Undergraduate

BSc (Hons) Business Management (with Foundation Year)

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Key Course Information
Level:
Undergraduate
Intakes:
September 2024
Duration:
3 Years + 1 Year (Foundation)
Application Deadline:
2nd September 2024
Campuses:
London & Luton
Awarded By:
University of Buckingham
How You Will Study:
Classroom, Flexible Study Hours
Total Qualification Hours:
720 hrs (per year)
Entry Requirements:

Course Overview

This Business Management degree has been uniquely developed to prepare you for the modern day business environment. The curriculum and how we deliver the course will help you acquire the skills and knowledge employers need. We achieve this in several ways.

Firstly, the modules you study are separated into three categories:
(1) the organisation (internal);
(2) the outside world (external) and
(3) your own personal self-development (professional).
Each term, you will study one module from each of these three categories.

Secondly, the outcomes of the programme are particularly applied in nature. They reflect modern business practice and respect the importance of working and learning from others.

Next is our approach to teaching, learning, and assessment. We place significant emphasis on ‘doing’. What do we mean by this? Well, your future employer will almost certainly never ask you to write an essay, so it makes little sense to assess you in this way. But they are much more likely to task you with producing a Management Report. So this type of output is what we will ask of you in our assessments. Our written assessments will always be specific to a particular business scenario or case study, again helping you to prepare for your future career. We also incorporate role play exercises, presentations, and other forms of oral assessment to both assess multiple forms of communication and ensure no single learning & assessment style is favoured over others.

Finally, in years 3 of the degree course, we provide you with optional modules that enable you to specialise in subjects you are most passionate about and closely fit with your career aspirations.

Entry Requirements

Foundation Year :

Applicants should have satisfactorily completed 12 years of academic and/or vocational experience and have GCSEs at grades 4-9 in English and Maths, or their international equivalents. In addition, applicants should have one of the following qualifications or their international equivalents:

  • A Levels with minimum grades of DD or IB20.
  • A Level 3 Diploma qualification with credit value of 60 and above.

Year 1 Direct Entry :

Applicants should have GCSE in English and Maths at Grade 4-9, and a minimum of 2 A-Levels with grades BCC or above. Applicants without A-Levels should have one of the following qualifications or their international equivalents:

  • IB: 30-32, BTEC: DDM from a relevant National Diploma, or a mix of BTEC and A-levels, or equivalent UCAS Tariff points of 104 or above.
  • An additional EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) is considered alongside A-level.
  • Knowledge of English: Applicants level of English will be assessed according to Government regulations:
  • Passing a Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider.
  • Having a GCSE, A level, Scottish National Qualification level 4 or 5, Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher in English, gained through study at a UK school when they were under 18.
  • Applicants that do not fulfil these criteria can be tested by us, using a test that is equivalent to a CEFR level B2.

Flexible Entry

ABA will consider applications through flexible entry route for applicants with lower academic or formal qualifications. Applicants should demonstrate sufficient and relevant professional experience through CV, personal statement, employer reference and a formal interview. If you are uncertain whether you will be eligible to apply for this course, please contact the Admissions Team.

UCAS Applications

ABA do not offer UCAS application route, please apply directly to ABA through our website.

Mature Students

ABA finds that the age range of our student body varies, from completed A-levels (or equivalent) to more mature students. Age is not a barrier to learning, and all suitably qualified students are encouraged to apply.

Selection Process

All applicants will be invited to campus for a formal interview with a member of the academic team

Student Contract for Prospective Students

When you are offered a place at ABA, you will be notified of the student contract between the ABA and students on our courses of study. When you accept an offer of a place on the course at the Academy, a legal contract is formed between you and ABA on the basis of the student contract in your offer letter. Your offer letter and the student contract contain important information which you should read carefully before accepting an offer.

