Business Management (with Placement Year)

Become the kind of business leader the world actually needs

At St Mary's University London, our Business Management BSc is built for students who want more from their degree and their career. Not just a job title, but the skills, confidence, and judgement to shape how organisations grow, compete, and do the right thing.

In small classes where you're known by name, you'll learn from academics who've spent careers in industry and bring that world into every seminar. You'll wrestle with the questions real leaders face. You'll graduate with a sharper sense of what matters to you because the best leaders aren't just effective, they're principled.

Skills that turn ambition into a career
Our Business Management course is shaped by industry professionals who know what graduates need:

• Apply business and marketing thinking to real situations

• Work confidently with AI, data, and digital platforms

• Lead with strong ethical and professional standards

Instead of exams, you'll be assessed through live projects, case studies, presentations, and simulations. Your CV starts filling up from year one. You'll pick up professional accreditations along the way, and learn how to use practical tools like Excel and Canva. We'll also help you to find a work placement that allows you to apply what you've learned, build the network that opens future doors, and gain confidence in your capacity.

Decide how you’d like to study
Our Business Management programme includes a wide mix of optional modules across finance, marketing, data analytics, strategy, and people management to help you discover what makes you tick. You can focus on contemporary business approaches and critical skills in your first year, then specialise in areas like entrepreneurship, consultancy or innovation.

Get inspired by business management experts
Our courses are designed and taught by industry professionals with decades of experience, and connections with business leaders who share their insight with our students. For example, Kofi Amegashie has 30+ years of international business experience across companies like Chevron and Alexander Forbes. The wider academic team has worked in organisations including Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and Ogilvy.

Take part in employability events
You’ll have numerous opportunities to attend and take part in events designed to develop your skills in a business environment and give you valuable practical experience. These events will help you to build up your confidence and CV, ready for your next steps after graduation.

Gain recognised certification
As part of your degree, you can choose from a range of short, focused micro-credential courses designed to help you develop valuable skills in a flexible and accessible way.

Hear from our students
Lauren, Business Management student - " My lecturers are really helpful and always on hand when help is needed, both in lectures and tutorials”.

About the Placement Year
A placement year enables you to undertake a year of experience in an organisation between your second and final year. It will enable you to:

• apply the knowledge and skills you gain from your course in a work setting

• build your commercial awareness and insights into organisations and industries you might want to work in

• develop your professional skills through company training, networking skills and confidence in the workplace

• get some great experience for future job applications or even land a graduate job.

Support from St Mary’s every step of the way
Securing a placement can really help you develop your job search skills and the Employability Service placement and Careers Teams can support you to find and apply for available opportunities.

Please note: in the event that you cannot secure a placement you will be able to transfer onto the three year version of your degree programme.

During the first year you will be introduced to the principal areas of the Business Management curriculum. The major management theorists will be reviewed within the context of organisational development, as well as the key elements of the business environment. In the second year you will study the core disciplines of Marketing and Financial Management, and will use business case studies to develop your ability to deal with complex management problems. You choose from a range of specialist option modules, according to your academic interests and career aspirations. In the final year, you will study Strategic Management and develop a detailed appreciation of the Business Ethics field, an area of growing interest amongst business practitioners. You will be able to enhance your specialist knowledge through studying a range of dedicated options, including Management Accounting, Employment Law, E-Commerce, Management Consultancy, Marketing Management, and Organisational Change.