Events Management FdA
Course code: N822 (required to complete application form)
A convenient way for people working in the events industry, to gain formal qualifications and refresh their skills, without needing to reorganise their life. It’s also open to those wanting to move into the events management sector.
Event Management is currently one of the most popular career paths for young people due to its diverse and dynamic nature. In the UK, the exhibitions segment of the events industry alone is thought to be worth over £9billion per annum and account for 137,000 full time job equivalents (EIA, 2007).
A practical learning experience
The combination of our expert online tutors and diverse range of fellow students from different sectors of the events industry provides you with a unique learning experience. The course is designed to allow you to apply your academic learning directly in the workplace through practical assignments, giving you the opportunity to visualise, plan, deliver and manage a variety of events based projects.
Studying online gives you the flexibility to study at the most convenient time and place for you. Course modules still operate within a fixed semester or term time, but you can choose to study during the day, in the evenings or at the weekend rather than having to attend fixed lectures.
A comprehensive qualification
In order to be a good events manager, you need a broad range of skills. We teach topics including crisis communication, project management, events safety, people management and marketing, to give you a varied programme and to make you an all-round professional.
Our entry requirements are usually 100-120 UCAS points from A levels or equivalent qualifications, such as a BTEC National Diploma, Scottish Highers etc. If you've completed an Access/Foundation course, we also accept these qualifications.
The UCAS tariff points are a guide - we'll also consider all the information that you've included in your application. We'll also want to see that you're enthusiastic and motivated to take this course and that you have the potential to benefit from coming to university.
| Per Module | Modules | Total | Start | |
| UK/EU | £405 | 16 | £6,480* | Sept/Jan/May |
| Overseas | £450 | 16 | £7,200* | Sept/Jan/May |
*Prices correct for 2012/2013. Subject to annual increase in September 2013.
New flexible payment plans available
Choose from three options:
- Pay only for the modules you are studying
- Pay your full course fees upfront and avoid annual increases
- Pay for all modules studied in the year and receive a 5% discount (September enrolment only)
Funding options for undergraduate UK students
Depending on where you are from in the UK, you may be eligible for a part time student loan towards the cost of your undergraduate degree. Find out more about the options available to you.
This course will complement your existing role in the workplace, and could provide you with the foundations to help you move on and up the career ladder by recognising your skills and experience. If you want to carry on studying and further your knowledge, this course will lead you to the final year of an honours course in events management.
You will need to take the following modules. Please note that the modules follow a trimester timetable.
You will need to take the following modules. Please note that the modules follow a trimester timetable.
Student Profile:
Career Information
This course will complement your existing role in the workplace, and could provide you with the foundations to help you move on and up the career ladder by recognising your skills and experience. If you want to carry on studying and further your knowledge, this course will lead you to the final year of an honours course in events management.
Modules
Stage 1
You will need to take the following modules. Please note that the modules follow a trimester timetable.
In this module, you will learn about the practical elements involved with events management. The module will enable you to:
- undertake the development of an event, including the event selection and initiation process
- identify and evaluate the event management process.
You'll study these areas:
- Event selection and initiation.
- Conceptualisation and realisation of events.
- The economic, social and political feasibility of events.
- Impacts of events on the community.
- Venue finding, logistics and ambience.
- Managing the event as a project.
- Identification of operational issues of event management.
- Evaluation of events.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework. You will be asked to submit an event feasibility proposal.
Choosing the right venue is a key aspect of creating successful events. This module focuses on that topic and will enable you to:
- undertake research to select the most suitable venue for an event, based on a third party brief
- create a floor plan and venue layout for a requested event.
We will cover these areas:
- The importance of understanding the client request, pricing the venue, negotiating prices, contracting the client and venue.
- The role of the venue finding agencies, destination management companies/agencies, convention bureaux, tourist boards and regional development agencies in business creation.
- The role of the British Association of Conference Destinations (BACD).
- The importance of selling the event package, the pitch and development of event concepts.
