Program Overview

MSc Business Analysis & Consulting (January)

The MSc in Business Analysis & Consulting has been developed to equip students with the practical, evaluative, and analytical skills to allow them, as future managers or consultants, to influence and develop strategy and performance within organisations.

Key Facts

• Start date: January
• Accreditation: Triple-accredited business school (AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA)
• Study mode and duration: 12 months full-time

Why this Course?

The course is designed to provide students with the key quantitative business analysis methods necessary to evaluate performance. Industry involvement is at the heart of the course, with numerous external clients throughout the year in the experiential learning class, and the opportunity to undertake the summer project in collaboration with an external organisation.

What You'll Study

• Becoming an Effective Business Analyst: A core class that runs over both semesters, providing a practical environment to apply business analysis and consulting tools to challenging real problems offered by industrial clients.
• Foundations of Operational Research & Business Analysis: Explores the generic problem-solving process which underpins the provision of decision support.
• Managing Business Operations: Teaches essential principles, tools, and techniques of Operations Management.
• Quantitative Business Analysis: Covers statistical modelling, probability theory, distributions, and moments, estimation, and hypothesis testing.
• Spreadsheet Modelling & Demand Forecasting: Demonstrates how spreadsheets can be used to support analytical techniques and technical report writing.
• Strategy Modelling & Management: Builds on earlier taught skills, particularly problem structuring, to manage uncertainty and multiple perspectives.

Elective Classes

• Business Simulation Methods
• Risk Analysis & Management
• Business Information Systems
• Performance Measurement & Management
• Business Analytics
• SBS Spring School Module

Project/Dissertation

The MSc project is the most substantial and independent piece of work carried out during the course. It typically involves understanding a real-life problem, identifying data requirements, reviewing relevant domain literature, making methodological choices, data collection, analysis, and modelling, and developing and presenting findings and recommendations.

Learning & Teaching

Core and elective classes are taught across two semesters, with a combination of lectures, hands-on software sessions, online material, group and individual study, and assignments. The project/dissertation is undertaken during the summer months.

Assessment

Classes are assessed by various methods, including written assignments, exams, practical team projects, presentations, and individual projects. Exams take place at the end of each semester.

Strathclyde Business School

A pioneering, internationally renowned academic organisation with a reputation for research excellence. It is a triple-accredited business school and was the first in Scotland to achieve this accolade.

Entry Requirements

• Academic requirements: Minimum second-class Honours degree, or overseas equivalent, in business, economics, engineering, or the social sciences.
• English language requirements: Students whose first language is not English must have a minimum of 6.5 IELTS score, with no individual score lower than 5.5.

Fees & Funding

• Scotland: £14,250
• England, Wales & Northern Ireland: £14,250
• International: £31,100
• Additional costs: May include course materials, placements, and field trips.

Careers

The combination of quantitative and qualitative skills learned, along with real experience of working with various clients' problems throughout the course, makes graduates attractive to employers. By the end of the programme, students are well-placed for a client-focused career, providing model-based decision support to management at a strategic and operational level. Examples of graduate employers include NHS, PWC, SYSTRA, Scottish Enterprise, and British Petroleum.