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Level 3 · NCFE Self-paced
Enrolling now NCFE Approved Qualification number 601/2649/8

NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Skills for Business: Human Resources

A Level 3 diploma in the practical work of human resources: recruitment, records, and supporting people through employment.

Duration: 540 guided learning hours, 900 total qualification time; self-paced online study

Level
Level 3
Qualification number
601/2649/8
Awarding organisation
NCFE
Regulated status
On the RQF, regulated by Ofqual
Guided learning hours
540 hours
Total qualification time
900 hours
UCAS Tariff points
24 to 84, by grade
Delivery
100% online
Study pattern
540 guided learning hours, 900 total qualification time; self-paced online study
NCFE This qualification is awarded by NCFE and regulated by Ofqual

Course overview

This diploma covers the working knowledge behind a human resources role, including recruitment and selection, employee records and data handling, and supporting managers and staff through the employment relationship.

It is for people already working in a human resources or business support role who want a recognised Level 3 qualification in the subject. It cannot be completed without that role: see the entry requirements.

You take nine units in two groups. The six units in the first group are graded pass, merit or distinction and the three in the second group are achieved or not yet achieved. Assessment is by portfolio, and most of the first group has to be evidenced from real work rather than from a case study.

What you will study

The units below, their unit reference numbers and their guided learning hours are taken directly from the NCFE qualification specification.