- The changing and highly competitive environment of exhibition/convention centres.
- The importance of technology availability at venues.
- The growing popularity of unusual, temporary and historical venues.
- Technical information and venue floor plans.
How will I be assessed?
You will write a blog for an imagined event, which outlines the key areas of the event including the event concept, and how the event meets the client’s requirements.
You will also produce an individual report (1500 words) which explains how you have addressed the client’s requirements and brief in each of the decisions you have made, including the floor plan.
This module requires you to be responsible for your own professional development. You will evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses in relation to your professional role and devise a project to address these weaknesses.
You'll cover:
- Self-evaluation.
- SWOT analysis.
- Personal action plan.
- Review.
- Self-development.
- Professional development.
- Role analysis and role sets.
- The value of professional development in the workplace.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework. In assignment 1, you will conduct a SWOT analysis which will lead to the development of a project to address areas of weakness (2000 words, worth 50%). In assignment 2, you will produce a written report identifying how the project/activity has benefited both you and the organisation, referencing relevant theories (2,000 words, worth 50%).
This module will develop your skills and confidence in academic writing. You will be introduced to a range of extended study skills which will enable you to respond to the demands of academic study.
It will cover:
- An introduction to a range of academic study skills.
- An introduction to the University’s online resources.
- Study strategies.
- Harvard referencing.
- Analytical and evaluating skills.
- Writing skills.
- Plagiarism.
- ICT skills.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework. This will be a piece of work that demonstrates how you have used academic skills, for example, essay writing, report writing and referencing.
You will gain a practical understanding of the purchasing, costing and control techniques used to support the manager in making effective short term decisions in a service based industry.
At the end of this module you will be able to:
- compare and contrast two sets of final accounts with an analysis of how they reflect the performance of each business
- demonstrate an understanding of the budgeting process including the preparation of a set of management accounts accompanied by a cost evaluation.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework.
Assignment one (worth 50%) will be an analysis of two sets of financial accounts. This analysis will be a 1500 word explanatory essay, highlighting areas of concern and make suitable recommendations.
Assignment two (worth 50%) will be a written explanation of the budget setting process and a cost statement showing standard and actual costs with an analysis of the variants (1500 words.)
The customer experience at events relies much on the skills and competencies of front line and support staff, so it is important that organisations have effective systems and procedures for managing human resources.
The aim of this module is to develop your skills, knowledge and understanding of Human Resource Management (HRM) theory and its application within service industries. You will cover a range of HRM issues and processes, focusing on the manager’s role in implementing HRM systems and procedures.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework. For assignment one (40%) you will produce an outline of a recruitment plan for a job of your choice. This should include a job advert, a rationale for your chosen sources of recruitment and an overview of your intended selection methods (1000 words). For assignment two (60%) you will investigate and evaluate performance management and retention strategies used within the service sector (1500 words).
Marketing and promotion are recognised as being fundamental to business success. This module will enable you to:
- demonstrate a basic understanding of the marketing and promotion process
- appreciate the role of marketing and promotion within the service industry.
You will study:
- An overview of contemporary marketing
- The extended marketing mix
- Research, market segmentation and targeting
- Consumer motivation and purchase behaviour
- The nature of the service product – lifestyle process
- Expectations and perceptions of a service
- The promotional process and media landscape – return on investment
- Consumer motivation and purchase behaviour
- Important and multiple roles of promotion
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework. You will produce a 2500 word report explaining and evaluating marketing and the multiple roles of promotion in the leisure service sector.
Stage 2
You will need to take the following modules. Please note that the modules follow a trimester timetable.
This module leads on from Events Project Planning from Stage 1 and begins to follow the event as it takes shape through the different operational stages. Planning is an essential part of events management and is a process which needs careful consideration.
This module will enable you to:
- apply event project management tools to ensure the success of planning
- evaluate the concepts of events operations and project management as applied to a real event.
You'll cover:
- Competitive advantage through event location and facility layout, environmental issues of event location, and risk assessment techniques.