Course Details

 The degree programme has four main aims. These are to:

  • Develop your knowledge and understanding of the modern business environment, particularly with regard to digital skills and knowledge.
  • Enable you to identify and explore the objectives and challenges modern organisations face in particular, the departments within a typical organisation, how they interlink and how they interact with the external world, both in theory and practice.
  • Develop and demonstrate in you a competence for both subject-specific and generic skills and attributes relevant to the modern business workplace and enhance employability in general.
  • Equip you with the tools and capacity to become independent and responsible learners, interacting with a wide array of learning resources and exhibiting critical analysis and evaluation in integrating theory and practice and exploring possible solutions.

 

We do this by ensuring you will be able to demonstrate relevant knowledge and understanding of:

 

Organisations

This includes how they are organised; how they differ across sectors; how they are governed and regulated; functions and processes of departments and how they interconnect; how they can change, evolve, and re-invent themselves; exemplars of successful and failing organisations; and so much more.

The modern business environment

Typically this means digital skills and knowledge of digital software. For example, modules on accounting and finance will include practical use of accounting software such as Xero, Sage etc. It also includes studying and simulating the factors that impact on modern business together with their effects at local, national, and global levels. For example, modern businesses are responsible for challenging themselves on how their strategic decisions might impact communities, future generations, and the environment.

Management and leadership of self and others

Today’s business environment requires a blend of skills and understanding that are more about how look after yourself and impact positively on others. This includes learning and putting into practice a breadth of theories and models on topics that include resilience, self-awareness, mindfulness, decision-making, effective communication, empathy, and motivation.

 

They ways in which we teach the course, and how you learn, are fundamental to your success. During this course you will therefore engage in a range of learning sessions that fit into the following categories:

  • Knowledge sharing - tutors explain concepts, ideas and practical examples.
  • Discussion groups – you are given a subject or issue to talk through and the tutor acts as a facilitator to that discussion.
  • Demonstration – in the more technical units, tutors will show practically how things work, e.g. computer software.
  • Business challenges – you may be required to work in groups to solve problems and identify opportunities.
  • Case studies – you may be tasked with working through a particular scenario associated with the job roles.
  • Guest speakers – we encourage guest speakers to share their own experiences in job related and career progression roles. These will be available to you on our learning platform, in addition to physical delivery sessions.    
  • Programme teams are encouraged to forge links with local businesses to enable you to experience theory in practice, access specialist software and experience ‘behind the scenes’ exposure to real organisations.  
  • Scheduled sessions and individual consultation will be available for you to receive personal tutor support as appropriate.

We adhere to the VARK (visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinaesthetic, e.g., doing) model of learning and at the beginning of their studies, will encourage you to explore and identify your preferred learning style. We try to ensure that a multi-modal approach is adopted in order to give no clear preference or advantage to particular learners, whilst also endeavouring to provide all students with alternative learning methods that favour their preferred style.

 

In terms of assessment, the various ways you are likely to be assessed include:

  • Coursework, including Management Reports, article reviews, pitch decks, and White papers (no essays)
  • Examinations (used scarcely and typically open book)
  • Presentations, such as business pitches.
  • Case study analysis
  • Dissertations and research projects
  • Posters
  • Learning journals and portfolios
  • Business simulation  
  • Role plays and peer-to-peer analysis
  • Practicals(such as use of business software).
This is some text inside of a div block.

Modules

Foundation Year

Public, Private and Third Sectors (10 units)
The World of Work (15 units)
English Communication Skills (15 units)
How Businesses Survive and Grow [10 units]
Business Departments [15 units]
English for Business [15 units]
The Economic Environment of Business [10 units]
Decision Making in Business [15 units]
Essential Mathematics  [15 units]

Year 1 (Level 4)

The Modern Business Environment [15 units]
Principles of Marketing [15 units]
Academic Skills [10 units]
Data-driven Business [15 units]
Human Resource Management [15 units]
Digital Skills for Business [10 units]
Business Economics [15 units]
Principles of Accounting & Finance [15 units]
Business Communication Skills [10 units]

Year 2 (Level 5)

Competitive Intelligence [15 units]
Project Management [15 units]
Developing The Business Professional [10 units]
Customer Service Excellence [15 units]
Intrapreneurial Thinking [15 units]
Presentation Skills [10 units]
Financial Analysis [15 units]
Corporate Social Responsibility [15 units]
Research Skills [10 units]

