BA (Hons) Business Management with a Year Abroad
Course options
Key Details
- Award
- Degree of Bachelor of Arts
- UCAS Course Code
- N20A
- Typical Offer
- ABB
- Contextual Offer
- BBC
- Course Length
- 4 years
- Course Start Date
- September 2025
Why you should choose us
Course Overview
Numbers are vital to business, of course, but even more vital are the people involved. Our Business Management with a Year Abroad degree will give you the analytical tools that drive business strategy as well as the influencing and team building skills required to develop a successful business. On this course, you’ll become adept at this difficult balancing act, a skill that is highly prized in the business world.
At UEA, we focus on evidence-based management, so you'll learn to pose questions and challenge assumptions and use evidence to make your own decisions and back them up. You'll develop quantitative and qualitative skills, learning how to deal with numbers and accounts, and how to interpret statistics, as well as how to manage people and resources. You’ll also gain experience working with others and presenting your findings and ideas. This is great practice for your career when you’ll need to not only develop solutions to problems but also persuade people of their validity.
Ours is a highly flexible programme which, after providing you with a solid first year foundation, gives you the freedom to specialise in those areas of business that interest you most. There’s a great choice of subjects to focus on from marketing to talent development, from project management to law or entrepreneurship and many more. This course will deepen your overall business understanding at the same time as allowing you to keep your options open, until you choose where to focus. This version of the course also includes a year spent studying abroad, giving you the chance to understand the international contexts of business management.
Norwich Business School is a friendly and supportive school, with a lively and international cohort. We're in a region that’s safe and welcoming, with a thriving business innovation and enterprise community. All our teaching is informed by our world-leading research and real-world business experience. That means you’ll gain knowledge of the latest issues and debates facing industry and employers. We also believe that anyone can become a great manager, no matter what their background is, so our course is inclusive and welcoming to all. Our business school was ranked 14th overall for research quality in Business and Management Studies in the Times Higher Education REF 2021 Analysis.
After completing this degree, you’ll have all the skills you need to join any business, large or small. Your combination of business acumen and interpersonal skills will make you a desirable addition to any team. You might work in marketing for a multinational corporation, or use your drive in the human resources department of a lively start-up. You might even decide to start your own business. No matter what path you embark upon, the skills you learn during your business management degree at UEA will support you throughout your career.
Placement Year and Study Abroad
You’ll spend your third year studying at one of our partner universities in Europe, Australasia, North America or Asia. This will give you an international context for your studies, allow you to build contacts across the globe, and show future employers that you have the skills and experience to do business on the international stage. You’ll then return to UEA in the fourth year to finish your degree.
For further details, visit the Study Abroad section of our website.
Accreditations
This course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). When you successfully complete this BA degree you may qualify for some CIMA examination exemptions.
Study and Modules
Structure
The BA in Business Management with a Year Abroad shares a common first year with many of our other BA degrees. This structure provides you with a broad view of business and allows you the option to switch to another BA degree program after your first year, if you’ve discovered a new career path. As you progress through your degree, you’ll be able to select modules that interest you and pertain to your unique career goals.
Across six engaging core modules, you’ll explore the key foundations of contemporary business. You’ll study the business environment, principles of marketing, accounting and finance, managing data in the digital world, and managing organisations. You’ll also complete an applied business project, giving you your first taste of independent learning and an opportunity to dive deeper into a topic that interests you.
By the end of your first year, you’ll have a thorough knowledge base for exploring your chosen subject further, and you’ll also understand the key disciplines of business as a whole. Throughout your future career, you’ll work closely with colleagues from all areas of business, so this understanding is extremely valuable. Being able to communicate with and understand other disciplines is a crucial part of management.
Compulsory Modules
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
During your degree, you'll refine your skills and expand your knowledge through lectures, seminars, and workshops informed by the latest research and practical business experience. Interactive lectures and diverse source materials, including textbooks, articles, and business publications like the Financial Times and The Economist, ensure you're exposed to cutting-edge industry insights. You'll not only grasp current leading theories but also develop critical skills to adapt to emerging theories and methods in your career.
Independent study, highly valued by employers, is integral to your learning. You'll engage in self-directed study, IT lab work, and projects, including tackling live marketing briefs for companies like Adnams Brewery and the East Anglian Zoological Society. Opportunities to enhance your studies include participation in student-led societies like the Accountancy and Business Societies.
Collaborating with students from various Norwich Business School degrees fosters teamwork and communication skills, alongside peer discussions in seminars, enriching your understanding of diverse business disciplines. Interaction with international students prepares you for global careers or roles in multinational corporations.
Access to guest speakers, such as industry leaders like Mark O'Hagan and Natasha Evans, offers unique insights into real-world practices. Employability is prioritized through initiatives like Employability Week, where you can network with potential employers and learn from successful UEA alumni about their career journeys.
During your first year, you’ll be called upon to build on your pre-university qualifications and experience, as well as to develop and enhance employability skills. You’ll attend a series of lectures and seminars that will teach you how to conceptualise business problems as well as best practices to evaluate and solve them. Year One provides a broad yet rich introductory view of all the areas addressed in the program. With fundamental real-world examples, the lectures introduce major concepts in finance, accounting, marketing, and management, giving you the confidence to choose the track that suits you the best.
