge Hotel School student you will be issued with a uniform to wear for your shifts in Wivenhoe House and when representing the School externally. You will just need to provide your own white shirts and black shoes.

Your future

The combination of practical experience and academic learning on our BA (Hons) Events Management with Hospitality gives our students a distinct advantage when starting their careers. The event and hospitality industry are excited by the calibre of our graduates and there are opportunities throughout the course to meet recruitment managers and network.

Graduates of the Events Management with Hospitality programme can go onto careers in:

Events management
Wedding planning
Venue management
Festival planning and management
Food and beverage management
Marketing and sales
Cruise ships and airlines

The events industry is a truly global sector that can give our graduates exciting opportunities to travel the world and experience new cultures, all whilst building essential skills and knowledge for a successful, enjoyable career.

Why we’re great

The first hotel school of its kind in the UK based within a real-life hotel
Accelerated, two-year degree allows you to kick start your career sooner.
Outstanding preparation for employment through innovative combination of professional experience and academic learning

Structure

Course structure

Below are details of modules from the current academic year. Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore all modules listed are subject to change. To view more information about our modules currently on offer, please view the programme specification via the link below.

Please note the two-year accelerated degree course is divided into 8-month levels (Level 4, Level 5 and Level 6) instead of years. Due to the accelerated nature of our two-year degrees the modules have broader titles as your learning experience is fully integrated with your work experience in the hotel. Throughout the course you will cover industry relevant topics such as marketing, finance, human resources, entrepreneurship and business strategy as well as event planning and operations.

Level 4 (8 months)

Event Operations 1
Industry Context 1
The Customer Experience 1
Food and Beverage Management
Delivering Event and Hospitality Operations 1
Delivering the Customer Experience 1

Level 5 (8 months)

Event Operations 2
Industry Context 2
The Customer Experience 2
Continual Professional Development
Delivering Event and Hospitality Operations 2
Delivering the Customer Experience 2

Level 6 (8 months)

Event Operations 3
Industry Context 3
The Customer Experience 3
Human Resource Management
Events Project
Dissertation

Teaching and learning disclaimer

Following the impact of the pandemic, we made changes to our teaching and assessment to ensure our current students could continue with their studies uninterrupted and safely. These changes included courses being taught through blended delivery, normally including some face-to-face teaching, online provision, or a combination of both across the year.

The teaching and assessment methods listed show what is currently approved for 2022 entry; changes may be necessary if, by the beginning of this course, we need to adapt the way we’re delivering them due to the external environment, and to allow you to continue to receive the best education possible safely and seamlessly.

Teaching

Your fast track two-year Events Management with Hospitality degree will be divided into three 8-month levels (Level 4, Level 5 and Level 6).
During a teaching week you would spend around 4 hours in lectures, or smaller seminars, Monday – Friday.
During a hotel week you would spend 4 or 5 days on shift, Monday – Sunday, gaining experience and applying the academic theory from your lectures. Most of your time will be spent in the conference and events department, but you will also gain some experience in reception, the kitchens and restaurant.
During the final level of the course (Level 6) you will spend up to 5 weeks working on an Events Project. The remainder of the last 8-months will be spent in lectures/seminars and working on your assessments and dissertation.
Our two-year accelerated degrees include around 6 weeks of annual holiday. Holiday weeks are not necessarily over seasonal periods such as Christmas and hotel shifts over Christmas/New Year are an important part of our two-year courses.
Our two-year accelerated degrees do not follow the standard termly timetable, as students are expected to work and study through the Christmas, Easter and Summer breaks. Please contact the professional services team at ehs@essex.ac.uk for more information.

Assessment

Your Events Management with Hospitality degree has been designed to provide a mix of assessment approaches, including:

Essays
Exams
Posters
Presentations
Reflective statements
Reports
Dissertation
Events Project. The Events Project in Level 6 consists of an individual report, a presentation and a group report focusing on a real-life event with an external client. This is your opportunity to organise a live event for an external client from start to finish.
The Professional Performance Assessment (PPA) which takes the form of an interview is used throughout our courses to allow you to reflect, practise and improve your interview skills before embarking on interviews for your first graduate role.
The Professional Code of Conduct is an important part of your assessment. It focuses on areas that are important for future managers such as attendance, punctuality and team working. The Professional Code of Conduct is available in your Student Handbook.