BA (Hons) Events Management

If you dream of planning festivals, sports events, conferences, exhibitions, fundraising events or even weddings our BA (Hons) Events Management degree at Cardiff Met provides the skills, experience, and networking opportunities you need to excel in the events industry.

As a world-class events city attracting major music artists, sports and cultural events at iconic stadiums, castles and venues, Cardiff is the perfect place to study Events Management.

Accredited by the Institute of Hospitality, in partnership with The Power of Events and a member of the Association for Events Management Education, our degree ensures you gain the latest industry knowledge and practical skills with our industry-aligned curriculum.

Become an expert in events management by mastering essential concepts and techniques, including the creative design and theming of events, staging and production, marketing and promotion, project management, safety and licensing, impact evaluation, sustainability, strategic management, finances, and other crucial industry tools.

By understanding the ethical issues facing the events industry, you’ll emerge as a strategic and responsible events manager, equipped with the practical skills and sustainability knowledge to make a real difference to the future of the events industry.

We work with local events management companies, organisations and venues including ICC Wales, Wales Millennium Centre, Orchard Live and Between the Trees Festival. You will have the opportunity to conduct live projects with industry to gain practical experience. Plus, we have a purpose-built hospitality suite on campus to host live events.

You also have the opportunity to undertake industry work experience in your second year and the option to take a year-long work placement in the UK or abroad, between year two and the final year, with our Events Management with Internship pathway. We have ongoing partnerships with Extreme E, Yummy Jobs (Disney) and Greenwich Country Club and past placements have included Hewlett Packard (Global Events), Cancer Research UK (events and fundraising) and Ironman (events internship).

With high-profile sold out shows at the Principality Stadium with big stars like Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé, to major sporting events like UEFA Champions League Final and Rugby World Cup, and even international political events such as the NATO Summit - Cardiff truly is an internationally recognised events city.

Foundation Year

• ​This degree can be studied as a three-year full-time degree or a four-year degree that includes a year of foundational study. Our foundation year is intended to prepare you for your subsequent years of studying, offering you the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence.

The foundation year will be relevant to:

• Students who have not achieved the required A-level points (or equivalent) score to enter the first year of the degree programme.
• Mature students who have been out of the formal education system for some time.

Degree:
Year One:

• The first year will introduce you to the key concepts in business and events management.

All compulsory modules:

• Event Experience and Design (20 credits)
• Events in Society (20 credits)
• Professional Practice for Events (20 credits)
• People Development Within Organisations (20 credits)
• Marketing for Tourism, Hospitality and Events (20 credits)
• Revenue, Costing and Budgetary Controls (20 credits)

Module available through the medium of Welsh

Year Two:

• The second year builds on your existing knowledge base and progress into more specialist areas of events management.

Compulsory modules:

• Live Event Management (20 credits)
• Large-Scale Event Planning  (20 credits)
• Research Design in Practice (20 credits)
• Compulsory optional modules (pick at least one):
• Consumer Behaviour for Tourism, Hospitality and Events (20 credits)
• People Management for Tourism, Hospitality and Events (20 credits)
• Business Start-Up and Entrepreneurship (20 credits)

Optional Modules:

• Summer Work Placement (20 credits)
• Social Change and (In)Equalities (20 credits)
• Technologies for Tourism, Hospitality and Events (20 credits)
• Can be studied through the medium of Welsh

Year Three:

• The third year enables students to tailor their degree based on their interests and career aspirations.

Compulsory modules:

• Sustainability and Ethics in Events (20 credits)
• Innovations in Live Events (20 credits)
• Strategic Leadership and Change Management (20 credits)
• Dissertation / Enterprise Project / Consultancy Project (40 credits) or Independent Study (20 credits)

Optional modules:

• Marketing Communications in the Digital Age (20 credits)
• Employee Resourcing and Volunteer Management (20 credits)
• Leadership and Professional Development with Mentoring (20 credits)
• Resort and Stadia Management (20 credits)
• Gastronomic Tourism (20 credits)
• Can be studied through the medium of Welsh

The course will be delivered through a mixture of lectures, seminars, tutorials and practical exercises and supported by our online platform Moodle.

In addition, you have the opportunity to partake in:

• Live events projects in years 1 and 2
• Work experience
• Field trips
• Group projects
• Case studies
• Group presentations
• Directed research and reading
• Guest lectures
• Externally validated certificates

On any one 20 credit module, you will receive up to 48 hours contact time and will be expected to undertake 152 hours of independent self-study time. The lecturers not only take part in teaching and learning activities but act as a support, providing Personal Tutor services throughout your time at university, alongside Student Services.

As we place 'real world' experience at the heart of our programme, in the first year you will design and deliver your own event project, within the controlled environment of the university.

In the second year we work with a range of charities raising funds and awareness. You will be required to research, develop, pitch, plan, deliver and evaluate your own live event project in a venue of your choice (Event Project Management module).  This could be anything from a music event, to a fashion show, a comedy night, or a talent show.

All our students have the opportunity and are encouraged to do the Events Management with Internship degree where you will spend a year in industry as part of the course. Recent students have spent this time with organisations such as Hewlett Packard, Disney, the Greenwich Country Club and various international hotel chains.

Our industry links mean that opportunities for gaining experience also go far beyond our official work placement modules and we actively encourage our students to undertake paid and volunteer work throughout the duration of their studies.

Assessment

• Course assessments are wide-ranging and linked to the learning  outcomes of individual modules and the industry and academic skills they are intended to develop. Thus assessments include research projects, event proposals, plans and other documentation, live events, essays, reports, presentations, portfolios, case studies and everyone's favourite, exams.
• Our assessments are also designed to develop and promote transferrable skills and be of practical use when working within the events industry. This involves team working, problem solving, presentation skills, digital skills, communication and working under pressure.
• Students will receive a wide range of feedback on their work via both formative and summative assessment, verbally and in written format.

Employability & Careers

• Having a long history of successful alumni and being placed in Cardiff as an events city, we are uniquely placed to provide our students with opportunities to gain experience across all sectors of the industry. From the moment you arrive our academic team and careers service will do their utmost to provide you with opportunities to enhance your employability and achieve your career ambitions.
• We have a dedicated employability lead within the Department who brings in employers offering placement schemes to students and assists students seeking internships and placements. We also have a Careers consultant for the School of Management as part of the wider Careers Service, which is open to both existing students and recent graduates. This team combined provide a range of careers events including careers fairs and forums and support including employability talks and workshops. Cardiff School of Management is also home to the Centre for Entrepreneurship Cardiff Metropolitan University's dedicated department for supporting and encouraging entrepreneurship amongst students and graduates.
• Graduating from our Events Management course you should have a management qualification and outstanding CV that will provide excellent career and employment prospects in all areas of the events industry, including festivals, conferences, exhibitions, corporate hospitality, sports, fundraising, sponsorship, experiential marketing and more.
• Our Events Management graduates have secured employment in a range of organisations across the private, public and voluntary sectors from international venues and events companies, to hotel chains and tour operators, major sponsors and sporting events, to local authorities, charities and private sector organisations too.
• For those seeking further studies beyond a degree we also offer a Masters programme in Event Project Management alongside courses in various other areas, which our Events Management graduates can progress onto.