Assessment
You’ll be assessed through a mix of essays, presentations, reports and online tests. Our assessment methods have been developed not just to measure your skills, but also to aid your learning. For example, when you’re writing an essay, you’ll receive feedback on a formative exercise first. You’ll then have a chance to make revisions and improvements before handing in a summative essay for assessment. This helps you identify and focus on areas for improvement.
There are numerous opportunities to take your assessment and feedback further with engagement in our employability prizes, sponsored and judged by industry and business specialists. In previous years Adnams, the famous Suffolk brewer, has sponsored a prize for students on the Marketing Communications module, and the Alan Boswell Group (independent insurance brokers and financial planners) have sponsored a first-year prize.
Assessment methods in the first year include a range of individual and group-based assessments. These often include a combination of reports, course tests, exams, presentations and formative (developmental) and summative (contributes directly to module grade) activities that involve solving business related challenges and reviewing real-world case-studies.
Structure
After a first year spent discovering the fundamentals of business, you’ll focus on core business management functions like managing people and managing information systems, and will develop your strategic awareness and analysis. You’ll also have the flexibility to choose optional modules, allowing you to try different things, explore your interests, and discover where your talents and ambitions lie. For example, if you’re interested in marketing, you could study marketing communications, which has taken past students to BBC East to learn how to make TV ads. Or if you're interested in the legal side of business then you could study practical law for management. If you’re interested in the creative aspect of business, you may choose to study creativity, employability and personal development. And there is the opportunity to develop your awareness of the ethical dimension of decision-making through a study of business ethics.
Compulsory Modules
Optional A Modules
(Credits: 40)Optional B Modules
(Credits: 20)Optional C Modules
(Credits: 20)Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
As you progress into your second year, you have the opportunity to specialise more in areas that interest you and support your future career development. Optional modules range from languages to specific applications of the topics seen in Year One, such as the study of economic theories in the context of business development, project management, digital marketing, operations management, law, and strategy.
Assessment
Assessments will vary depending on the options modules chosen but will include assessments that provide opportunities to develop authentic (real-world) learning through group presentations, course tests, exams and the writing of business-related reports, encouraging you to analyse and resolve current issues and challenges.
Structure
You’ll spend your third year studying abroad at one of our numerous partner universities. Your learning outcomes will differ depending on where you study, but you can expect to return to UEA with a greater understanding of how business is conducted and how management functions in a global context.
Compulsory Modules
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
On your third year, you’ll be taught at your host university. This will give you the opportunity to come into contact with different approaches to and understandings of managerial issues.
Assessment
In your third year, you’ll experience assessment techniques chosen by the institution you're visiting. These could range include exams, presentations, essays, reports, and other traditional and creative methods of assessment.
Structure
In your fourth year, you’ll develop your understanding of strategic management. You’ll also complete a final year project, which can take the form of a dissertation or a work-based project.
For the rest of your final year, you’ll have the flexibility to build a degree that suits you. For example, if you’re interested in starting your own business you could learn about entrepreneurship and small businesses, or if you’re interested in consultancy, either working for a consultancy firm or learning the skills of how to be an effective internal consultant, you could study management consultancy. The annual Norwich Business School Modules Fair will help you choose the right options for you. Some third-year options are only available if you’ve taken specific second year modules, but we can advise you on this.
Compulsory Modules
Optional A Modules
(Credits: 20)Optional B Modules
(Min Credits: 20, Max Credits: 60)Optional C Modules
(Min Credits: 0, Max Credits: 40)Optional D Modules
(Min Credits: 0, Max Credits: 20)Optional G Modules
(Min Credits: 0, Max Credits: 20)Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
With only one compulsory module in Year Four, you’ll have a lot of flexibility to shape and mold your subject choices to your academic strengths and job-role aspirations. This final year is mostly dedicated to strategic thinking, so the optional modules will include detailed discussion on organisational development, critical issues in information systems, and markets forming. Most of the optional modules from Year Two are available in Year Four, so you can develop your own pathway on any topic, and keep studying languages to enhance your employability even more.
Assessment
Assessment methods are designed to build on the skills, knowledge and experience you’ve developed across the previous three years. To that end, your assessment might culminate in the opportunity to engage in a research-based dissertation or practically orientated project-based option. Alternatively, you can choose to take five option modules of your choice, without the dissertation or final project. Usual assessment methods on these options modules will include written reports and oral presentations designed to enhance your skills in critical analysis, innovation and creativity.
Entry Requirements
- This course is open to
UK and International fee-paying students. Choose UK or International above to see relevant information. The entry point is in September each year.
We welcome and value a wide range of qualifications, and we recognise that some students might take a mixture of different qualifications. We have listed typical examples that we accept for entry.
You should hold or be working towards the specified English and Mathematics requirements and one of the examples of typical entry qualifications listed below. If your qualifications aren’t listed, or if you are taking a combination of qualifications that isn’t specified, please contact Admissions.