Year 3 (Level 6)

One of:
A. Financial technology [15 units]
B. Successful Business Cultures [15 units]
Strategic Management [15 units]
Influencing and Negotiation Skills [10 units]
Globalisation in Business [15 units]
One of:
A. Human Factors in Business [15 units]
B. Digital Marketing [15 units]
Securing Employment [10 units]
Business Analysis [15 units]
Business Simulation [15 units]
Career Development [10 units]

Next Steps

We have developed this degree course in such a way that all our graduates become work ready, and fully prepared to embark on a career of their choosing. We recognise that people want to progress at different rates, and that certain career pathways have different levels of entry. For example, accountancy requires a professional qualification (e.g., ACCA, CIMA etc.) as well as a degree.

To support you in achieving your goals, our career development team will work with you to identify the right course of action for you. In some cases, that mean exiting our course and going straight into employment. In other cases, this might mean work with on-the-job further study (e.g. trainee accountant). And others may require study at Level 7 (Master’s), or even Level 8 (PhD or DPhil).

The type of career paths you might enter following this course include (but are not limited to):

  • General business management
  • Human Resource management
  • Finance or accounting
  • Marketing (incl. digital)
  • Supply chain and logistics
  • Entrepreneur / business owner
  • Business teacher or lecturer
  • Business adviser, mentor, or coach
  • Customer relations & retail
  • Legal & professional services
  • Sales
  • Administration
  • Public services
  • Third sector & not-for-profit manager
Duration options, fees And Funding

You may be eligible for a student loan to cover the cost of tuition fees, or a maintenance loan. Additional funding is available to some types of students, such as those with dependants and disabled students.

FULL-TIME
£6,000 per year
PART-TIME
Enquire for options
Course Overview

This Business Management degree has been uniquely developed to prepare you for the modern day business environment. The curriculum and how we deliver the course will help you acquire the skills and knowledge employers need. We achieve this in several ways.

Firstly, the modules you study are separated into three categories:
(1) the organisation (internal);
(2) the outside world (external) and
(3) your own personal self-development (professional).
Each term, you will study one module from each of these three categories.

Secondly, the outcomes of the programme are particularly applied in nature. They reflect modern business practice and respect the importance of working and learning from others.

Next is our approach to teaching, learning, and assessment. We place significant emphasis on ‘doing’. What do we mean by this? Well, your future employer will almost certainly never ask you to write an essay, so it makes little sense to assess you in this way. But they are much more likely to task you with producing a Management Report. So this type of output is what we will ask of you in our assessments. Our written assessments will always be specific to a particular business scenario or case study, again helping you to prepare for your future career. We also incorporate role play exercises, presentations, and other forms of oral assessment to both assess multiple forms of communication and ensure no single learning & assessment style is favoured over others.

Finally, in years 3 of the degree course, we provide you with optional modules that enable you to specialise in subjects you are most passionate about and closely fit with your career aspirations.

Video coming soon

This Business Management degree has been uniquely developed to prepare you for the modern day business environment.

Why study this course?

ACHIEVE...

an honours degree from the 2nd highest ranked university in the UK for graduate prospects*

*The Complete University Guide 2023.

DEVELOP...

key skills employers demand through practical assessment and real business world teaching

PREPARE...

for further study on an MBA or similar Master level course

Why study with ABA?
“A fantastic learning environment
…I would strongly suggest anybody looking to start their career to take their 1st step with Applied Business Academy”!
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Study Options
FULL-TIME
3 Years (+1 Year Foundation)
PART-TIME
Enquire
START DATES
To be confirmed
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Course Details

 The degree programme has four main aims. These are to:

  • Develop your knowledge and understanding of the modern business environment, particularly with regard to digital skills and knowledge.
  • Enable you to identify and explore the objectives and challenges modern organisations face in particular, the departments within a typical organisation, how they interlink and how they interact with the external world, both in theory and practice.
  • Develop and demonstrate in you a competence for both subject-specific and generic skills and attributes relevant to the modern business workplace and enhance employability in general.
  • Equip you with the tools and capacity to become independent and responsible learners, interacting with a wide array of learning resources and exhibiting critical analysis and evaluation in integrating theory and practice and exploring possible solutions.

