BSc (Hons) Business Economics with Foundation Year

We use a variety of engaging and active teaching methods to support you to become a skilled, enquiring and confident student. You will be taught via a mix of lectures, tutorials, and online material as well as student-centred workshops, games, posters, case studies and learning exercises. This range of different activities is all supported by plenty of regular guidance and personal feedback to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. At the end of this foundation year, you will be a more independent and confident learner ready to embark on degree level study at Level 4.

We are committed to your development as a skilled and inquiring student, ethically engaged with the world and its future, and aim to use a variety of methods and approaches tailored to your individual needs in order to achieve this.

You will be taught by experienced academics with inputs from practitioners to enhance your creative and critical thinking, analytical skills, collaborative decision-making abilities, and confidence. Our teaching team will share with you their expert knowledge, experience and research insights during stimulating lectures, seminars and practical workshops.

Teaching is structured to allow for flexibility, and blended learning is widely used to support both teaching, learning and student support. Typically, you will have around 12 hours of structured contact time per week. This may be in lectures, where the module leader delivers key material to you in a large group or seminars where you'll discuss and develop, in smaller groups, your understanding of topics covered in lectures. You may also experience workshops, which combine lectures and seminars when the class size is smaller. You'll also be supported by your personal academic tutor.

Between Years 2 and 3 you'll have the opportunity to gain work experience on a year-long placement with an external organisation. You’ll also have the opportunity to apply to study for a year in one of our partner institutions in North America as part of your degree.

Alongside the core curriculum (your chosen degree subject!), there are exciting and innovative opportunities to go beyond your degree. A suite of micro-credentials, interdisciplinary electives, industry and enterprise challenges form an integral part of this course.

All courses are informed by the University’s Vision 2030.

When not attending lectures, seminars, workshops or other timetabled sessions, you'll continue learning through self-study. Typically, this involves reading journal articles and books, undertaking research in the library, working on projects, and preparing for coursework assignments/examinations, workshops and seminars.

Your lecturers will indicate specific readings and/or activities to complete before class. We will also provide reading lists for further study. Seminars/workshops are enriched when students have completed their independent reading, allowing everyone to interact with this learning and benefiting the whole group.

In your final year, you will complete a Major Project, often called a Dissertation or an Individual Study. This is a significant piece of independent research, where you may select a topic of special interest. It is an opportunity for you to deep dive into an area of your degree that you are fascinated by. You will be guided by a supervisor, but the main direction of the work will be decided by you. Great to showcase in graduate applications.

Teaching is structured to allow for flexibility. Typically, you will have about 12 hours of structured contact time per week. For every hour of contact, you'll be expected to complete three hours of independent study.

You will be taught by academics at all stages of their careers, from postdoctoral researchers to professors, including others with extensive industry experience.

Every member of our teaching team is committed to innovative and engaging approaches to teaching, and members hold excellent teaching qualifications (Higher Education Academy accredited) and academic qualifications (PhDs in Economics, Business Management, Finance or other related disciplines).

We are also research active, publishing our research in academic journals and books, engaging in work with academic and professional bodies.