International Year One - Business

International Year One - Business

9 months

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Overview

The  International Year One – Business is a degree preparation programme for international students who want to study on one of the many Northumbria University undergraduate business degrees, but don’t quite have the right entry qualifications to gain direct entry into year one.

The programme is the equivalent of the first year of these undergraduate degrees and on successful completion of the International Year One, you will join directly into year two of your chosen programme of study. By choosing an International Year One you will still be able to complete your degree in three years.

Key facts

  • Develop your cultural awareness of studying in the UK as you integrate into student life
  • Equivalent to the first year of an undergraduate degree, upon successful completion, you will progress onto the second year of your chosen degree
  • You will develop the required business knowledge and skills equivalent to those studying the comparative 1st-year undergraduate degree on modules alongside enhanced academic skills
  • Progress onto a select amount of exciting undergraduate degrees at Northumbria University’s AACSB accredited Newcastle Business School – the first in Europe to gain the double accreditation
  • Benefit from continual assessment via portfolios throughout the year, supporting your gradual assimilation to learning at Northumbria

 

About this course

What will I study?

The programme has been designed especially for international students transferring to a UK university. You will study a combination of subject-specific business modules alongside an academic business skills module which will focus on teaching you the English language, study skills, employability and academic skills necessary to successfully pass the programme.

You will develop your ability to read and critically engage with a wide range of texts including journals and business magazines, whilst you build your capability to produce a variety of written and verbal critical responses.

Through investigating the theory and practice underpinning core business functions such as organisational management, supply chain and operations management, marketing and finance, you will understand the essential business knowledge and be ready to integrate into the second year of undergraduate study.

Alongside these business essential modules, you will study a range of contemporary business subjects, such as business analysis tools and techniques and understanding human resource management through the lens of ‘work psychology’, these industry-relevant topics will take your business knowledge to the next level.

Study plan

IELTS Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-Jun July-Aug Sept
5.5 / 5.5 International Year One – Business

 

Summer break Start year 2 of your undergraduate degree at Northumbria University
  International Year One – Business

How will I be taught and assessed?

We have a deep understanding of how international students learn and we have found that the combination of increased tutor interaction, consistent assessment and academic and English support leads to success. That is why, to support learning and assimilation into university life, the number of lecture and seminar hours are higher than on a standard undergraduate first year. This increased time in the classroom is to support your learning and the development of skills that most UK students already have.

Contact hours

  • 20 hours per week in seminars, lectures, tutorials and workshops.
  • study all your modules over three terms – giving you time to gradually build your skills and understanding of key concepts.

Self-study hours

  • 20 hours per week on independent study through self-directed learning making use of the University’s electronic learning portal Blackboard.
  • Scheduled independent learning week, where directed by your module tutor, you will work through study on your own research to broaden your academic knowledge and study for assessment.

Assessment

  • Coursework and exams – including portfolios, essays, reports, reflection, poster presentation and group work.
  • Build up a portfolio of work throughout your whole module and receive feedback from your tutor as to how you are progressing helping you to improve each step of the way.
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Academic requirements

  • Good High School Grades, or equivalent

We also accept the following:

  • China: Senior Middle 2 with a minimum average of 80% and Senior Middle school 3 with an average of 70% or higher
  • India: Standard XI 65% standard XII 55%
  • Nigeria: WAEC/SSCE with a minimum grade average of C(6)

For country-specific entry requirements, please check our Entry Requirements. Alternatively, please contact our team who will be able to help you.

English language requirements

  • 5.5 with no single subscore below 5.5, or equivalent, from a UKVI Approved Centre

Please note that if your qualifications are not in English, we might need certified translations in order to proceed with your application.

Age requirements

  • You must be over 17 years old

If you are under 18 at the start of International Year One you will need to include with your application a signed consent form by your parent or legal guardian. You can find a copy of this on our How to Apply page.

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All modules are core and worth 20 credits unless specified. You will study one of the optional modules, which is dependent on your progression degree.

Introducing Marketing will lead you through basic principles and strategies used by marketers to research, design, produce, distribute, sell and manage products and services to satisfy a variety of target markets.

