University of Sussex, BSc, Business and Management Studies (with a professional placement year)

Year 1 

Prior to specialising in Year 2, Year 1 gives you a solid grounding in diverse aspects of management, offering an understanding of the context within which business is conducted, the tools and principles of accounting, an understanding of corporate finance and financial markets, and a range of analytical techniques that you will find useful throughout your course.

The core modules introduce concepts, issues and methods to help you develop a critical approach to management in organisations. You examine cases and contemporary issues in management, including insights from business law and marketing. Two electives give you the opportunity to broaden your studies beyond business and management. 

Year 2 

You study modules relevant to your chosen specialism alongside a core of shared modules. You investigate and become familiar with the core processes of management. Modules cover and analyse the different aspects of these processes and how they constitute and shape organisations. Your analytical skills are further developed by the research methods teaching in preparation for your final-year project. 

Professional placement year (optional) 

Sussex offers four-year versions of most of our courses, which involve a professional placement year in Year 3. We assist you in finding a suitable placement. To be considered for a professional placement, you must achieve suitable academic progress in Years 1 and 2 of your course, have strong work ethics and a good spread of A level results. Alternatively, you can organise your own placement. Students on our corresponding three-year courses may opt to undertake a professional placement year and must then transfer from the three-year to the four-year course in Year 2. The opportunity to transfer is subject to the availability of a suitable professional placement opportunity. Students on our corresponding three-year courses may also be able to arrange short summer placements at the end of their second year.

Final year 

There is a great degree of choice of modules and scope for independent study and research. Through your choice of options, you consolidate and extend your conceptual and practical knowledge of management.

You are able to draw on your knowledge and skills accumulated during the course (including any placement) to investigate some business and management topics in depth during your final-year project. 

Core modules

• Information Systems
  
• Management of Innovation
• Managing Operations
• Managing Projects and Technologies
• Operations Management

Options

• Accounting for Managers
  
• Emerging Issues in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations (HRM)
• International Business Environment
• Statistics and Introductory Econometrics

Year 3

Core modules

• Professional Placement Year
• Year 4
• Core modules
• Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics
• Public and Nonprofit Management and Organisation Strategy

Options

• Business Strategy Report
• Critical Perspectives on Management and Organisations
• Entrepreneurship and Small Firms (ENT)
• Innovation Systems
• Knowledge, work and organisations
• Law of Business Organisations
• New Venture Creation and Business Planning (ENT)
• Research Project
• Strategic Human Resource Management