Program Overview

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Business Management and Marketing (with a Placement Year) BSc (Hons)

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.

Course Content

Modules

In the first year, you’ll learn what makes business tick. You’ll need to understand the financial and economic aspects of business and how to organise for success in order to be a successful marketeer.

In your second year, you’ll focus strongly on marketing. ‘Working in Marketing’ will give you all the skills you need to succeed on your marketing placement later in the year. You’ll learn how to research and understand the behaviour of consumers and industrial customers and the key elements of marketing theory you need to build a great marketing plan in your third year.

In this year, you will choose between taking either Experience and Employment in Business or Investigation in Employment Practice.

Your final year includes an in-depth research project, exploring a particular market, company or situation using the best research techniques and latest theories. You’ll also do a market research and planning project, producing a plan a company can use to achieve its marketing goals. You’ll be trained in marketing consultancy and taught key concepts that make marketing such a fascinating discipline.

Digital marketing has moved from being a special discipline to taking a central role in marketing. Rather than teaching modules specifically about digital marketing, the course builds digital approaches into every aspect of what you are taught.

We’ve also built in coverage of how new digital business models disrupt conventional ways of doing business, and what kind of marketing “disrupters” use, and how “disrupted” companies need to respond. In doing this, we’ve drawn on the work of our team of researchers who focus on digital business models, how they use information, and their effects on markets.

It is possible to gain professional accreditations and certificate exemptions by successfully completing selected core and optional Business Management and Finance modules.

Professional bodies include:

• Chartered Management Institute
• Chartered Institute of Management Accounting
• The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)

Please note: it is possible that a module listed on the website will not be able to run due to reasons beyond our control. For more information please refer to our course information disclaimer.

Year 1

• Understanding Marketing
• Studying Business Management
• Organisational behaviour
• Digital Business
• Financial Management
• Ethics, Communication, and Professionalism
• Leadership in Organisations

Year 2

• Working in Marketing
• Research Methods
• Marketing Strategy and Implementation
• Introduction to Strategy
• Data Analytics
• International Marketing and Supply Chain Logistics
• Experience and Employment in Business
• Business Economics
• Contributing to the Community

Year 3 (Placement Year)

• Placement Year

Year 4

• Research Project
• Independent Study
• Ethics in Communications and Marketing
• Consultancy Project
• Contemporary issues in marketing
• Strategy
• Management of organisational change
• The Enterprising Workplace
• Responsible Leadership in the 21st Century

Entry Requirements

2025 and 2026 entries

• Start date: September 2026
• Standard offer: 112 UCAS points
• Contextual offer: 96 UCAS points

GCSE

• GCSE Maths grade 4/C, or equivalent evidence of numerical skills, is also a requirement.

UCAS Personal statement support

Create your UCAS personal statement through our online builder and we'll email you a copy of your completed version at the end.

Fees & Funding

Tuition fees

• Home: £9,535
• International: £17,100 (£1200 during placement year)

Please note: these fees are annual and may increase as detailed in our tuition fee variation disclaimer.

Additional costs

Your tuition fees will cover the cost of all mandatory elements of your programme.

Additional costs could be incurred depending on optional modules chosen and other projects undertaken.

Scholarships

Find out more about our range of scholarships and bursaries available to undergraduate students.

Living costs

A guide to your living costs has been created by our Student Funding Team.

Accommodation costs vary depending on whether you opt for an en suite room and on-site catering. Take a look at our accommodation options and the prices you can expect to pay.

How the degree is taught

• Contact time: 50%
• Independent study: 50%

*Contact time includes 32% of guided learning

Teaching methods

You'll be taught on our beautiful and historic campus located in Twickenham, London.

As well as highly interactive lectures, you’ll be working in groups on case studies, listening to lectures from top marketing practitioners, and practising the skills you need to be an effective marketing manager.

You’ll be taught by a team which includes award-winning marketers, excellent lecturers, leading researchers and experienced professionals. You’ll learn using the latest digital resources and techniques.

Class sizes in year one lectures can be up to 190 students. In year two and three, lectures will be around 70 students as optional modules are chosen. Seminar groups are typically around 30-35 students.

Assessment methods

You will be assessed in a variety of ways to test knowledge, understanding and skills development throughout your degree. The programme uses a broad range of assessments including business reports, essays, practical exercises, presentations, case studies, examinations, seminar and simulation exercises.

As well as traditional exam-based assessments and coursework, the programme makes use of assessed blogs. Wherever possible, you’ll be assessed using digital methods and feedback.

Feedback

We adhere to the university’s policy of providing feedback on assessments within 15 working days.

Career opportunities

Our Business Management and Marketing degree will help you develop essential transferable skills, such as teamwork, critical thinking, and time management.

Some examples of job roles and areas of work for graduates of this degree include:

• marketing
• banking
• insurance
• law
• business consultancy
• leisure and sport
• human resources