Hart Learning & Development delivers CIPD-accredited qualifications and HR apprenticeships for people who are already doing the job, and for the employers who want them to do it better.
Our on-campus and blended courses are taught at North Hertfordshire College’s Stevenage campus, minutes from the A1 and near to the Stevenage rail and bus interchange. That matters more than it sounds. It means your team can attend in person and meet their tutor face-to-face conveniently.
We run everything from the Level 3 Foundation Certificate for people starting out in HR, through to the Level 5 Associate Diploma for practitioners moving into management.
Each one is an internationally recognised CIPD qualification carrying real weight with employers, and each one is built to fit around a working week rather than replace it.
These are part-time, in-person courses delivered at our sister organisation, North Hertfordshire College, and they are deliberately taught rather than self-directed.
You will learn through lectures, live case studies, group work, structured debate, and presentations, which means you spend the course arguing about real HR problems with other people who face them. There are no exams in CIPD qualifications. You are assessed through multiple internal assessments across the programme, internally verified and then externally moderated by the CIPD, so your grade reflects sustained work rather than one bad morning in an exam hall.
Your tutor is a named person you will see every week, not a ticket in a queue. Our HR apprenticeship tutor was recently Highly Commended at the Lloyds Banking Group awards, which gives you a fair sense of the standard of teaching on the team.
Choose your level:
Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice | Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management
Not sure which is right for you? Level 3 suits HR administrators, coordinators, and anyone in their first HR role. Level 5 suits HR officers, advisors, and business partners ready to move into management. If you’re still weighing up your options, get in touch with us and we’ll advise you on the course that’s right for you.
Our programmes are designed with employers rather than just for them, adding value to the day-to-day running of your business.
For most employers, the case is simple. You develop the HR capability you need, you keep the person who already understands your business, and a significant share of the cost is covered by the funding you may already be paying into.
Explore our HR apprenticeships:
HR Support (Level 3) | People Professional (Level 5)
The UK government has announced an apprenticeship support package designed to remove the financial barriers to hiring apprentices.
It includes reduced onboarding fees alongside one-off payments for employers taking on apprentices who meet the criteria. The incentives become available from October 2026, so if you’re planning HR headcount for the year ahead, this is the moment to build an apprentice into that plan.
Most employers we speak to are entitled to more support than they realise, and a good number of levy payers are quietly leaving funds unspent.
There are several funding routes available, including the apprenticeship and skills levy for larger organisations and government co-funding for smaller ones. Some incentives depend on eligibility criteria such as the size of your organisation, and the rules genuinely are fiddly.
So don’t work it out alone. Our team will look at your organisation, tell you what you can access and what you cannot, and give you a straight answer rather than a sales pitch. Email us at training@hartld.co.uk to find out more.
Strong functional skills sit underneath everything else. Clear written communication, confident handling of numbers, accurate records: HR teams rely on all three every day.
Our maths and English courses are built specifically for employers who want to strengthen those core skills across their workforce, whether that is preparing someone for an apprenticeship or lifting the confidence of a team that’s been quietly struggling.
Our online continuing professional development is flexible, fully-funded, and open to both individuals and employers.
It fits around work and home life, and it covers both the interpersonal skills that make HR effective and the industry-specific knowledge that keeps it credible. We offer a suite of pathways that can be tailored to what your team actually needs, rather than a fixed catalogue you have to work around.
Free learning opportunities are available, though restrictions may apply depending on your circumstances. Every course comes with expert tutor support and pastoral support, because online should not mean on your own.
"The emphasis is very much on the need to be continually learning, to build on knowledge and experience, and ultimately reach a level so that HR is working with the rest of the business in a professional, timely and effective manner. "
Glynis Ward
Senior HR Business Partner
for more information and to apply please call 01462 471041 or use the form below.
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Level 3, the Foundation Certifi cate in People Practice, is the entry point. It suits HR administrators, coordinators, assistants and anyone in their first HR role, and it covers the core principles of people practice.
Level 5, the Associate Diploma in People Management, goes further into management, strategy and employment law, and suits HR officers, advisors, and business partners preparing to lead. If you already work in HR with a few years behind you, Level 5 is usually the right starting point.
No. CIPD qualifications carry no exam element. You are assessed through multiple written and practical assessments spread across the programme. Each one is internally verified by our team and then externally moderated by the CIPD, so your result reflects consistent work rather than performance on a single day.
Both our on-campus courses are delivered part-time, so you can study alongside a full-time role. Timings vary by cohort and level, so contact us for the current schedule and the next available start date.
On-campus courses are delivered at North Hertfordshire College’s Stevenage campus, close to the A1(M) and within walking distance of Stevenage rail and bus interchange. Our online CPD courses can be studied from anywhere.
Yes. Our programmes are designed around working HR professionals. On-campus courses run part-time, blended options reduce time away from the workplace, and apprenticeship routes let your employee learn while remaining in post.
Yes. We hold formal CIPD approved centre status, which means our qualifications are externally moderated by the CIPD and recognised by employers internationally.