Unit Title Unit reference Hours
01 Business culture and responsibilities (mandatory)
4 learning outcomes
  1. Be able to improve sustainability within a business environment
    • 1.1 Analyse the benefits of keeping waste to a minimum
    • 1.2 Follow agreed procedures for: • recycling • disposing of waste • maintaining equipment
    • 1.3 Suggest ways to reduce waste in a business environment
    • 1.4 Implement one of the suggestions
    • 1.5 Evaluate the impact of the change
  2. Understand diversity within a business environment
    • 2.1 Explain what is meant by ‘diversity' in a business context
    • 2.2 Recognise the benefits of having a diverse workforce
    • 2.3 Compare how a range of organisations promote diversity
    • 2.4 Explain how they can promote diversity within their place of work
    • 2.5 Summarise legal and organisational guidelines that govern diversity within the workplace
  3. Be able to maintain security and confidentiality in a business environment
    • 3.1 Explain why security and confidentiality are important in a business environment
    • 3.2 Ensure that property is kept secure in line with organisational procedures and legal requirements
    • 3.3 Ensure that information is kept secure and confidential in line with organisational procedures and legal requirements
    • 3.4 Explain the possible consequences of failing to maintain security and confidentiality in line with requirements
  4. Be able to manage risk in a business environment
    • 4.1 Identify a risk within their place of work
    • 4.2 Identify the source of the risk
    • 4.3 Assess the impact and likelihood of the risk
    • 4.4 Identify ways to minimise the impact and likelihood of the risk
 H/505/9691 60
03 Produce documents in a business environment (mandatory)
3 learning outcomes
  1. Know different documents and formats that can be used to present information
    • 1.1 Compare the different types of document that could be used to present agreed information, selecting the most appropriate
    • 1.2 Compare the different formats that could be used within each of these documents, selecting the most appropriate
  2. Be able to research the requirements for documents
    • 2.1 Agree the: • purpose • content • style • deadline for a range of documents
    • 2.2 Research the required content
    • 2.3 Compare the different types of technology that can be used to create the documents, selecting the most appropriate in each case
  3. Be able to produce documents to meet requirements
    • 3.1 Select the most appropriate format for each document
    • 3.2 Organise the structure and layout of each document
    • 3.3 Produce the documents
    • 3.4 Proofread each document, correcting any errors
 F/505/9696 60
04 Solve problems in a business environment (mandatory)
4 learning outcomes
  1. Be able to identify a solution to a business problem
    • 1.1 Identify a problem that exists within a business
    • 1.2 Analyse the business problem
    • 1.3 Diagnose causes of the problem
    • 1.4 Confirm with others that they understand the problem
    • 1.5 Compare different solutions to the problem
    • 1.6 Agree upon a solution
  2. Be able to develop a problem-solving plan
    • 2.1 Develop a plan to solve the problem, taking into account any constraints
    • 2.2 Explain why they have chosen their approach
    • 2.3 Explain how they will know when the problem has been solved
    • 2.4 Allocate roles and responsibilities to support the plan
  3. Be able to solve a business problem
    • 3.1 Carry out own actions as set out in the plan
    • 3.2 Review progress towards solving the business problem
    • 3.3 Make adjustments to the plan as necessary
  4. Evaluate success of a problem-solving plan
    • 4.1 Evaluate their approach to solving the business problem
    • 4.2 Evaluate other approaches that may have been more productive
 R/505/9699 60
05 Work with others in a business environment (mandatory)
4 learning outcomes
  1. Understand roles within an organisation
    • 1.1 Describe the sector that an organisation operates in
    • 1.2 Describe the main responsibilities for a role within the organisation
    • 1.3 Compare responsibilities across roles within the organisation
  2. Understand team dynamics
    • 2.1 Outline what is meant by ‘team dynamics'
    • 2.2 Compare the benefits of working alone to working with others
    • 2.3 Carry out a skills audit for themselves and members of their team
    • 2.4 Suggest ways in which they can work together to make use of individual strengths
    • 2.5 Work with others, making best use of individual strengths
    • 2.6 Provide support to others
  3. Be able to give and receive feedback
    • 3.1 Explain the benefits of giving and receiving feedback in a business environment
    • 3.2 Provide others with feedback on achievement of objectives
    • 3.3 Respond positively to feedback from others
    • 3.4 Create a plan to improve team performance based on feedback
  4. Know about conflict in a business environment
    • 4.1 Give examples of possible sources of conflict within a team
    • 4.2 Identify ways to resolve conflict within a team
    • 4.3 Decide on most appropriate methods to resolve a specific conflict
    • 4.4 Suggest ways of preventing conflict from occurring
 J/505/9702 60
06 Communicate in a business environment (mandatory)
4 learning outcomes
  1. Know about written and verbal communication in a business environment
    • 1.1 Summarise advantages and disadvantages of using written communication in a business environment
    • 1.2 Summarise advantages and disadvantages of using verbal communication in a business environment
    • 1.3 Explain the difference between an important communication and an urgent communication
  2. Be able to communicate in writing in a business environment
    • 2.1 Confirm the purpose of a specified written business communication
    • 2.2 Collate information needed to create a specified written communication
    • 2.3 Create a written business communication that is appropriate for a specified audience
    • 2.4 Make amendments to the communication to accommodate different audiences
    • 2.5 Proofread the communication before sending, correcting any errors
  3. Be able to communicate verbally in a business environment
    • 3.1 Present own ideas verbally to others
    • 3.2 Actively listen to others, responding appropriately
    • 3.3 Ask questions to confirm understanding
    • 3.4 Agree future actions, taking into account own views and those of others
    • 3.5 Summarise, with others, the main points of the discussion
    • 3.6 Use appropriate body language and voice tone throughout the discussion
  4. Be able to evaluate communication in a business environment
    • 4.1 Seek feedback on whether a communication has achieved its purpose
    • 4.2 Summarise positive and negative points of the communication
    • 4.3 Develop a plan to improve own communication skills
 K/505/9692 60
09 Manage and improve own performance in a business environment (mandatory)
4 learning outcomes
  1. Be able to plan own work
    • 1.1 Set realistic targets and timescales for a range of tasks
    • 1.2 Develop a plan to achieve these targets
    • 1.3 Explain how they will maximise efficiency of available resources
  2. Be able to manage own work
    • 2.1 Establish tasks and responsibilities for a specified piece of work
    • 2.2 Agree deadlines for the work
    • 2.3 Perform tasks in line with relevant guidelines, procedures and codes of practice
    • 2.4 Keep others informed of progress, renegotiating deadlines as required
  3. Understand why behaviour and attitude are important in a business environment
    • 3.1 Describe why the following are important characteristics in business: • adaptability • resilience • assertiveness • honesty • respect • resourcefulness
    • 3.2 Describe how to demonstrate: • adaptability • resilience • assertiveness • honesty • respect • resourcefulness
    • 3.3 Explain why it is important to help and support others in a business environment
  4. Know how to improve own performance in a business environment
    • 4.1 Evaluate own performance, using feedback from others
    • 4.2 Explain ways in which they can improve own performance in the workplace
    • 4.3 Contribute to developing a learning plan for themselves
    • 4.4 Create a plan to monitor own progress
 L/505/9703 60
11 Recruitment and selection in business (mandatory)
4 learning outcomes
  1. Know the processes involved in recruitment planning
    • 1.1 Identify how organisations plan recruitment using internal and external sources
  2. Understand the implications of the regulatory framework for the process of recruitment and selection
    • 2.1 Explain the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on recruitment and selection activities
  3. Be able to prepare documentation involved in the selection and recruitment process
    • 3.1 Prepare the documents used in selection and recruitment activities
  4. Be able to participate in a selection interview
    • 4.1 Plan to take part in a selection interview
    • 4.2 Take part in a selection interview
 T/505/9792 60
12 Aspects of employment law (mandatory)
4 learning outcomes
  1. Understand the different types of employment contract and the impact of employment legislation
    • 1.1 Describe the different types of employment contract
    • 1.2 Explain the impact of relevant legislation/regulations on any two types of employment contract
    • 1.3 Identify the differences between contracts of employment and contracts for services
  2. Know the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers
    • 2.1 Identify the rights and responsibilities of the employer and employees in a selected business organisation
  3. Understand the various perspectives in employee relations
    • 3.1 Explain the key features of employer and employee relations and welfare
  4. Know how and when contracts of employment are terminated
    • 4.1 Describe the different policies of remuneration adopted in a selected business organisation
 A/505/9793 60
13 Human resource management in business (mandatory)
4 learning outcomes
  1. Know the factors that are involved in human resource planning in organisations
    • 1.1 Describe the internal and external factors to consider when planning the human resources requirements of an organisation
    • 1.2 Describe how the skills that employees require to carry out jobs in an organisation are identified
  2. Know how organisations motivate employees
    • 2.1 Outline how an organisation motivates its employees
  3. Understand how to gain committed employee co-operation
    • 3.1 Explain how organisations obtain the co-operation of their employees
  4. Understand the process of managing employee performance at work
    • 4.1 Explain how employee performance is measured and managed
 F/505/9794 60
Total guided learning hours 540

