Human Resources Student Stories:
CIPD Student Stories: Pippa | Level 5 Diploma Review

Pippa chose to study her CIPD Level 5 Diploma with us because she wanted to add more credibility to her HR career as she progressed within the industry. Discover more about her story. 

At the end of 2018, I decided to take my professional development to the next level.

I have always enjoyed learning at work and usually read books and attend seminars to help me reach my career goals. However, there was one area that I knew I would benefit from more formal and professional training - HR Management.

I currently work as the Global Employee Communications Specialist at Reward Gateway. We help HR teams and businesses to recognise and engage with their people so that their organisations can become even greater places to work.

In particular, I help businesses to communicate their new benefits, along with their improved engagement and recognition technology and strategy to their people.

I have worked in employee engagement and internal communications for over a decade, but as I now advise so many senior HR professionals on their people plans, I decided to study towards a Level 5 Diploma in HR Management.

I wanted to have a greater understanding of the different elements that make great people and HR strategies so that I can make sure my advice compliments their existing plans.

I also wanted a better understanding of employment law, to ensure everything we offered was as fair and inclusive as it possibly could be.

This course covers all the topics - including employment law - and felt it to be at the right level for my experience, having worked in HR teams and on people projects for a long time.

The qualification is also CIPD accredited, which is such a well-respected and recognised professional body in the world of HR.

After doing some research, I chose to study with ICS Learn as I knew I would need to study completely remotely. I live in the middle of the countryside and I am now also on maternity leave - making it difficult to study in a classroom with a crying baby!

ICS Learn offered a great remote learning course and the reviews from others about the support and online materials were great.

I was a little nervous about starting the course, as I haven’t completed any formal qualifications in a number of years, but so far the experience has been really positive.

It took me a little while to remember how to write more academically, with Harvard Referencing, but there were some great online tutorials and materials to help.

I am only a few modules in so far, but the support from tutors has been fantastic and they seem genuinely pleased for me when I pass a module.

When I passed the first module, it felt like a fantastic achievement (especially as I was nine months pregnant by then) and it motivated me to continue with the rest of the qualification.

I haven’t tackled the employment law module yet, but I’m looking forward to getting stuck into that.

The great thing is that I can study and manage my learning at times that suit me.

I often read the online books and materials when my baby daughter is asleep or even in the night when I am waiting for her to settle back down - which is a great way to spend the time rather than flicking through social media!

I hope that when I return to work later this year, my new learning (and hopefully full qualification) will help me to become an even more trusted and informed advisor to the customers I support.

I would definitely recommend ICS Learn, especially if you want to study in your own time and remotely - it’s a great way to take the next step in your career.  



Inspired by Pippa's story? Learn more about gaining an online CIPD HR qualification with us!