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UCAS code:
N100
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Institution code:
S82
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Location:
Ipswich
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Duration:
Three years full-time. Four and a half to nine years part-time. |
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Typical Offer:
112 UCAS tariff points (or above) Please see Entry Requirements below. |
- Our vibrant culture and superb teaching standards attract students from around the world.
- Achieve academically while learning essential skills.
- Tailor your course to prepare for the future you want.
- Our business connections offer placements at home and abroad, making you ‘career ready’.
- Explore entrepreneurship with Ipswich’s flourishing innovation and start-up scene.
- Find inspiration from our respected guest speaker programme.
Introduction
The Suffolk Business School’s vibrant atmosphere, personalised courses and high standards help you achieve your ambitions and create lifelong friendships.
The BA (Hons) Business Management programme is designed to support your future career ambitions. During your time on the course you will learn about how businesses are organised and run, explore ways to make them more effective and develop practical skills. We demand and nurture characteristics that will make you attractive to future employers or which you will find useful should you decide you wish to run your own business. The programme is built around 5 'big ideas' that express these characteristics and which help to link together subjects, these ideas summarise our understanding of what it takes to be 'career ready'. You will develop skills in advocacy; an appreciation of plurality and accountability; you will learn how to apply theory to practice; and we will help empower you to be ready to pursue the career you dream of as you graduate.
Our academic staff work with you to develop your knowledge, skills and practical experience, preparing you for a successful career across a range of sectors. If you are already working, the programme provides you with the expertise and confidence to advance in your career.
Across modules including business strategy, finance, marketing and HR, our approach is highly flexible. Frequently, you will get to focus on topics that interest you the most and to apply ideas to companies that you know, or that particularly interest you. We are very proud of the support that we offer you through one-to-one tutorials and study in small groups - you can be confident that you will be able to find the help you need to be successful in your studies.
Subject to eligibility, you can also benefit from a sandwich year, which offers fantastic opportunities to study or work abroad, or both.
Thanks to our excellent industry connections, we offer trips to various places and have previously visited the Houses of Parliament and the Bank of England, which provide insight into national institutions that underpin business. Students have also visited local organisations such as Adnams and BT, and local SMEs.
We want to stay in touch with you following graduation - our support does not end when you complete your final piece of work. We have a fantastic team ready to help you with job applications, access to graduate training schemes and we offer support for those students that wish to start their own business through the Ipswich Waterfront Innovation Centre (IWIC).
View more information about the range of employers our students work with in the Business School.
For further practical experience, you can participate in an internship or get involved in exciting live projects. The Business School hosts the Suffolk BME Business Awards, and our students are involved in the marketing for the region’s new heritage centre, The Hold.
Course modules
You study core modules in your first year to build a solid foundation in key aspects of Business Management. You then choose your preferred subjects, tailoring your degree and delving deeper into subjects as you progress through the second and third years.
Download the Definitive Course Record for more course information.
This module has been designed to allow students to develop an understanding of the nature, processes and origins of 'management'. It also helps you develop the skill-set necessary for success in the context of higher education, and more broadly within the graduate job market.
Accounting and Finance play significant roles in every economy. Consequently, those charged with leadership and management roles must be equipped with to engage with and to interrogate accounting and financial information. This module has been designed to prepare those seeking to enter managerial and leadership roles to make use of this information to guide decision-making.
Key economic principles impact how all businesses function. This module introduces you to core concepts in both microeconomics (consumers, firms and markets) and macroeconomics (economic systems and policy), and encourages you to consider how they affect different types of business.
This module examines legal issues that affect individuals, particularly as consumers, and businesses. You will look at how laws are developed and changed, and investigate key principles such as tort and contract law, consumer protection, the supply of goods and services, and forms of business organisation.
Marketing is an essential business activity. In this module, you will discover basic marketing principles and, later in the course, you will build on this when studying optional modules. Also, you will look at the marketing mix and segmentation then apply this knowledge to the analysis of an organisation’s marketing activities.
This module recognises the importance of entrepreneurship to stimulating and sustaining economic growth. You examine what makes for a successful entrepreneur and how ideas can be evaluated and then turned into successful businesses. This will include business planning, financing and risk assessment.
Most businesses find themselves operating in an increasingly global environment. This module helps to prepare you for employment by supporting you in learning Spanish while gaining insight into a different culture.
This module builds and extends upon earlier modules in relation to the changing economic, social and political environment that organisations operate in. The module aims to extend your knowledge of the dynamic interrelationship that exists between government, markets, organisations and individuals in relation to the changing business environment.
This module considers the nature of organisational behaviour, and the ways in which the study of it may inform the design and delivery of HR practices in organisations. Topics studied include motivation, leadership, teamwork, and learning and development.
This module will provide insight into topics, methods and functions of business-related research projects. Each week focuses on a different research study, run by a member of academic staff or a visiting professor, senior fellow or fellow. The module also helps you develop the academic skills required for your final year, particularly for the dissertation.
The ethics of business has attracted growing attention in the past few decades. In an increasingly consumer-driven market, entrepreneurial and managerial success is based on a robust understanding of these ethics. This module introduces you to theoretical perspectives on ethical business, with opportunities to discuss and debate cases of both principled and questionable practice.
Innovation and creativity is a critical factor of economic competitiveness and other positive social outcomes. This module equips you with creative thinking skills to encourage divergent thinking in different business settings. You also learn how a business or social entrepreneur is dependent on innovation and risk, and an opportunity-seeking attitude.
