Business Management with Finance (with Foundation Year)

This course prepares you for managerial roles across a range of business environments while offering specialisation in finance. You study the core areas of business management including strategy; leadership; innovation; responsible management; sustainable practices; and entrepreneurship. You also develop your understanding of key financial theories and practice, equipping you with the skills to understand the impact of financial and investment decisions on businesses.

Foundation Year
In the Foundation year you will study three days per week. The focus will be on academic writing skills and numeracy, plus subject-specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree. It provides a balance between content related to your chosen subject and the range of wider skills required for undergraduate study. This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will be required to pass the foundation year in order to progress to the first year of your degree. This course is ideal for those who do not meet our standard entry requirements or those with a non-standard educational background. It will allow you to graduate with a full undergraduate degree in your chosen subject in four years.

Facilities and specialist equipment

• New, state-of-the-art business analytics suite to support data analytics, 'big-data', data mining, digital marketing, SEO and other management skills.

• Our London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) trading room, where you can react to live ‘stock-market’ data.

• Software includes Microsoft Power BI and Vensim simulation, for analysing complex and messy business problems, plus VR immersive skills practice.

• Access to Sage, LSEG data platform and the econometrics software STATA.

• Gain competencies in key digital skills, such as in Excel, through our Microsoft Office training platform.

Your student experience

Gain a sought-after specialism on a course that gives you the flexibility to change pathway option at the end of your first year.

Learn from research-driven academics actively involved in consultancy work.

Take up opportunities for consultancy experience during the second year of the degree, assisting businesses – from start-ups to established corporations - to solve problems, up-skill and innovate.

Access virtual business-management simulation software that allows you to participate in running a business and experience collaborative working.

Benefit from our links with finance’s ‘big four’ - Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, PwC and Deloitte - as well as professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Our annual accounting and finance conference gives you the opportunity to learn from professionals and explore the latest industry thinking.

Extend your learning with field trips to see business management in action at companies such as John Lewis, Volvo, PW Gates Logistics as well as major financial institutions.

Course modules

Year 1
Applied numeracy for business – Develop key numeracy skills vital to your future employability. Evolution and revolution in business – Explore the historical development of business through lectures and workshops. Management in practice – Learn key concepts in business management by participating in reality-mimicking simulations. Beginning your professional business journey – Take on business challenges and collaborate with peers in a professional environment.

Year 2
Financial theory and practice – Gain understanding about contemporary financial instruments and markets. Employability and the future workplace – Build your employability through producing a portfolio with evidence of your learning and development. Risk and responsibility – Apply risk assessment tools and techniques to various types of risk in business. Managing business complexity – Use your learnt knowledge and skills to solve complex business issues for clients. Data and research methods for business – Investigate research and data-analysis methods to support you in applying research findings to business issues.

Year 3
Financial reporting – Learn to examine financial reporting through European and international standards. Business finance – Choose suitable models and valuation tools to help allocate resources and make better decisions. Data-driven business – Analyse data-collection trends, using tools suitable for quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Innovation and entrepreneurship – Study the skills and attributes required in the leadership, operation and management of entrepreneurial organisations. Business project – Independently design, plan, manage and execute a research project.

We make every effort to ensure the information here is accurate; however, for the most up-to-date information, visit our website.

Assessment takes a variety of forms, including essays and reports, portfolios, individual and group presentations (individually assessed), research proposals and exams.