Level 6 Diploma in Tourism and Hospitality Management
For the operator who can run a hotel, a venue or a destination on any given night and now wants to think about the industry rather than the shift. Bachelor's-level study in six units, fitted around hours that are never nine to five.
Particulars
| Awarding body | OTHM Qualifications, an Ofqual-recognised awarding organisation |
|---|---|
| Level | 6 on the RQF; the level of an honours degree1 |
| Qualification type | Diploma. Not a degree. |
| Credits | 120, in six mandatory units of 20 |
| Total Qualification Time | 1,200 hours, of which 480 are Guided Learning Hours 2 |
| Ofqual number | 603/2315/23 |
| Duration | 9 months (standard) or 6 months (fast track) part-time; to be confirmed by LSPM |
| Study modes | Online, Blended, Evening classes (availability per intake to be confirmed) |
| Fees | From £999 (9 months, standard) or £1,299 (6 months, fast track) · how fees work |
| Next intake | Rolling intake — course starts when the fee is paid |
| Assessment | Written assignment per unit; no examinations |
The programmeWhat this diploma is
Hospitality and tourism promote from within, and most of the managers who come to this OTHM diploma have never had the time to step back from the operation they run. The six units give them that step. Strategic Marketing and Organisational Behaviour and Performance address the business as a competitor and as an employer; Tourism Policy and Planning and Tourism and International Development place it in a destination and a world; Technology in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry examines the systems reshaping distribution and the guest relationship; and Researching Tourism and Hospitality Management closes the programme with an investigation of the learner's own choosing. As an Ofqual-regulated Level 6 diploma it shares a level with a hospitality degree and nothing else with it.
The learners who take it are general managers and deputies, operations managers across several outlets, revenue and distribution managers, destination officers, tour operations managers and events managers. Their assignments are written about their own properties, destinations and markets, which means that a learner who runs a coastal hotel writes about coastal tourism policy, and one who runs a city venue writes about urban visitor economies. The diploma is unusually good at making the abstract local.
Applicants should ask LSPM how the programme is timetabled around the industry's hours: whether sessions are scheduled outside peak service and recorded, and how assignment deadlines sit against the season. Those are the two questions that decide whether a working operator finishes, and we raise them at every enquiry.
StructureUnits and credits
Six mandatory units; no optional units. Titles and credit values as published by OTHM.2
| Unit | Credits |
|---|---|
| 01Strategic Marketing | 20 |
| 02Tourism Policy and Planning | 20 |
| 03Organisational Behaviour and Performance | 20 |
| 04Technology in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry | 20 |
| 05Tourism and International Development | 20 |
| 06Researching Tourism and Hospitality Management | 20 |
| Total | 120 |
Organisational Behaviour and Performance opens the programme, because every hospitality manager has a people problem to analyse on day one. Strategic Marketing follows. Tourism Policy and Planning and Tourism and International Development are taken as a pair in the middle of the programme, moving from the local to the global. Technology in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry comes fifth, when learners can evaluate systems against the strategy and policy questions already studied. Researching Tourism and Hospitality Management closes the programme and is supported with additional tutorials on method.
AdmissionEntry requirements
OTHM sets the entry criteria; LSPM applies them. As published:2
- Relevant NQF/QCF/RQF Level 5 diploma or equivalent recognised qualification
- Mature learners (over 21) with management experience (learners must check with the delivery centre regarding this experience prior to registering for the programme)
- Learner must be 18 years or older at the beginning of the course
- English requirements: If a learner is not from a majority English-speaking country must provide evidence of English language competency. For more information visit English Language Expectations page in this website.
A Level 5 award in hospitality, tourism, events, business or management admits on the certificate. Most applicants come by experience, and for this diploma LSPM looks for management responsibility in a hospitality or tourism operation: a department head in a hotel, a general or deputy manager of a smaller property, an operations or area manager across outlets, a destination or visitor services officer, a tour or events operations manager. Several years at supervisory grade in a large property is also acceptable. Expect to be asked for a CV and for a short account of a season or a project you managed and what you learned from it.
If you are unsure which route applies to you, enquire and say so; working that out is what the advice call is for.
MethodHow you are assessed
Assignments are set by LSPM against OTHM's criteria and draw on the learner's own operation or destination: an organisational behaviour analysis of a team or property with performance recommendations, a strategic marketing plan for a property or destination, a policy and planning analysis of a destination the learner knows, a development study of tourism in a region, an evaluation of a technology's impact on a business or guest journey, and a research project of extended length on a question from practice. Learners frequently choose research questions their employers want answered, which serves both well.
