Business Management and Leadership (with Foundation Year) - BA(Hons)

In a Year 0 (Foundation Year) the content is designed to develop your academic skills. It also raises awareness of the relevance law, economics, accounting, plus business and management, will play in your future, professional lives.

You are encouraged to develop as reflective learners and will gain an understanding of the attributes that graduates of UWE Bristol attain, such as being self-reliant, enterprising, future-facing, collaborative and globally responsible citizens.

Much of the scheduled class time will be spent in rooms equipped for technology-supported work in groups.Teaching methods will be engaging as staff use the latest techniques and technologies to enhance the learning experience.

The four modules will have three hours of teaching each week (12 hours of scheduled class time in total). On four occasions during the year, the whole 12 hours will be spent team-working on a joint project. One of the weeks will result in an exhibition of assessed group posters, another will produce individual personal development plans.

Year 0 (Foundation Year)

• Becoming a Professional
• Introduction to Organisations, Enterprise and Management
• Economics and Accounting for the Real World
• Introduction to Law in a Social, Business and Global Context

You will study the Foundation Year alongside students from other business and law courses and so you may transfer to another course in one of these areas at the end of a successful Foundation Year. The normal expectation is that you must pass all Year 0 modules before progressing to Year 1. Students seeking transfer to BA(Hons) Business (Team Entrepreneurship) would be required to pass an interview process. Transfer to BSc(Hons) Economics (as distinct from BA(Hons) Economics) would require an A level in Mathematics.

Year 1

The first year provides a foundation for the development of the knowledge, skills and attributes necessary for future success.

• Meeting the Management Challenge
• Understanding Business and Financial Information
• Understanding the Market Process
• Understanding Organisations and People
• Engaging in Critical Business Enquiry
• Understanding the Business and Economic Environment

Year 2

In the second year, you will study modules relating to the main functional areas of business, alongside specialist management modules, and you will develop your research and enquiry skills.

• Managing People
• Accounting Information for Business
• The Experience and Practice of Organisations
• Methods of Enquiry
• Managing Business Processes
• Organisational Leadership

All students are encouraged to spend their third year on placement and the curriculum in the second year provides support in securing this placement.

Final Year

The final year will include a major project, along with modules which require the integration of the knowledge gained in the earlier years of study and a number of advanced management module options which allow you to further develop your specific interests.The final year curriculum also includes a focus on managing change, both in organisational terms and in terms of your own career.

Within this final year you will undertake an organisation development consultant project, where student groups work as consultants with local organisations. This innovative approach to learning-in-practice is unique across undergraduate business management courses.

• Final Year Project - Work-based Enquiry Project or Critical Business Enquiry Project or Enterprise Project or Business Project (International Direct Entrants Only)
• Strategic Management
• Coaching in Organisations
• Leadership and Organisation Development
• Advances in Leadership

Plus one optional module from the list below if a Study Year Abroad (SYA) or placement has not been undertaken:

Optional modules

• Entrepreneurial Management
• Events and Festival Management
• Project Management
• Sustainable Business
• Human Resource Development and Knowledge Management
• Virtual Business

The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved, we will inform you.

The course is taught through a blend of learning activities - some tutor-led and face-to-face, some student-led and independent, some online, some in groups and some which require students to support each others' learning.

Lectures, workshops and seminars, group project working and tutoring account for 12 hours of contact per week. However you will be expected to spend at least as much time again in essential independent study, for example, in preparing for workshops and seminars, reviewing lectures, online working through the university's 'virtual learning environment', reading, conducting research, preparing assessed work and revising for end of module exams.

For more details see our full glossary of learning and teaching terms.

Our approach to learning and teaching are student-focused with the emphasis on helping you to actively find out things for yourself. You will be expected to work with a mix of theory and practice, balancing academic rigour and a practical approach to your work, so that you can appreciate the relevance and application of concepts learnt. To help in doing this, all students are expected to gain high-quality work experience, ideally through the 40-week placement but if not then through short term internships, paid work (for example, as a Student Ambassador or as a Peer-Assisted Learning Leader) or through volunteering.

You will be assessed through a mix of coursework and examinations, all of which aim to assess not only what you know and can do, but also to develop the graduate attributes that are valued by employers. These attributes include communication and presentation skills, IT and numeracy skills, team work, project and time management skills as well as the intellectual skills of problem solving, critical thinking, analysis and evaluation, creativity and innovation.

Coursework comes in many different forms: essays and reports; business plans and applied research projects; portfolios and weekly notes; assessed group and individual presentations and posters. You will also be required to reflect and comment on your own learning and personal development.

For more details see our full glossary of assessment terms.