- English and Mathematics
All applicants must hold or be working towards GCSEs in English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4 or grade C.
We accept a wide range of English Language qualifications, please see our English Language equivalencies page.
- Contextual Offers
UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes.
- Typical UK Entry Requirements
A levels
ABB
Contextual offer: BBC
General Studies A Level is not accepted.
BTEC
Level 3 Extended Diploma: DDM
Contextual offer: DMM
Combinations of BTEC and A levels
Extended Diploma: DDM
Diploma: DD plus B at A level.
Contextual Offer: DD plus C at A level.
Extended Certificate: D plus BB at A level.
Contextual Offer: D plus BC at A level.
BTEC in Public Services, Uniformed Services and Business Administration are all excluded from our BTEC offers.
Access to HE Diploma
Pass Access to HE Diploma with Distinction in 30 credits at Level 3 and Merit in 15 credits at Level 3
T levels
Obtain an overall Pass including a B in the core of the T Level and a Distinction in the Occupational Specialism.
Acceptable subjects: Digital Business Services, Digital Support Services, Science, Accounting, Finance, Legal Services and Management and Administration.
LIBF Diploma
LIBF Diploma is accepted as equivalent of 1 A Level.
- Further Examples of Typical Entry Requirements
International Baccalaureate
32 points overall
Irish Leaving Certificate
3 subjects at H2, 3 subjects at H3
Scottish Highers
AAABB
Scottish Advanced Highers
BCC A combination of Advanced Highers and Highers may be acceptable
- Deferred Entry
We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year. We believe that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. You are advised to indicate your reason for wishing to defer entry on your UCAS application.
- Admissions Policy
Our Admissions Policy applies to the admissions of all undergraduate applicants.
- This course is open to
UK and International fee-paying students. Choose UK or International above to see relevant information. The entry point is in September each year.
We welcome and value a wide range of qualifications, and we recognise that some students might take a mixture of different qualifications. We have listed typical examples that we accept for entry.
You should hold or be working towards the specified English and Mathematics requirements and one of the examples of typical entry qualifications listed below. If your qualifications aren’t listed, or if you are taking a combination of qualifications that isn’t specified, please contact Admissions.
- English and Mathematics
All applicants must hold or be working towards GCSEs in English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4 or grade C.
We accept a wide range of English Language qualifications, please see our English Language equivalencies page.
- Typical International Entry Requirements
We accept many international qualifications for entry to this course. For specific details about your country, view our information for International Students.
A levels
ABB
General Studies A Level is not accepted.BTEC
Level 3 Extended Diploma: DDM
Combinations of BTEC and A levels
Extended Diploma: DDM
Diploma: DD plus B at A level.
Extended Certificate: D plus BB at A level.
BTEC in Public Services, Uniformed Services and Business Administration are all excluded from our BTEC offers
International Baccalaureate
32 points overall
- INTO UEA
If you do not meet the academic and/or English language requirements for direct entry our partner, INTO UEA offers progression on to this undergraduate degree upon successful completion of a preparation programme. Depending on your interests, and your qualifications you can take a variety of routes to this degree.
- English Foreign Language
Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):
-
IELTS: 6.0 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components)
We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review our English Language Equivalencies for a list of example qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.
Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.
If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study.
-
- Deferred Entry
We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year. We believe that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. You are advised to indicate your reason for wishing to defer entry on your UCAS application.
- Admissions Policy
Our Admissions Policy applies to the admissions of all undergraduate applicants.
Fees and Funding
Tuition Fees
View our information for Tuition Fees.
Scholarships and Bursaries
We are committed to ensuring that costs do not act as a barrier to those aspiring to come to a world leading university and have developed a funding package to reward those with excellent qualifications and assist those from lower income backgrounds. View our range of Scholarships for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates.
Course Related Costs
Please see Additional Course Fees for details of course-related costs.
How to Apply
UCAS Hub is a secure online application system that allows you to apply for full-time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges in the United Kingdom.
Your application does not have to be completed all at once. Register or sign in to UCAS to get started.
Once you submit your completed application, UCAS will process it and send it to your chosen universities and colleges.
The Institution code for the University of East Anglia is E14.
View our guide to applying through UCAS for useful tips, key dates and further information:
Employability
After the Course
Norwich Business School is where great business careers begin. Our degrees have a track record of leading to successful careers in management.
Whether you want to excel within a large organisation or bring big ideas to a small business, your business management degree at UEA will provide you with both hard and soft skills that are required for a successful career in any number of management roles. Your international skills and contacts will also expand your opportunities to work internationally.
You could work in any industry, from manufacturing, to retail, to the service industries, media, arts, entertainment, sport and more. You might work at multinational and major companies such as Sky, Unilever, Manchester United and British Airways, or bring your drive and know-how to a promising small business or start-up. All businesses need the skills you’ll develop here, so the list is endless.
Careers
Examples of careers that you could enter include:
- HR manager
- Operations manager
- Supply chain manager
- Marketing manager
- Entrepreneur
Discover more on our Careers webpages.