This module develops the foundation knowledge and skills, covered in Finance and Data Analysis, with particular emphasis on how various aspects of financial accounting relate to the business world. Topics covered include preparation of financial statements, professional ethics, corporate governance and audit.
In this module, we look at how the strategic role of corporate reputation is a key corporate asset, and how company communications develop and protect it over time. You will learn specialist skills and knowledge of theoretical, strategic and operational issues that are critical to an organisation’s stakeholder relationships with customers, investors, employees, media, suppliers, distributors, etc.
This module provides a broad study in employment law – a subject relevant to employers and anyone pursuing careers in management or human resources.
Usually taking place in summer break between the first and second years, this module offers an opportunity for a placement. We expect you to make connections between the topics you have studied in the classroom and the practice of organisations 'in the real world'. It’s also a chance to enhance skills and knowledge, ready for employment after graduation.
Your dissertation will be an independent, small scale, research project. In doing so, you will develop skills in data and information gathering, evaluation, analysis and communication in a business-related area of your choice. You can explore an issue from a theoretical or practical perspective, or carry out 'consultancy' with a sponsor organisation.
In this module, you will develop an academic understanding of the strategic context of business, along with analysis and problem-solving skills. You will learn to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach to finding solutions and strategic thinking, drawing on skills developed.
This module will explore the nature of organisational culture and its impact on employees, and enable students to develop a critical awareness of organisational theory and practice. It will enable you to deal with the problems, choices and constraints involved in organisational change. It will encourage you to develop your own intellectual framework of values, attitudes and practice.
This module focuses on the role of HR strategy as a key constituent of a business strategy. It builds on concepts first introduced in Introduction to Management and Managing People, exploring ways in which organisational performance is enhanced by maximising the contribution from employees.
Marketing is largely responsible for delivering core corporate objectives by offering value to targeted segments. This module links with and develops knowledge from Marketing Fundamentals and Corporate Reputation Management, providing advanced knowledge and skills to understand, evaluate and apply contemporary strategic approaches and techniques.
This module gives you an appreciation of a number of financial issues and how they relate to the business world. Initially the module concentrates on the application of financial tools and techniques, before progressing to a more strategic perspective. It will encourage you to see the financial implications of the decision-making process.
An opportunity to develop learning from previous modules and to explore subjects in much more detail, this module will focus on topics reflecting the research interests of the Business School staff and current debates. You will apply knowledge and expertise to complex management problems.
This module provides specific Level 6 provision for students that wish to focus on entrepreneurship and the study of entrepreneurial practice. It also provides students with the chance to synthesise learning through supported study on a topic or idea of interest to them, supported by academics, enterprise professionals and SME owner/managers.
Career opportunities
The skills and knowledge you acquire during your degree are transferrable to a whole range of roles – not just business management jobs. So you can study for your degree without limiting your options; we will help you define the kind of career you would like to pursue.
Our graduates find employment with major corporates, in the public sector, in small businesses and start-ups and for charities locally, around the UK and overseas.
If you decide stay in Suffolk – a county attracting significant investment – you will have access to opportunities in booming industries.
For instance, Tech Nation 2017 reveals Ipswich as one of the UK’s tech clusters, where the average industry salary is a very attractive £41,000. BT’s global research and development campus is here, as are technology giants Cisco and Huawei.
Wherever you choose to work, we help develop your CV so it showcases your skills, strengths and experience.
What our students say
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the University of Suffolk. Throughout my experience here my lecturers knew me by name, and have been supportive and approachable in all aspects of my studies. This made the experience more personal, something that was important to me when deciding on where to study. There are numerous opportunities over the three years to work alongside and network with multi-national organizations; the University are incredibly helpful in relation to employment opportunities. Many of us including myself have been able to secure graduate schemes and jobs from making the most of these opportunities. I would definitely recommend the University of Suffolk to anyone individual considering further education." Emma, third year Business Management student.
Student profiles
Fees and finance
2019-20
- Full-time tuition fee: £9,250 p.a.
- Part-time tuition fee: £1,454 per 20 credits (Please contact the Infozone for further information)
- International tuition fee: £11,790 p.a.
Further Information
- Detailed information about Tuition Fees.
- Find out more about Financial Support eligibility.
- Also see Loans and Grants.
- At University of Suffolk, your tuition fees provide access to all the usual teaching and learning facilities that you would expect. However, there may be additional costs associated with your course that you will need to budget for. See Course Costs.
Entry requirements
112 UCAS tariff points (or above), BBC (A-Level), DMM (BTEC)
Applicants are expected to hold GCSE Mathematics at grade 4/C or above.
Also see How to Apply
Applicants may be expected to attend an interview as part of the application process.
IELTS 6.0 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components) where English is not the students' first language.
Also see International and EU.
If you have previously studied at higher education level before you may be able to transfer credits to a related course at the University of Suffolk and reduce the period of study time necessary to achieve your degree.
Staff
Facilities and Resources
The Waterfront Building and the Atrium Building, which houses the Ipswich Waterfront Innovation Centre (IWIC), will be your bases during your degree.
The Waterfront Building on Ipswich marina is home to lecture theatres fitted with state-of-the-art AV equipment, and is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the open period.
The recently opened IWIC is a hub for start-ups and technology enterprises. As an undergraduate you have access to its modern facilities, expertise and networking opportunities with other students and business owners.
Our well-resourced library offers extensive print and digital resources, with plenty of study space and pods for extra privacy.