 

We do this by ensuring you will be able to demonstrate relevant knowledge and understanding of:

 

Organisations

This includes how they are organised; how they differ across sectors; how they are governed and regulated; functions and processes of departments and how they interconnect; how they can change, evolve, and re-invent themselves; exemplars of successful and failing organisations; and so much more.

The modern business environment

Typically this means digital skills and knowledge of digital software. For example, modules on accounting and finance will include practical use of accounting software such as Xero, Sage etc. It also includes studying and simulating the factors that impact on modern business together with their effects at local, national, and global levels. For example, modern businesses are responsible for challenging themselves on how their strategic decisions might impact communities, future generations, and the environment.

Management and leadership of self and others

Today’s business environment requires a blend of skills and understanding that are more about how look after yourself and impact positively on others. This includes learning and putting into practice a breadth of theories and models on topics that include resilience, self-awareness, mindfulness, decision-making, effective communication, empathy, and motivation.

 

They ways in which we teach the course, and how you learn, are fundamental to your success. During this course you will therefore engage in a range of learning sessions that fit into the following categories:

  • Knowledge sharing - tutors explain concepts, ideas and practical examples.
  • Discussion groups – you are given a subject or issue to talk through and the tutor acts as a facilitator to that discussion.
  • Demonstration – in the more technical units, tutors will show practically how things work, e.g. computer software.
  • Business challenges – you may be required to work in groups to solve problems and identify opportunities.
  • Case studies – you may be tasked with working through a particular scenario associated with the job roles.
  • Guest speakers – we encourage guest speakers to share their own experiences in job related and career progression roles. These will be available to you on our learning platform, in addition to physical delivery sessions.    
  • Programme teams are encouraged to forge links with local businesses to enable you to experience theory in practice, access specialist software and experience ‘behind the scenes’ exposure to real organisations.  
  • Scheduled sessions and individual consultation will be available for you to receive personal tutor support as appropriate.

We adhere to the VARK (visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinaesthetic, e.g., doing) model of learning and at the beginning of their studies, will encourage you to explore and identify your preferred learning style. We try to ensure that a multi-modal approach is adopted in order to give no clear preference or advantage to particular learners, whilst also endeavouring to provide all students with alternative learning methods that favour their preferred style.

 

In terms of assessment, the various ways you are likely to be assessed include:

  • Coursework, including Management Reports, article reviews, pitch decks, and White papers (no essays)
  • Examinations (used scarcely and typically open book)
  • Presentations, such as business pitches.
  • Case study analysis
  • Dissertations and research projects
  • Posters
  • Learning journals and portfolios
  • Business simulation  
  • Role plays and peer-to-peer analysis
  • Practicals(such as use of business software).
This is some text inside of a div block.

Modules

Foundation Year

Public, Private and Third Sectors (10 units)
The World of Work (15 units)
English Communication Skills (15 units)
How Businesses Survive and Grow [10 units]
Business Departments [15 units]
English for Business [15 units]
The Economic Environment of Business [10 units]
Decision Making in Business [15 units]
Essential Mathematics  [15 units]

Year 1 (Level 4)

The Modern Business Environment [15 units]
Principles of Marketing [15 units]
Academic Skills [10 units]
Data-driven Business [15 units]
Human Resource Management [15 units]
Digital Skills for Business [10 units]
Business Economics [15 units]
Principles of Accounting & Finance [15 units]
Business Communication Skills [10 units]

Year 2 (Level 5)

Competitive Intelligence [15 units]
Project Management [15 units]
Developing The Business Professional [10 units]
Customer Service Excellence [15 units]
Intrapreneurial Thinking [15 units]
Presentation Skills [10 units]
Financial Analysis [15 units]
Corporate Social Responsibility [15 units]
Research Skills [10 units]

Year 3 (Level 6)

