Marketing with Foundation Year

This module will introduce you to key concepts of business and management, looking at what business is (and isn’t). You will be encouraged to draw on real-life examples found in the businesses you use in your every day life. You will develop an understanding of the key functions used within contemporary businesses and learn about the tools and techniques used in business for analysis and planning. 

This module takes you through how to get to grips with the technology you need to succeed, as well as using the library, how to reference and how to produce the different styles of academic writing. It also helps you to develop yourself; you will create a CV, learn how to write a cover letter and find out what your learning style is. The module has guest speakers who share their expert knowledge and experience with you. All the skills covered in this module will help you to succeed in your chosen degree.

This module looks at what’s involved in starting up a sustainable business. You will discover what is needed for long term business success. We’ll look at financing and funding, business formation, planning, business ethics and sustainability along with other core aspects of start-ups. You will work closely with industry partners to gain insight into the world of start-ups. If you are interested in starting a business, this module will really help you to discover what is involved. You also gain key knowledge which your degree will build upon.  

This module will explain the importance and key elements of digital business. You will explore how digital business ideas drive technology choices and how those technologies support the development of the business.  

This module brings together everything you have learned so far and gives you the opportunity to put your knowledge into practice. Working in teams, you will develop a business idea and take it through the process of setting up a start-up. You will pitch your idea to a panel to secure investment, launch the business and organise an event, with profits donated to a local charity of your choice. Whatever your chosen business discipline, this module allows you to demonstrate and further develop your skills in a real-world context.

The module aims to acquire and develop an understanding of the employability skills required to succeed in your chosen industry. This is a practical module which will help you create and develop a professional CV and will develop your understanding of the recruitment and selection process. You will learn essential life-long skills to help you succeed in job applications whether they are for part-time work whilst you are a student or for your future graduate career.

Through an immersive and intensive delivery, this introductory module explores how businesses operate through core functions like people management, finance, marketing and operations. Via an organisational visit and case studies, you will learn how organisations work and respond to external change. 

You will compare business types alongside developing essential academic and professional skills in analysis, reporting and presentation of information to support future study and careers. The module will leave you with understanding of appropriate academic practice and expectations of professional behaviour alongside a strong foundation of business knowledge to build on for the remainder of your degree discipline.

This module introduces the main ideas, concepts, models and tools of mobile, media and marketing. Mobile devices are now the most dominant device amongst all age groups and much of the browsing time on mobile is spent within social media apps. As a result, brands and organisations are required to develop a mobile first mindset in order to engage and target customers and consumers. Media plays a vital role in how brands and organisations create and curate content to leverage social media platforms that are relevant to their target audiences and execute content that resonates and engages them. 

Marketing is a significant business function that affects not only how businesses operate but also affects us as consumers in our everyday lives. As a business function, marketing incorporates all the processes involved in anticipating, understanding and fulfilling customer needs and wants but its role in society extends well beyond that. We will explore these ideas, campaigns, content formats and the practical tools relevant to contemporary marketing.

This is the start of your professional career, and this module lays the foundation that will support you in being a successful graduate. In your first year, you will research potential career options and map-out skills and opportunities to be developed through your second and third years. By building a graduate portfolio, and demonstrating employability skills, you will identify your strengths and weaknesses to create a personalised and targeted plan alongside your programme pathway. Starting early will give you the confidence and adaptability as you progress through your undergraduate career.

This module examines the twin forces shaping the future of business: the urgent drive toward sustainability and the disruptive potential of emerging technologies. You will explore ecological economics, climate change and the global energy transition alongside the dynamics of digital transformation, including artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0 and 5.0, robotics, automation, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, blockchain and virtual reality. 

Through case studies and applied learning, you will develop the ability to lead and innovate responsibly in a rapidly changing world, applying creative and sustainable solutions to transform industries and shape next-generation business strategies.

Explore the practical application of marketing principles through real-world business projects. You will gain experience in project definition, planning and delivery while developing essential teamworking and professional skills. This module bridges theory and practice, preparing you to design and implement effective marketing campaigns in dynamic business environments.

This module will examine various aspects of project management through a variety of means, including online content and practical seminars informed by research and industrial collaborations. It will focus on theoretical approaches, tools and techniques of planning and controlling projects. You will learn to appreciate project management as an important and integral part of a business whether product or service based.

Building on the knowledge and skills gained in the first year, this module aims to provide you with a more detailed understanding of how data is used and applied in a business setting. This module will introduce the concepts of business intelligence as a service that underpins decision making in different business functional areas, providing you with experience of using industry standard business intelligence tools to lead and inform evidence-based decision making in your subject specialisms. You will understand how to use data visualisations to inform decision making to influence change in the organisations. This will include human centred design approaches, developing understanding of user experience and people in organisations.

This module develops your ability to lead customer experience strategy through critical thinking, data-driven insight and purposeful decision making. You will innovate by exploring creative approaches to value creation, applying curiosity and evidence to design engaging, customer-centric experiences that inspire change. Emphasis is placed on analysing and improving customer journeys, fostering relationship-based value and delivering service excellence through adaptive and reflective practice. 

Using practical tools and strategic analysis, you will learn to sustain meaningful customer connections that balance organisational growth with social, ethical and environmental responsibility, preparing you to shape, inspire and maintain innovative customer experiences that create lasting value for people and planet.

