What you are signing up for
Readers comparing this with the OTHM Business Management diploma will notice the difference in the unit list straight away. Both have Business Operations; only this one has Leadership and the Organisation, Managing Change and Developing Teams, which gives it a distinctly people-first character. Communications in Organisations and Financial Awareness round out the six, so there is still a numbers unit, but the centre of gravity is how organisations are led and how they change.
Managers who have inherited a team, or who are about to, tend to get more from this version than from the OTHM one. Assignments ask you to diagnose a real change in an organisation you know and to propose how you would lead it, which means people in work have a ready supply of material. There is no dedicated academic-writing unit here, so ask LSPM how it builds research and referencing support into the early units; the awarding body expects the centre to provide it. The diploma is registered with Ofqual at Level 4 with 120 credits, the same size as the OTHM equivalent; Qualifi does not itemise credits by unit in our data.
The six units
- Communications in Organisations
- Leadership and the Organisation
- Financial Awareness
- Managing Change
- Business Operations
- Developing Teams
Unit titles and credit values are taken from the Qualifi qualification specification. The order in which LSPM teaches them is set by LSPM and confirmed at enrolment.
Communications in Organisations belongs first because everything afterwards is assessed through writing, and Managing Change and Developing Teams pair naturally in the final third around a single case organisation. That is the shape LSPM has described to us; the timetable for your intake comes from LSPM.
Entry requirements
Qualifi sets the entry requirements for this qualification and LSPM, as the approved centre, applies them when it assesses your application. As published by the awarding body:
- Learners who have demonstrated some ability and possess Qualifications at Level 3, for example ‘A’ Levels or vocational awards;
- Learners who have spent some time in an organisational role and shown they have capability and drive to develop
- Learners seeking further professional development and gain work related skills and knowhow.
Qualifi describes suitable entrants as people with Level 3 qualifications, people who have spent time in an organisational role and shown drive, and people seeking professional development. LSPM has read that generously in the cases we have seen: a couple of years in any job with responsibility has usually qualified.
How you are assessed
A written assignment for each unit, often a report or a change proposal addressed to a named organisation. There are no exams. Formative feedback on a plan or draft is something to ask LSPM about before you enrol rather than assume.
Where it leads, stated carefully
Level 5 Diploma in Business Management from Qualifi, continuing the same syllabus into strategy and operations.
Advanced entry to the second year of a business or management degree, subject to the receiving university's assessment.
First-line management roles in any sector, especially where a change programme is under way.
We do not name partner universities on this page. If and when LSPM shows us a written progression agreement for this diploma, it will be listed here with the date it was signed.
Who it suits
Likely to get a lot from it
- Newly appointed managers who have been given a team and no training.
- Staff in organisations going through restructuring who want to understand and influence it rather than endure it.
- People who prefer a business diploma about human beings to one about economics.
Better served by something else
- Anyone who wants a strong grounding in finance, economics or global markets; the OTHM version has more of those.
- Graduates in business or management, for whom this is revision.
- People looking for a guaranteed step onto a specific degree; universities decide advanced entry individually.
Asked about this programme
What is the practical difference between this and the OTHM Business Management diploma?
This one has three units about leading, changing and developing organisations and no dedicated academic-writing or global-context unit. The OTHM version balances business, finance and communication and includes a research skills unit. Same level, same credits, different flavour.
Do I need to be working to do the assignments?
No, but it helps. Learners not in work choose an organisation they can research, such as a former employer, a charity they volunteer with or a well-documented public company.
Is the Financial Awareness unit hard if I have never done accounts?
It is pitched at a manager who reads figures rather than an accountant who prepares them. You will learn to interpret a budget and a simple set of accounts; you will not be doing double-entry.
Read before you decide
Programme brochure
Brochure slot: PDF to be supplied by LSPM, with its fees, dates and tutor profiles for this programme. Ask us for it by email in the meantime and we will obtain the current version from LSPM.
Official specification
Qualifi Level 4 Diploma in Business Management specification, published by the awarding body. The authoritative source for units, learning outcomes and assessment criteria. Also listed on the Ofqual register under 601/6048/2.