Entry requirements

  • You must be working in a human resources or business support role, as an employee or on a placement, for the whole time you are on this qualification. This is not a preference. The qualification is made of two groups and you must pass six units from the first group. Only two of the ten units in that group can be evidenced by someone with no job, because the rest need real colleagues, real customers, a real project, real organisational policy and people who can actually make a decision. The second group is fine without a job. Nothing may be invented or simulated in place of real work: the specification permits simulation for two criteria in one unit and nowhere else. If you are not in such a role, you cannot complete this qualification and you should not enrol on it.
  • There are no formal entry qualifications, though the course assumes reading and writing at around Level 2.
Take it with you

The course guide

Everything on this page as one document you can keep, print, or send to whoever is deciding with you.

  • All 9 units, with the hours behind each one
  • How you are assessed, and who checks the marking
  • How paying works, and what is due when
  • Entry requirements and where the qualification leads
Download the guide (PDF)

Generated from this qualification's record, so the units and hours in it are the ones on this page. The fee is here on the page rather than in the guide, so a saved copy cannot quote you an old one.

How you are assessed

Your work is assessed by our qualified assessors, internally quality assured, and externally quality assured by NCFE. Assessment is against the criteria published in the qualification specification, and your assessor tells you what is needed before you start each unit.

For what happens after you submit: who marks it, who checks the marking, how long feedback takes and what to do if you disagree with a decision, see how assessment works.

If you need an adjustment to how you are assessed, for a disability or any other reason, ask us before you begin. We arrange adjustments under our Reasonable Adjustments policy, and you can request one online.

How we assess and quality assure is set out in DAIS-POL-016 Assessment and Internal Quality Assurance.

How you study, and what you need

You study online through our virtual learning environment, which is where the teaching material, your assessment submissions, your feedback and your progress all live. You work at your own pace, with tutor support throughout. Everyone completes a short online induction before starting an assessed unit.

What you need to take part
Device Laptop or desktop computer
Operating system Windows 10 or macOS 10.15 or later
Browser Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, latest version
Internet speed 10 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload
Webcam Required for live sessions and identity verification
Microphone Required for live sessions

These are the minimum requirements published in DAIS-POL-024 Online Learning and Digital Delivery.

Support, and how quickly we reply

These are the response times we commit to in policy, not an aspiration.