This module will enable you to build on the embedded employability skills developed during year one of the programme. Through engaging in various professional development and reflection activities, you will be able to identify or realise, evaluate, plan and lead on the development of your future-focused knowledge, skills, behaviours and activities required to help secure your professional career aspirations, according to your programme of study. You will develop knowledge on how to access career-specific and professional graduate-level job opportunities through exploring graduate-level labour market trends, and job-specific employer requirements. 

You will also draw on the expertise of the school’s Career’s and Employability team, employer visits and workshops delivered by the academic team within the school. This will enable you to identify and engage in innovative development strategies to improve your work experience and employability, enabling you to further strengthen in a sustained way your career-focused digital footprint in relation to your professional career goals and around the graduate level employer selection process.

This module provides you with the opportunity to work on a live project in digital marketing in collaboration with a partner organisation. You will apply theoretical knowledge to real-world business challenges, developing problem-solving, data analysis and decision-making skills. 

The module also supports personal and professional development, with a strong emphasis on employability, innovation and practical experience within a dynamic digital marketing environment.

This module gives you an effective introduction to the key aspects of marketing communications theory and practice. You will study key topics including advertising, public relations, direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling, point-of-purchase and digital marketing communications. You will have an opportunity to understand what is required to lead and sustain marketing communications, taking account of current innovations in the subject area.

You have the option to do a placement year, taking a year in industry to learn in a real-life environment whilst earning a salary and paying no tuition fees.

This is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of and we will help you find out about vacancies and make the right connections with high profile employers through regular events and presentations.

 For more information, please visit the placement and internships page. 

This module enables you to step confidently into your future as a professional graduate. Building on your development at Levels 4 and 5, you will critically reflect on who you are, what you offer, and how you will make your contribution. You will deepen your emotional intelligence, evaluate workplace behaviours, and identify strengths and aspirations to shape a compelling professional identity. Using strengths-based diagnostics and simulated recruitment environments, you will learn to lead through critical thinking and data-driven decisions, innovate with curiosity and entrepreneurial skills, and sustain positive impact for people and planet while building a lifelong learning plan.

In this forward-thinking module, you will critically examine the impact of local business decisions across globalised value chains. The module builds on prior learning and integrates multi-disciplinary themes, including ethical leadership, innovation and digital transformation, to explore how businesses can accelerate progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through case-studies, co-creation activities and student research, you will critically reflect on the assumptions and systems that underpin business as usual before examining the role of managers and leaders in leading change to address the complex challenges of environmental sustainability and social inequalities. The module prepares you for your final year of study and future as an independent learner, by developing your academic skills and problem-solving mindset as you investigate, present and recommend innovative solutions to inspire positive change in both local and global communities.

This module prepares you for one of the modules that comprise the CIM Certificate in Professional Marketing. You will explore one theme – marketing communications campaign in detail using the CIM brief to help you understand the current needs surrounding an organisation’s communication with the wider audience/s. You will develop a communications plan around a real-world communication issue that requires the use of decision-making skills and creative ideas as solutions to the identified problems. Issues may include a new product/service launch, refreshing a brand identity or reminding audiences, among others. Satisfactory pass completion of this module, subject to all other mapped modules achieving a pass, will enable you to attain the Certificate Level in CIM. The assessment will use the current CIM assessment for each academic year.

This module supports you in developing a deep understanding and practical application of innovation and entrepreneurship, to develop innovation skills that will support your future career, whether you plan to launch your own enterprise as an entrepreneur or drive change within an organisation as an intrapreneur. Working with a partner organisation you will gain an in depth appreciation of the current status of, and external landscape influencing the core business functional areas. This serves as the foundation for exploration of evidence based opportunities for growth and innovation. You will research and respond to contemporary issues, asking critical questions and use the authentic business challenge to research and develop a sustainable and ethical innovation solution which focuses on your chosen area of the business. Building on prior learning, you will develop the confidence and creativity needed to lead innovation and create sustainable value in your chosen career. On completion you will have created a tangible innovation solution that you can use as evidence of your capabilities in a job interview.

This module provides you with in depth understanding of strategy and leadership. Using scenarios, you will be equipped to lead transformational change, make evidence-based strategic decisions and contribute meaningfully to sustainable organisational performance in complex, dynamic environments. You will examine and critique the underlying principles of key leadership theories and critically evaluate how effective leaders embed a culture of innovation in organisations. Finally, you will review and critically examine the strategic role of leaders within organisations.

This module aims to develop core skills in digital and social media-based targeting and communication strategies. The practical module covers a host of topics including effective digital presence, critical components of a digital marketing strategy and its strategic significance. The module also aims to develop capabilities in digital brand awareness, search engine optimisation and search engine marketing, content optimisation, etc. A comprehensive coverage of marketing communication through digital media is achieved through intensive case discussion sessions, group activities, practitioner lectures and insightful study materials, allowing students to understand how the concepts underpinning digital and social media marketing support business success.

The Integrated Learning Project is a capstone module which allows you to apply the knowledge that you have acquired during your degree in a substantive real-world project. You will be able to select from three different types of project: a research dissertation; a consultancy project; or an entrepreneurial simulation project. The module allows you to apply your skills in critical thinking, independent research, project management, communication, and problem-solving, whilst engaging in an in-depth exploration of a topic relating to your degree. The output will be a portfolio that showcases your innovation in the generation of a sustainable and responsible solution to the selected problem which showcases your academic and professional abilities as a future leader. The project outputs will provide evidence of your knowledge and skills within your graduate portfolio, supporting your graduate career journey.