Business and Supply Chain Management
Entry requirements
A level
112-120 points from 3 A levels.
112-122 Tariff points from the Access to HE Diploma.
Cambridge Pre-U score of 54-56.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
5 GCSEs at grade C/4 or higher including English Language or Literature
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
29 points from the IB Diploma. 655/754 at Higher Level - 29 points from the IB Diploma. 664 at Higher Level.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
H3,H3,H3,H3,H4-H3,H3,H3,H3,H3
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
112-120 Tariff points.
T Level
UCAS Tariff
112-120 points from 3 A levels, or equivalent.
112-120 points from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate including 2 A levels, plus the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate.
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
**This is a Connected Degree**
Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.
**Overview**
Supply chain management contributes to every aspect of business, not to mention everyday life.
Recent events like Covid and Brexit have shown how important supply chains are. Ensuring the right products are in the right place at the right time — and at the right cost — is vital to life as we know it. So is ensuring those supply chains are sustainable safe for the environment.
On this degree you'll investigate risk and strategic management, logistics management, and learn how to procure goods and manage supply lines.
You'll use professional industry software, systems and tools to help you explore the ethics and sustainability of global supply chains.
With a focus on global procurement and the sourcing and purchasing of goods, you’ll graduate with more than just an understanding of logistics and the movement of goods. You’ll build your specialist knowledge and understanding of business in general so that you graduate with a set of management and specific skills that are in demand in the workplace.
You can boost your employability and apply you degree knowledge with a paid industry placement year before or after your third year. As Portsmouth is a vital supply chain hub there are great local opportunities to do a placement year with companies like IBM and Boeing, as well as other roles across the UK.
**Course highlights**
- Stand out in the employment market with your knowledge of procurement and a valued skill set
Practise your skills through our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) immersive simulation game, where you'll use real SAP reports
- Choose from specialist module options including business analytics and data modelling — skills that are in-demand in the industry
- Gain core management skills such as risk management and leadership alongside your specialist supply chain skills
- Benefit from the support of our dedicated Placement Team to help you secure a paid placement year
- Improve your global employability by spending a year abroad at a partner university in Europe, Asia, Australia or North America
- Learn from academics who have supply chain industry experience and research expertise in data driven supply chains
**Careers and opportunities**
Supply chain management is needed everywhere and there's a great shortage of supply chain skills in the UK. You could work in retail, healthcare, manufacturing, shipping and freight, charities or the public sector - the choice is yours.
Pay is good; the average salary for all UK procurement and supply chain professionals is £47,435 (CIPS Salary Guide 2021) and there are many varied routes for career progression, including working overseas.
Roles you can go on to with this degree include:
- supply chain management
- purchasing and procurement
- procurement management
- logistics analysis
- distribution management
- supply coordination
Previous graduates have gone on to work for companies such as:
- Marks and Spencer
- Apple
- Amazon
- DHL
- UPS
- Automotive (RR)
- Procter and Gamble (P&G)
Alternatively you could go on to specialist postgraduate study, or set up your own business with the help and support of the University.
Modules
**Year 1**
Core modules in this year include:
- Business Accounting
- Business Operations and Systems Management
- Economics For Business
- Managing People in Organisations
- Marketing Principles and Practice
- Introduction to Business Analytics
- Discovering the Supply Chain Professional
There are no optional modules in this year.
**Year 2**
Core modules in this year include:
- Business Logistics Management
- Leadership, Ethics, Governance and Sustainability
- Legal Issues in Procurement and Supply
- Procurement and Supply
- Risk Management and Supply Chain Vulnerability
- Exploring the Supply Chain Professional
Options to choose from in this year currently include:
- Business Analytics and Decision Modelling
- Developing Individual & Team Creativity
- Electronic and Mobile Commerce
- Financial Decision Making and Control
- International Business
- Modern Foreign Language
**Placement year (optional)**
On this course, you can do an optional work placement year between your 2nd and 3rd years to get valuable experience working in industry. We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your situation and ambitions. You’ll get mentoring and support throughout the year.
**Year 3**
Core modules in this year include:
- Business Improvement & Creativity
- Operations Strategy and the Supply Chain
- Dissertation - Operations and Systems Management
Options to choose from in this year currently include:
- Business Consultancy Project
- Critical Leadership: Theory and Practice
- Cross Cultural Awareness For Business
- Strategic and International Management
- Critical Leadership: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives
- Project Management For Enterprise
- Responsible and Sustainable Business
- Strategic Management
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.
Assessment methods
You’ll be assessed through:
essays
presentations
projects
exams
reflective work
computer-based assignments
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark. You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.
The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows:
Year 1 students: 58% by written exams and 42% by coursework
Year 2 students: 27% by written exams, 17% by practical exams and 56% by coursework
Year 3 students: 48% by written exams, 5% by practical exams and 47% by coursework
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
University of Portsmouth
Faculty of Business and Law
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction 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)
Others in technology
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.
Others in technology
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
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.
£22k
£27k
£34k
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.
Others in technology
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£19k
£22k
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.
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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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