- Integration of activity to include: event concept, event feasibility, venue selection, hospitality and catering, transport, marketing, fundraising and sponsorship, logistics and supply.
- Implications of negligence, task forces and committees, control and budgeting.
- Project management (Gantt Charts, Network Charts, Critical Path) and contingency planning.
- Post event shutdown and crowd dispersal.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework.
This is another opportunity for you to relate your academic knowledge to your specific working environment and to evaluate your own development since the beginning of the programme. The aim is to encourage you to manage your own development against a range of transferable skills under the following headings:
- Interpersonal skills.
- Working with and relating to others.
- Personal skills; self-development.
- Application of academic knowledge.
- Information technology.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework. In assignment one (50%) you will complete a research project discussing how an aspect of management practice within your work environment relates to the theoretical knowledge you’ve gained so far (2000 words.)
In assignment two (50%) you produce a written summary of your self-development during the programme, in terms of a range of typical transferable skills (3000 words.) You also select the equivalent of four single modules from the following.
During this module you will study:
- The classification of corporate events within the broader context of events management and the hospitality industry.
- Characteristics of the corporate events and their geo-demographic features.
- Evaluating the size, scope and nature of corporate events in strategy formulation.
- Targeting, segmentation and positioning in events management.
- Evaluation of the relationships between successful targeting positioning and strategy selection to business performance.
- Appropriate marketing communication strategies.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework. You will produce a formal report of between 3,000 and 3,500 words, identifying the characteristics of the market groups relevant to a given case study.
For events, the quality of the service is important in achieving business success. Supervisors and managers play a significant role in harnessing the skills, competencies and commitment of staff to provide services to the standards expected.
In this module you’ll be introduced to theoretical perspectives of management and you’ll recognise the changing nature of management and analyse the role of supervisors and managers within the service industries.
During this module you will:
- consider the links between management theory and practice within contemporary service industries
- investigate theoretical perspectives of people management and organisational behaviour and evaluate their impact in the workplace (topics will include motivation, leadership, teams and groups, organisation structure, organisation culture, power and conflict)
- research and evaluate recent initiatives and approaches to people management, identifying features of high performance organisations and analysing ideas relating to flexibility, diversity, job design, empowerment, performance management and employee involvement.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework. You will produce an evaluative report based on an investigation into management practices within a chosen service sector organisation and its impact on performance (3000 words.)
Marketing tools, if effectively coupled with the exciting and changing media landscape, empower organisations to strengthen their brand, optimise consumption of their product/service, improve the use of their assets and their overall business performance.
In this module you will cover:
- The roles of marketing and sales management within the organisation.
- The service concept – quality and its positive contribution to promotional investment.
- Services and their characteristics
- The promotional challenges and increased opportunities.
- The importance of the brand.
- Capacity and demand management.
- Core and augmented product.
- Segmentation, targeting and positioning.
- The control elements of the communications process based upon traditional and emerging AIDA models.
- Semiotics in marketing and promotion.
- E-business – virtual, viral and the rest.
- The media landscape – Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC).
- Relationship and network marketing.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework. You'll produce a 3500 word report based on a UK service sector organisation.
This module will enable you to take the necessary decisions to ensure effective resource management and sustainability. Effective decisions come from using effective purchasing and control systems and applying this in specific situations.
You will cover:
- Relevant costs and revenues for decisions.
- Cost-volume profit analysis.
- Long term decision techniques.
- Sources of finance.
- Long term capital structure and costs.
- Investment ratios.
- Investment in working capital.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework.
Understanding consumers’ wants and needs as well as satisfaction levels is an important, but under-skilled and under researched area. Therefore, this module will help you develop basic skills for research, which are relevant to the events industry. It will cover:
- Researching and analysing academic work and referencing skills
- Specifying research questions and testing hypotheses
- Research styles and traditions: quantitative and qualitative; combining both methods
- Building up a feasible research design including ethical, sampling and reliability evaluation as well as philosophical approaches
- Primary research methods, such as interviewing, focus groups, observation, questionnaires, SPSS
- Analysing and presenting data
- Ethical issues in research approach and design and recognition of the University’s research ethics policy guidelines.