You’ll also be introduced to the types of career paths that marketing opens up. Employment opportunities in this fast-paced industry are wide-ranging and suit a variety of personality types and skills sets, including both introverts and extroverts. You will develop your knowledge and ability to apply principles of marketing to different types of organisations using a variety of marketing tools. Finally, you will build employability skills around teamwork, presentation delivery, research and the use of IT.

This module will allow you to explore how business interacts with society and the economy. You will look at the driving forces that are changing these relationships.

You’ll gain a theoretical and practical understanding of a broad range of global business issues through informative lectures and practical tutor-led workshops. Your tutors will introduce and create a research-rich learning experience. You’ll be assessed on your understanding of the subject and ability to critically analyse and reflect on some of the most pressing issues in business and society. Wherever possible, this will simulate ‘real-world’ scenarios and you’ll work on a series of tasks during the semester to prepare for the final assessment.

The module aims to develop you with the financial knowledge and numerical and problem-solving skills to support informed and effective business decisions.  You will be able to evaluate individual projects by using investment appraisal techniques, accounting for risk and uncertainty alongside, developing competencies to enhance your ability to make accurate decisions in relation to planning and control for a business as a whole. You will also be able to assess the performance of businesses in regards to their profitability, solvency, financial structure and working capital management by means of analysing and interpreting their financial statements and importantly

Through the interpretation of accounts, you will learn how to calculate key measures such as profitability, liquidity, and activity to assess business performance and most importantly translate these indicators into meaningful information for key stakeholders.   These skills are highly valued by employers are they demonstrate the ability to apply financial information to the real-world problems faced by businesses.

As a business graduate, this module will allow you the ability to enter employment with an appropriate level of analytical understanding and proficiency in everyday business software such as Excel spreadsheets. This module provides these essential business skills giving you a theoretical and applied understanding of various statistical and modelling applications supported through practical IT exercises.

You will work on a number of key techniques linked to which are IT practicals, supporting work for practice and specific items relating to your assessment. You will undertake various assessment tasks including the creation of a portfolio of preparatory work leading to a short answer examination that places emphasis on your findings and problem interpretation.

These analytical, practical IT and interpretative skills are directly transferable to your working life, through part-time employment or a full-time graduate role. Your additional experiences within the module centre on support reading giving you additional awareness of the broad applicability of the module content across the wider business and management subject area.

This module will enable you to do two things: firstly to perform better across the range of modules in the International Year One; and secondly to develop a range of key academic skills for success.

The module will develop your ability to read and critically evaluate a wide range of texts including journals, business magazines, data sets and online information. It will then equip you with the ability to produce different types of written and oral responses such as reports, short-paragraph responses, presentations, visual representations (i.e. graphs and charts) or posters. You will develop critical responses to what you read and then use this to create ideas, recommendations and responses based on evidence.

The module will prepare you for the academic skills required to put all of the above into practice both within the module and across the whole International Year One programme.

Entrepreneurs are crucial for business and economic success. However, there are widely different academic approaches to understanding them, their behaviour and the factors that help them thrive. This module introduces you to entrepreneurship through the key principles, examples and theories in the field, and includes looking at local businesses as well as global success stories.

The module also helps you understand, analyse and explain start-up businesses – their founders, as well as their economic and social impact
– and how governments respond to innovation and enterprise. On the way, you’ll meet some fascinating people with brilliant ideas, as well as learn how they’ve overcome various challenges.

This module introduces you to the foundation links and relationships between an organisation, its management and its people. Employers seek out graduates with the knowledge and skills to transform organisations in the face of continuous and rapid economic, environmental and social change. This module will therefore support you to develop an understanding of how a heightened awareness of people’s workplace behaviour, actions and attitudes enhances organisational sustainability and team performance. Such understanding is fundamental for your successful graduate career.

Taking a research-rich approach, you’ll be introduced to a range of concepts, theories, models and research evidence. You’ll then apply them in a
practical, discipline-specific context using case studies, reflecting on personal understanding and experience plus real organisation examples.