One of:
A. Financial technology [15 units]
B. Successful Business Cultures [15 units]
Strategic Management [15 units]
Influencing and Negotiation Skills [10 units]
Globalisation in Business [15 units]
One of:
A. Human Factors in Business [15 units]
B. Digital Marketing [15 units]
Securing Employment [10 units]
Business Analysis [15 units]
Business Simulation [15 units]
Career Development [10 units]

infographic showing skills gained on course
Entry Requirements

Foundation Year :

Applicants should have satisfactorily completed 12 years of academic and/or vocational experience and have GCSEs at grades 4-9 in English and Maths, or their international equivalents. In addition, applicants should have one of the following qualifications or their international equivalents:

  • A Levels with minimum grades of DD or IB20.
  • A Level 3 Diploma qualification with credit value of 60 and above.

Year 1 Direct Entry :

Applicants should have GCSE in English and Maths at Grade 4-9, and a minimum of 2 A-Levels with grades BCC or above. Applicants without A-Levels should have one of the following qualifications or their international equivalents:

  • IB: 30-32, BTEC: DDM from a relevant National Diploma, or a mix of BTEC and A-levels, or equivalent UCAS Tariff points of 104 or above.
  • An additional EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) is considered alongside A-level.
  • Knowledge of English: Applicants level of English will be assessed according to Government regulations:
  • Passing a Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider.
  • Having a GCSE, A level, Scottish National Qualification level 4 or 5, Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher in English, gained through study at a UK school when they were under 18.
  • Applicants that do not fulfil these criteria can be tested by us, using a test that is equivalent to a CEFR level B2.

Flexible Entry

ABA will consider applications through flexible entry route for applicants with lower academic or formal qualifications. Applicants should demonstrate sufficient and relevant professional experience through CV, personal statement, employer reference and a formal interview. If you are uncertain whether you will be eligible to apply for this course, please contact the Admissions Team.

UCAS Applications

ABA do not offer UCAS application route, please apply directly to ABA through our website.

Mature Students

ABA finds that the age range of our student body varies, from completed A-levels (or equivalent) to more mature students. Age is not a barrier to learning, and all suitably qualified students are encouraged to apply.

Selection Process

All applicants will be invited to campus for a formal interview with a member of the academic team

Student Contract for Prospective Students

When you are offered a place at ABA, you will be notified of the student contract between the ABA and students on our courses of study. When you accept an offer of a place on the course at the Academy, a legal contract is formed between you and ABA on the basis of the student contract in your offer letter. Your offer letter and the student contract contain important information which you should read carefully before accepting an offer.

Career Progression

We have developed this degree course in such a way that all our graduates become work ready, and fully prepared to embark on a career of their choosing. We recognise that people want to progress at different rates, and that certain career pathways have different levels of entry. For example, accountancy requires a professional qualification (e.g., ACCA, CIMA etc.) as well as a degree.

To support you in achieving your goals, our career development team will work with you to identify the right course of action for you. In some cases, that mean exiting our course and going straight into employment. In other cases, this might mean work with on-the-job further study (e.g. trainee accountant). And others may require study at Level 7 (Master’s), or even Level 8 (PhD or DPhil).

The type of career paths you might enter following this course include (but are not limited to):

  • General business management
  • Human Resource management
  • Finance or accounting
  • Marketing (incl. digital)
  • Supply chain and logistics
  • Entrepreneur / business owner
  • Business teacher or lecturer
  • Business adviser, mentor, or coach
  • Customer relations & retail
  • Legal & professional services
  • Sales
  • Administration
  • Public services
  • Third sector & not-for-profit manager
image of student on course
Meet the Team

Prof. Margaret Bruce

Executive Dean

Sana Maqsood

Module Leader

Maria Dantili

Programme Leader

Patricia Johnson

Module Leader

Course Fees & Funding
FULL-TIME
£6,000 per year
PART-TIME
Enquire for options

You may be eligible for a student loan to cover the cost of tuition fees, or a maintenance loan. Additional funding is available to some types of students, such as those with dependants and disabled students.

APPLY here FOR THIS COURSE.