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 published authors including a former hotel General Manager, a Food and Beverage Manager for award-winning cruise lines, an organiser of the BRIT Awards and London Fashion Week 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 Apex Hotels, The Arora Group, BaxterStorey, Claridges, Dorchester Collection, Edge Foundation, EDITION Hotels, Exclusive Hotels and Venues, Georgian House Hotel, Hand Picked Hotels, The Landmark London, Levy UK and Ireland, Master Innholders, Moet Hennessey, Milsoms Hotels and Restaurants, Oakman Inns, Royal Lancaster London, the Savoy Educational Trust, Sbe, St Julians Scholars – 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 skills you will gain throughout your Hotel Management degree will be transferable to a range of working environments within the hospitality industry including hotels, restaurants, resorts and event management. There are opportunities throughout the course to meet hotel general managers and recruitment managers to further your professional network.

Graduates of the Hotel Management programme have gone onto careers in:

• Hotel management
• Food and beverage management
• Housekeeping
• Guest experience
• Interior design
• Marketing and sales
• Restaurant management
• Events management
• Airlines and airport operations

Teaching

• Your fast track two-year Hotel Management degree will be divided into three 8-month levels (Level 4, Level 5 and Level 6).
• In the first and second levels (Level 4 and Level 5), each level consists of up to 8 weeks of teaching, 16 weeks gaining experience in the hotel and 4 weeks self-study, in addition to your holidays.
• In the final level (Level 6), you will have up to 18 weeks of teaching, 5 weeks gaining experience in the hotel and 5 weeks self-study, in addition to your holidays.
• During a teaching week you would spend around 4 hours per day 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. Hotel Management students gain experience throughout the course in: reception, restaurants, kitchens, housekeeping and conference and events.
• During the final level of the course (Level 6) you will spend time working at a duty manager level. 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, and students are expected to continue their academic and hotel work over the Summer, Easter and Christmas periods. Further information for the course is available on the by contacting our professional services team at ehs@essex.ac.uk.

Assessment

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

• Essays
• Exams
• Posters
• Presentations
• Reflective statements
• Reports
• Dissertation
• Consultancy Project. The consultancy project enables you to work on a project or problem for an external client. Past consultancy projects have included social media and marketing strategies, brand development and new hotel launches. Edge Hotel School students have been offered job opportunities with their level 6 project clients having demonstrated their capacity to deliver highly professional solutions and positive outcomes.
• 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.