This module will not be available for January 2023

Study and Consultancy Skills for Marketing will build on your knowledge of marketing theory and how to use it to come up with viable solutions to real marketing problems. It’s a practical module that involves working on simulated business projects in teams, designed to not only develop your teamwork and interpersonal skills but also your analytical skills and commercial awareness.

You’ll be encouraged to learn through a process of enquiry using digital information and technology. You will engage in opportunities to develop your independent thinking, apply discipline knowledge to complex problems/opportunities, communicate (present and report) and collaborate to create new knowledge and understanding of contemporary issues within your discipline area. Your academic tutor will monitor your progress by ensuring all students are involved and will encourage you to share your ideas and to comment constructively on those of others.

This module is conceived as a travel guide to the increasingly complex and ever exciting world of tourism. Like any guidebook, it seeks to stimulate the imagination, point out noteworthy areas of interest and facilitate the learning experience.

The module addresses three basic questions. First, it asks how we can understand tourism and events both as economic and cultural practices. The second question is concerned with the extent of the tourism and events sector in the twenty-first century as well as its impacts on and influences on the wider community. The final question addresses the different components that constitute the tourism and events complexes including, subjectivities, spaces and business.

This is an eclectic module that includes perspectives from different disciplines. This eclecticism serves to emphasise the multiple connections and dimensions of tourism and events.  With this module, you will develop critical, practical, academic study and information literacy skills to enable the full achievement of learning outcomes at the module and programme levels.

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The course information displayed on this page is correct for the academic year 2023/24. We aim to run the course as advertised however, changes may be necessary due to updates to the curriculum (due to academic or industry developments), student demand or UK compliance reasons.

Tuition fee 2024/25

  • £16,750

Please note that your tuition fees do not include the cost of course books that you may choose to purchase, stationery, printing and photocopying, accommodation, living expenses, travel or any other extracurricular activities. As a Northumbria University Pathway student, you will have full access to our online digital library with over 400,000 e-books and 50,000 electronic journals.

You may wish to purchase personal copies of certain texts, in which case you should budget for approximately £50 to purchase the essential reading and up to £100 for the recommended reading.

Scholarships and bursaries for international students

Depending on the country you are from, you may be eligible for a country bursary and/or scholarship when studying this programme.

All of our scholarships and bursaries are automatically applied when we process your application and one of our team will be able to confirm your eligibility.

Scholarships and bursaries

How to find out more

Enquire now to find out more information about the International Year One, studying with us, the application process, and to have any other questions you have.

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How to apply

When you are ready you can apply online to study the International Year One – Business. Applying online allows you to upload all of your supporting documents and you will automatically receive your student application number.

January October
Apply for January 2024 Apply for October 2024

 

Information for disabled applicants

At Northumbria, we welcome applications from disabled students and are committed to ensuring an equal and accessible application journey. Your application will be considered on an equal basis to all other applications. Please contact us if you require any assistance. This website is continually optimised to adhere to accessibility best practice guidelines; tools to assist users with specific accessibility requirements have also been provided. More information is available in our accessibility statement.

We strongly recommend that you submit your application as early as possible to allow you to complete all of the preparations needed to study your programme. After receiving your offer it can take time to arrange your finances and apply for your visa (if required) and it is important that you arrive in good time to enrol on your course. Please refer to the Dates and Fees page.

You can check more information on how to apply here, including guidelines for the application forms.

Course information

Level of study:
International Year One
Fee:
International Fee:
£16,750 (24/25)
Leads to:
Undergraduate degrees in Business (starting in the second year)
Entry requirements:
Good High School Grades, or equivalent
IELTS requirements:
IELTS 5.5 with no element less than 5.5, or equivalent, from a UKVI Approved centre
Duration:
9 months
Class hours per week:
20
Assessment methods:
Coursework and exams
Scholarship or bursaries:
Available
Payment plan:
Not available
Starts:
January, October
testimonial image
testimonial image

“The lecturers are really friendly and explain things thoroughly. If I do not fully understand things, they will explain things clearly until they are confident that I know all the information I need to complete my assignments.”

Adebayo Abdulganiyu Mustapha
International Foundation Programme

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