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International Business

Entry requirements


A level

C,C,C

96 UCAS Tariff points

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

MMM

96 UCAS Tariff points

UCAS Tariff

96

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

International business

Economies are increasingly global. With this degree - designed to give you the knowledge and skills to manage a business effectively in the global context - show potential employers that you understand how business operates on an international scale.

Alongside traditional business skills and disciplines such as strategy, human resource management, finance, operations and marketing, you will acquire global skills via units such as international economics, global marketing, and Intercultural awareness in business.

In your final year you are supported in finding a placement which delivers invaluable international experience, as well as credit towards your degree, as you apply your learning to project work in a live setting.

**Choose International Business at Bedfordshire and:**
- Learn through lectures, seminars and workshops, plus projects, research exercises, presentations, and case study analyses with a focus on using your knowledge and understanding in practice

- Study business management, business research, marketing, finance, accounting, operations management and human resource management

- Develop your communication and collaborative skills as well as a recognisable high level of professionalism, enabling you to fit in and be effective from day one

- Gain an understanding of the roles and relationships of businesses in the international arena, and the specific operational and strategic issues, challenges and opportunities that they face at an international level

- Explore opportunities for further postgraduate and professional study

- Benefit from a degree which gives you understanding of global business operations, analytical and problem-solving skills, and personal effectiveness and credibility when working across cultures in international teams – attributes which are highly attractive to potential employers

**Why choose this course?**
This innovative and interdisciplinary course will help you to gain the skills and knowledge required in key business disciplines coupled with a broader global business perspective. The course provides you with a deeper appreciation of the roles and relationships of businesses in an international context, together with the specific operational and strategic issues, challenges and opportunities that businesses face when they start operating at an international level.

You will also gain a working understanding of foundational concepts in the key functional and operational areas, including business management, business research, marketing, finance, accounting, operations management, human resource management, interpersonal and collaborative communication skills, covering important aspects of working in an international and multi-cultural environment.

The course offers a rich learning experience which:

- Is highly vocational with a focus on knowledge and understanding of business organisations from a global perspective;

- Focuses on both large and small organisational contexts;

- Instils a high level of professionalism from the outset;

- Has a strong theoretical base in each unit;

- Develops interpersonal and collaborative communication skills

- Includes a supervised final year dissertation involving an individually conducted research element;

- Provides further opportunity for professional development in a work placement relevant to international business

- Has small class interactive teaching environments;

- Focuses on hard and soft management skills for the 21st century

Modules

- Accounting For Business (AAF016-1) Compulsory
- Intercultural Competence In Business (MAR013-1) Compulsory
- International Business (MAR023-1) Compulsory
- Principles Of Marketing (MAR001-1) Compulsory
- Researching Business And Management (MAR024-1) Compulsory
- Using Data To Build Business Practice (BSS004-1) Compulsory
- Career In Practice (MAR027-2) Compulsory
- Economics For Business (AAF036-2) Compulsory
- International Business Negotiations (MAR034-2) Compulsory
- International Marketing (MAR035-2) Compulsory
- International New Ventures And Innovation (MAR036-2) Compulsory
- International Trade And Investment Relations (MAR037-2) Compulsory
- Business Ethics And Corporate Social Responsibility (MAR032-3) Compulsory
- Continuing Professional Development (MAR027-3) Compulsory
- Preparation For Specialist Research Project (MAR029-3) Compulsory
- Specialist Research Project (MAR030-3) Compulsory
- Strategic Management (SHR004-3) Compulsory

Every effort is made to ensure this information is accurate at the point of publication on the UCAS website. For the most up-to-date information, please refer to our website.

Assessment methods

This course uses a range of assessment types and methods including essays and reports, portfolios, research proposals and exams. Assessment focuses on tasks that develop vocational skills, underpinned by subject knowledge, requiring higher levels of cognition in the later years of the course.

Some group work is included at each level since being able to function as part of a team is a critical skill for international business, and assessments are used to develop your employability as a graduate going into the international market place. Support to enable you to submit your best work is provided in a variety of ways including briefings in class, supporting materials provided through the virtual learning environment, drop in sessions with the Study Hub team, subject-specific Academic Librarians and individual tutors. In addition, extensive online supporting materials are available.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Luton Campus

Department:

Department of Business Systems and Operations

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

66%
International business

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Business studies

Teaching and learning

77%
Staff make the subject interesting
71%
Staff are good at explaining things
81%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
78%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

71%
Library resources
79%
IT resources
71%
Course specific equipment and facilities
63%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

12%
UK students
88%
International students
69%
Male students
31%
Female students
56%
2:1 or above
49%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
E
D

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Business studies

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£19,000
low
Average annual salary
93%
low
Employed or in further education
47%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

24%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
13%
Customer service occupations
11%
Administrative occupations: finance

The number of business studies graduates fell significantly last year after a long period of increase. But there were still more than 14,000 degrees awarded and this is the third most popular subject for new graduates. Because so many graduates get business studies degrees, you can find them everywhere in the economy, and very few jobs are completely out of reach for a good business studies graduate. Around 40% go into jobs in finance, sales, recruitment, management (particularly retail) or marketing. There is also a small (but well paid) group who take their technical skills into computing and IT. Thousands of graduates from this subject go into professional jobs every year, and average starting salaries are above the average for all subjects and particularly healthy in London where they top £25k. Graduates with good degree grades in business studies are much more likely to get good jobs, so don’t be complacent, and keep a close eye on your grades.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Business studies

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£18k

£18k

£22k

£22k

£26k

£26k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here