The general arrangements for marking, moderation, feedback and resubmission are described on the how LSPM teaches page.
Time, honestly estimated
The published figure is 1,200 hours, 480 of them guided and 720 your own. Spread across the period you choose:
| If you finish in | Hours per week |
|---|---|
| Twelve months | about 23 |
| Eighteen months | about 15 |
| Twenty-four months | about 12 |
AfterwardsProgression
Top-up destinations are bachelor's degrees in international hospitality management, tourism management, events management, or business with a hospitality pathway, entered at the final year with advanced standing. The subject match is direct, and universities with hospitality schools are experienced in reading sector diplomas. Some require a period of industry experience for their final-year programmes, which holders of this diploma have by definition.
In employment the diploma addresses the 'degree-level' expectation that corporate hotel groups, destination management organisations and public-sector visitor economy bodies attach to head-office and strategic roles. It does not, by itself, secure a general manager's post; in this industry track record and brand experience still do most of that work, and this page does not pretend otherwise.
The mechanics of advanced standing, and the questions admissions tutors ask, are on the top-up degrees page.4 Slot: universities holding a current progression agreement for this award, verified before publication.
Not everyone wants the bachelor's. The other direction from here is a Level 7 diploma, at master's level, described on the companion site for Level 7 diplomas.
FitWho it suits, and who it does not
A good fit if you
- manage a property, a department, several outlets, a destination or a tour operation and want to study the industry rather than only run it;
- hold a Level 5 award in hospitality, tourism, events or business and want a sector-specific Level 6;
- intend to top up to a hospitality or tourism degree, or to move from operations into head-office, destination or strategic roles where degree-level study is expected.
A poor fit if you
- want operational or craft training in food, beverage, front office or housekeeping; this is a management award and assumes those skills;
- have no management or supervisory responsibility in the sector and no Level 5 award; a Level 4 or 5 hospitality programme is the right start;
- need the qualification to secure a general manager's role on its own; the industry does not work that way and neither does this award.
QuestionsAsked about this programme
Can I study this while working a full hospitality rota?
That is what it is designed for, and study is one unit at a time. How sessions are scheduled against peak service, whether they are recorded, and where deadlines fall in the season are questions for LSPM; ask them before you enrol, and tell them your rota pattern so that it can be taken into account.
Does the tourism content matter if I work only in hotels?
Yes. Two units concern destinations, policy and development, and hoteliers write them about the destination their property depends on, which they generally find illuminating. The diploma is a tourism and hospitality award and covers both; it is not a hotel management diploma alone.
What kinds of research project have learners done?
Guest satisfaction and loyalty in a specific property, the effect of online travel agencies on a hotel's distribution mix, seasonal staffing and retention, the impact of an event on a town's visitor economy, sustainability practices in a resort, and the adoption of a property management system. The requirement is a real question, a defensible method and an honest discussion of findings.
Is the marketing unit about digital marketing?
Strategic Marketing is about positioning, segmentation, branding and the marketing plan as a whole, of which digital channels are now a central part. It is not a course in running advertising campaigns, though learners may analyse their own campaigns within it.
Would a corporate hotel group recognise this diploma?
Groups set their own requirements and nobody outside them can speak for them. Most describe degree-level study as desirable for head-office and multi-property roles rather than mandatory, and a regulated Level 6 award in the subject meets that description. It does not substitute for the brand experience they also look for.
Documents and application
Applications are made on London School of Planning and Management's own website, not this site; this site is LSPM's independent recruitment agent. Most people enquire first; the apply link is for those who have already had that conversation.
Brochure slot. The programme brochure (PDF) belongs to LSPM, is to be supplied by LSPM, and will replace this anchor.
Notes and sources
- GOV.UK, list of qualification levels (Level 6 includes honours degrees). ↩
- OTHM, OTHM Level 6 Diploma in Tourism and Hospitality Management : qualification specification (PDF) consulted 30 September 2026; qualification page at othm.org.uk. Source for units, credits, hours and entry wording. ↩
- Ofqual, Register of Regulated Qualifications, qualification number 603/2315/2. ↩
- QAA, Higher Education Credit Framework for England (credit volumes; advanced standing). ↩