What How Response
General questions Message your tutor in the VLE Within 2 working days
Assessment feedback Returned in the VLE or e-portfolio Within 10 working days of submission
Technical problems Technical support email Within 1 working day
Urgent welfare concerns Email to the Designated Safeguarding Lead Within 1 working day

Published in DAIS-POL-024 and DAIS-POL-009 Learner Support.

Registration and your certificate

We register you with NCFE before you begin any assessed unit, and we collect your Unique Learner Number as part of that. When your assessment decisions are finalised and quality assured, we claim your certificate through the NCFE portal and you are notified digitally. The certificate comes from NCFE, not from us.

Set out in DAIS-POL-008 Learner Registration and Certification.

Progression

Progression: prepares you for human resources support roles and for further study in people management. UCAS Tariff points: 24 at Pass, 48 at Merit, 72 at Distinction and 84 at Distinction* (UCAS, October 2026). Universities set their own entry requirements, so check how the course you want counts it.

Other names for this qualification

The regulated title is NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Skills for Business: Human Resources, qualification number 601/2649/8. People also look for it as:

  • Level 3 Skills for Business: Human Resources
  • Skills for Business: Human Resources Level 3
  • NCFE Level 3 Skills for Business: Human Resources
  • 601/2649/8
  • NCFE 601/2649/8
  • Skills for Business: Human Resources course online
  • Skills for Business: Human Resources qualification UK
  • Skills for Business: Human Resources distance learning

If you arrived searching one of those, you are in the right place: they all describe this one qualification.

Fees and paying for it

Ways to pay
Pay in full, or spread the cost over 3 interest-free payments with Klarna.
Nothing is paid when you apply. Payment is only taken after you accept an offer, and we will confirm the exact amounts with you before then. Fees and how to pay.

Klarna Spread the cost with Klarna

Investing in your own skills
Your fee pays for the part that gives a qualification its value: assessment by a qualified assessor, independent quality assurance, and a certificate issued by NCFE on the Regulated Qualifications Framework, regulated by Ofqual.
You can start now rather than waiting for a September intake, and study around work. Tutor replies come within 2 working days, and assessment feedback within 10.
You finish with evidence as well as knowledge: a portfolio of your own work, and a qualification that stays on your record for life. Of everything you can spend money on, your own skills are the one thing that follows you into every job you ever take.

Many employers will pay for this, and most people never ask. Send them the one-page case: what it costs, what it asks of the business, and how to check us independently. How employer funding works.

Common questions

Who awards NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Skills for Business: Human Resources, and how do I get my certificate?

NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Skills for Business: Human Resources is awarded by NCFE, an Ofqual-approved awarding organisation, and sits on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). The qualification number is 601/2649/8. The Data and AI School of London is an NCFE approved centre. We register you with NCFE before you start any assessed unit and collect your Unique Learner Number. Once your work is assessed and quality assured we claim your certificate through the NCFE portal, and it is issued by NCFE rather than by us.

How long does NCFE Level 3 Diploma in Skills for Business: Human Resources take?

This qualification carries 540 guided learning hours and a total qualification time of 900 hours. It is studied online at your own pace, so how long it takes in calendar time depends on how much you can commit each week.

What do I need before I can start?

You must be working in a human resources or business support role, as an employee or on a placement, for the whole time you are on this qualification. This is not a preference. The qualification is made of two groups and you must pass six units from the first group. Only two of the ten units in that group can be evidenced by someone with no job, because the rest need real colleagues, real customers, a real project, real organisational policy and people who can actually make a decision. The second group is fine without a job. Nothing may be invented or simulated in place of real work: the specification permits simulation for two criteria in one unit and nowhere else. If you are not in such a role, you cannot complete this qualification and you should not enrol on it. We assess every applicant individually and will tell you if a different level would suit you better.

Can I study this entirely online?

Yes. Teaching, materials and assessment are all delivered through our Moodle-based virtual learning environment, so you can study from anywhere in the UK. You need a laptop or desktop computer, a current version of Chrome or Firefox, and a broadband connection of at least 10 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up. Tutor support is available throughout, and we answer questions within 2 working days and return assessment feedback within 10 working days of submission.

Can I enrol now, and when do I pay?

The fee is £995. Enrolment is open, so you can apply online today. Nothing is paid at application: payment is taken only after you accept an offer.

Not sure this is the right qualification?

Ask before you apply. We will say honestly if a different level would suit you better.

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