Program Overview

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Business and Finance (with Foundation Year)

Overview

The business world is full of opportunities, and our Business and Finance degree helps to keep your options open. Whether you want to support charities or analyse data for global corporations, you’ll graduate with the skills and confidence to achieve your goals.

Our BSc Business and Finance with a Foundation Year begins with essential business-focused study, preparing you for degree-level learning. Passing this year guarantees your place on the BSc Business and Finance programme, where you’ll develop expertise in financial management, business strategy, and data analysis.

Our experienced teaching staff stay up to date with business trends and bring fresh insights into the classroom through guest speakers. With the option of a year's placement, you can gain valuable professional experience.

Later in the course, you’ll shape your learning with optional modules like Environmentally Sustainable Business or International Finance, allowing you to specialise in business, finance, or a mix. Whichever path you take, we’ll help you develop the professional skills that employers look for.

Why Oxford Brookes University?

• Perfect preparation: Build essential study skills with an integrated foundation year. Gain academic confidence, improve critical thinking, and strengthen subject knowledge for your degree journey.
• Explore your interests: Tailor the course with optional modules on topics like ethics or international management.
• Gain experience: We believe you should learn through experiences, so much of the course is practical. You also have the option to go on placement to experience business in real life.
• Learn a language: Our university-wide language programme is available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.
• Study abroad: You may be able to go on a European or international study exchange while you are at Brookes. Most exchanges take place in the second year. Although we will help as much as we can with your plans, ultimately you are responsible for organising and funding this study abroad.

Course Details

Course Structure

In your foundation year, you’ll explore key themes in business and finance, while building your academic and professional skills.

In the first year of your degree, you’ll examine contemporary business and financial issues and study management in an international context. You’ll also explore how theory works in real-world situations.

In your second year, compulsory modules build on your knowledge. The Developing Professional Practice module will help you grow your employability skills, and optional modules allow you to personalise the course to your interests.

You can choose to go on a placement year after your second year. Business School students have worked at companies like IBM, BMW, Lloyds Banking Group, and L’Oréal.

In your final year, you’ll explore more advanced topics and complete independent work in the synoptic module. You’ll also have more optional modules to help you specialise in areas that match your career ambitions.

Learning and Teaching

On this course your learning experience will be exciting as well as challenging. You will have the opportunity to:

• take part in case study analysis
• solve issues for real businesses
• work with diverse groups to present your analysis and recommendations.

We focus on helping you to develop the skills you will need to succeed in today’s fast-paced and competitive business world. You will also have opportunities to learn from business professionals. Whether it’s guest speakers or working on live cases from the business community.

We are delighted to have launched our new Bloomberg Trading Suite.

Students on our Accounting, Finance and Economics courses can gain certification and experience of trading on the financial markets by making mock transactions using real-world financial market data. Read our in-depth news story to find out more.

Assessment

Your learning will be assessed by coursework and examinations, and you’ll carry out your coursework both individually, and in small groups. You’ll run project investigations, write reports and essays, and present your work to groups. You’ll also have the chance to use dedicated facilities like the new Bloomberg Trading Suite and gain certifications. Your coursework will be directly relevant to the changing world around you. You might write a report assessing organisational behaviour and Management in an SME. Or you might make a presentation on how to run an environmentally sustainable business.

Study Modules

Teaching for this course takes place Face to Face and you can expect around eight hours of contact time per week. In addition to this, you should also anticipate a workload of 1,200 hours per year. Teaching usually takes place Monday to Friday, between 9.00am and 6.00pm.

Contact hours involve activities such as lectures, seminars, practicals, assessments, and academic advising sessions. These hours differ by year of study and typically increase significantly during placements or other types of work-based learning.

Foundation Year

• University Study Skills
• Culture and Communication
• Business Fundamentals
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Extended Research Essay
• Economics for Business
• Development Studies
• Ideas and Ideologies
• Global Issues
• Tourism and Hospitality
• Maths and Statistics for University Study
• English Law

Year 1

• Introduction to Business and Management
• Accounting and Financial Information
• Digital Technology and Maths for Business
• Raising Individual Financial Awareness
• Exploring Economics
• Foundations of Marketing
• Global Business Communications
• Mathematics for Economics and Finance
• Work, Employment and Globalisation

Year 2

• Business Strategy for Competitive Advantage
• Applied Financial Skills
• Developing Professional Practice
• Financial Markets and Institutions
• Organisational Behaviour and Management
• Corporate Finance
• Placement Search and Preparation
• Corporate and Business Law
• Environmentally Sustainable Business
• Independent Study in Business
• International Finance
• Management Information Systems
• Managing the Digital Business

Optional Placement Year

• Placement
• Full Year International Study Abroad
• Short Placement
• Work-based Learning

Final Year

• Business and Finance Synoptic
• Contemporary Issues in Finance
• Leading and Managing Change
• Advanced Financial Management
• Business Accountability and Responsibility
• Business Ethics
• Business Intelligence and Decision Making
• Entrepreneurial Business Management
• Finance and Development
• Independent Study
• Perspectives on International Management

Careers

With the broad range of skills you’ll learn on this course, you’ll be a valuable addition to any business. We’ll help you build professional skills to adapt to working life, and our careers office are always there to support you in your search. Job opportunities include:

• multinational businesses
• charities
• education
• healthcare
• government

Many of our students go on to graduate training schemes in companies like IBM, Virgin Mobile, Intel, Yell Ltd, O2 and Dell.

Entry Requirements

• UCAS Tariff Points: 48
• A Level: DD
• IB Points: 24
• BTEC: PPP or MP
• GCSE: Mathematics GCSE Grade 4/C

English Language Requirements

Please see the University's standard English language requirements.

Funding Your Studies

Financial Support and Scholarships

• Oxford Brookes Bursary for Continuing Students
• Undergraduate maintenance loans for part-time UK students
• Undergraduate maintenance loans for full-time UK students
• Undergraduate tuition fee loans for UK students
• Oxford Brookes Bursary for New Students

Tuition Fees

• Home (UK) full time: £5,760 (Foundation); £9,535 (Degree)
• Home (UK) part time: £720 per single module (Foundation); £1,190 per single module (Degree)
• International full time: £17,100

Additional Costs

• It’s your responsibility to cover print / binding costs where coursework submission is required.
• You may choose to purchase books to support your studies.
• Accommodation fees in Brookes Letting (most do not include bills)
• Accommodation fees in university halls (bills included, excluding laundry costs)
• Graduation costs include tickets, gowning and photography. Gowns are not compulsory but typically students do hire robes, starting at £41.
• Students are responsible for their own travel to and from university for classes.