Business
University of the West of Scotland
UCAS Code: N104 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
University of the West of Scotland
UCAS Code: N104 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Year 2 entry with A Level grades of BBB.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
For year 2 entry, 28 points required
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF)
For year 2 entry, DDM required in relevant subject
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
For year 2 entry, DDM required in relevant subject
Scottish Advanced Higher
For Year 2 entry.
Scottish HNC
Year 2 entry with HNC in one of the following titles: Business; Business Management; Administration & IT; Event Management; Events; Travel & Tourism. Year 2 entry with relevant NextGen HNC with 'Acheived'
Scottish HND
Year 3 entry with HND in one of the following titles: Business; Business Management; Administration & IT; Event Management; Events; Travel & Tourism. Year 3 entry with relevant NextGen HND with 'Acheived'
Scottish Higher
T Level
Pass (C and above)
For year 2 entry, Grade M required
UCAS Tariff
About this course
**Overview**
Our BA Business programmes are designed with your career aspirations in mind, offering flexibility and a broad range of opportunities to tailor your studies.
Build a strong foundation in your first two years (Levels 7 & 8) with our newly introduced common modules where you'll focus on the essentials in business and marketing studies. For your third year (Level 9) onwards, you'll have the freedom to choose your area of specialism.
Discover your passion and focus on the areas that excite you the most. Whether you stick with your initial plan or explore new pathways within the Business School, the choice is yours.
Developed in alignment with the needs of modern organisations in the private, public and tertiary sectors, the BA (Hons) Business programme prepares students for a wide range of careers requiring business acumen and expertise, including the evolving nature and impact of AI in contemporary organisations.
The programme cuts across business, management and organisation studies disciplines, including marketing, human resources, entrepreneurship, sustainability, strategy and leadership to foster development of broad knowledge that prepares students for a wide range of careers. Whether your career aspirations lie in business, government or the charitable sector, the BA (Hons) Business will help you take them head on and with confidence.
Our highly competitive study abroad scheme, which will allow you to study with one of our international partner institutions in the third year of your studies, will further help you if you are aspiring to embark on a career that will span the globe.
**Course Highlights**
• Cross-disciplinary knowledge base drawing on key subject domains in business, management and organisation studies;
• Contemporary modules exploring the evolving impact of artificial intelligence on business and other organisations;
• A programme curriculum embedding the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals;
• Wide range of assessment methods intended to emulate the challenges you will face in employment;
• Development of transferable and communication skills that will enable you to engage with a wide range of audiences effectively and with confidence;
• Highly competitive opportunity to study abroad during the third year of your studies;
• Comprehensive academic skills and careers support that will help you succeed as a learner and ensure you graduate work-ready.
**Careers**
On the completion of the BA (Hons) Business degree you may follow the footsteps of your predecessors and pursue a range of careers in Scottish, UK-wide and multinational organisations from a variety of sectors, including:
• Management consultancy services;
• IT services;
• Retail and wholesale;
• Banking and finance;
• Logistics and distribution;
• Local and national government; and
• Charity.
Alternatively, you may start your own business or pursue further study, including the following qualifications:
• Master of Science (MSc);
• Master of Business Administration (MBA);
• Master of Research (MRes);
• Master of Philosophy (MPhil);
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD); and
• Doctor of Business Administration (DBA).
Modules
Year 1
In the first year of their studies, students are introduced to key areas of business, management and organisation studies, including finance, human resources management marketing and entrepreneurship. They also begin to explore the role of AI and other technologies in contemporary work settings.
Year 2
In the second year of your studies, students develop knowledge in areas that are highly relevant to contemporary organisations, including sustainability, operations management and digital workplaces. They also explore the role of AI in innovation and analytics.
Year 3
In the third year of their studies, students explore emerging business issues, as well as develop an understanding of strategy, organisational culture, leadership and the transformative potential of AI. They also learn research methods in preparation for undertaking an honours dissertation/project in the final year of their studies.
Year 4
In the final year of their studies, student complete an honours dissertation/project on a topic of their choice. Simultaneously, they develop critical understanding of globalisation, knowledge management and change management. They are also given the choice to either deepen their understanding of sustainability and ethics, or explore the transformative impact of accelerating AI on businesses, organisations and societies of the future.
Assessment methods
Examples of assessments used on the BA (Hons) Business programme:
• Essays;
• Reports;
• Projects;
• Case studies;
• Videos;
• Presentations;
• Posters.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
Visit www.uws.ac.uk/scholarships
The Uni
Paisley Campus
Business and Creative Industries
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
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
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
£20k
£22k
£25k
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.
Explore these similar courses...
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Teaching Excellence Framework (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?
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