How will I be assessed?
It’s 100% coursework.
Our entry requirements are usually 100-120 UCAS points from A levels or equivalent qualifications, such as a BTEC National Diploma, Scottish Highers etc. If you've completed an Access/Foundation course, we also accept these qualifications.
The UCAS tariff points are a guide - we'll also consider all the information that you've included in your application. We'll also want to see that you're enthusiastic and motivated to take this course and that you have the potential to benefit from coming to university.
Apply Now
Applications for Online courses are made through the main University of Derby website.
By clicking on "Apply now" below you will be redirected to the University of Derby website to continue your application process.
Fees
| Per Module | Modules | Total | Start | |
| UK/EU | £405 | 16 | £6,480* | Sept/Jan/May |
| Overseas | £450 | 16 | £7,200* | Sept/Jan/May |
*Prices correct for 2012/2013. Subject to annual increase in September 2013.
New flexible payment plans available
Choose from three options:
- Pay only for the modules you are studying
- Pay your full course fees upfront and avoid annual increases
- Pay for all modules studied in the year and receive a 5% discount (September enrolment only)
Funding options for undergraduate UK students
Depending on where you are from in the UK, you may be eligible for a part time student loan towards the cost of your undergraduate degree. Find out more about the options available to you.
- Home
- Courses
- Studying
- Finance
- Students
- Open Days
- Support
- Contact
- Apply
- Overview
University of Derby Online
Online distance learning
Students
- Alison Harper
- Alison Kozary
- Andrew Muluubya
- Anne-Marie Coulthard
- Candice Sunney
- Caroline Parry-Haddon
- Christine Morrison
- Conrad Aquilina, Malta
- Dario Salvi
- David Egan
- Dorianne Gravina
- Gela Abesadze
- Geraldine Grindley
- Irene McPherson
- Jackie Gibson
- Jody Maynard
- John Rogers
- Karen Marie Jones
- Kerry Maddock
- Kerry Wiggins
- Khalida Kay
- Kirstin Tranter
- Nadine Axisa
- Pascal Hagge
- Paul Ainscough
- Sally Holder
- Sandra Potts
- Sue Delve
- Teresa Jones
- Winifred Corpe
Courses
- Accounting and Finance BA (Hons) top up degree
- Business Studies degree BA (Hons)
- Clinical Supervision PG Cert
- Cognitive Behavioural Studies & Skills (not a license for practice), Advanced University Diploma
- Counselling Studies and Skills (Not a License to Practice) University Diploma
- Education Guidance Studies MA
- Education MA
- Environmental Health MSc
- Environmental Management MSc
- Ergonomics MSc
- Events Management FdA
- Hairdressing and Salon Management BA (Hons) Top Up
- Hairdressing and Salon Management FdA
- Health Psychology MSc
- Hospitality Management BA (Hons) Top Up
- Hotel Management FdA
- Information Technology BSc (Hons) Top Up
- Information Technology MSc
- International Hospitality Management MA
- International Spa Management BSc (Hons)
- Law - LLM Commercial Law
- LLM Transnational Oil, Gas and Energy Law
- MBA
- Nursing Studies (Mental Health) BSc (Hons) Top up
- Nursing Studies BSc (Hons) Top Up
- Psychology BSc (Hons)
- Psychology MSc
- Psychology, University Certificate
- Spa Management FdA
- Strategic Management MSc
You are here

Course Details
Course Length:
2-3 years of part time study
Start Dates:
September and January
Find out more:
Amber Hunt
T: +44 (0) 1332 594275
Ready to start in January?
Applications for this course are still being accepted. If you wish to start in January, complete our online application form.
Apply now using our Application Guidelines - click here to view


