Entrepreneurship and Business
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**
Explore business and entrepreneurship in one of the UK’s most entrepreneurial cities as you discover core business topics and access University startup support.
If you already have a new business idea, we’ll help you develop it with practical business modules and direct support from our dedicated start-up team. If not, this course will give you the skills you need to support and grow the businesses you work for.
Organisations of all sizes need passionate people with an entrepreneurial mindset to foster creativity and manage innovation every day. That’s why many of our graduates go on to apply their skills in managing innovation, new products and business growth for existing organisations.
You’ll develop a strong foundation of knowledge in key areas of business such as marketing, managing people, and operations management. You’ll learn to spot opportunities, develop your entrepreneurial skills, and explore how to create value by developing new products, as well as learning the processes you need to bring them to market.
If you choose to do an industry placement after your second or third year, you could complete a paid placement with an existing organisation or undertake a self employed placement year and develop your own business with support from our Placement Club and startup support.
Whether you want to run your own company or to develop your business and management skills to excel in an existing organisation, this course gives you the knowledge, skills and experience you need to succeed.
**Course highlights**
- Experience a practical course, where you'll apply your knowledge to real-life projects, such as helping local businesses in our Business Consultancy Project, developing your own venture, or setting up a social enterprise
- Be mentored by one of our successful Entrepreneurs in Residence
- Gain an understanding of how different business models work and how these generate value in a variety of contexts
- Use your placement year to develop your own business, either independently or by working with other students to combine your strengths and knowledge, or to work in another innovative business
- Learn in one of the UK's most entrepreneurial cities – between 2019 and 2020, the number of new businesses launched in Portsmouth grew by 33% (InstantOffices survey 2020)
- Gain an understanding of how all the parts of a business work together and rely on each other
**Careers and opportunities**
100% of graduates from this course are in work or further study 15 months after graduation according to the latest HESA Graduate Outcome Study.
Several of our students set up their own business during the course, or go on to run their own business after graduation. Many others, however, go on to apply their skills in existing businesses, particularly in the areas of product development and marketing.
Previous graduates of this course have secured jobs at companies such as:
- Origin Kitchen
- Cera Data
- Buckinghamshire Council
- Magnolia
- Worldwide Business Research
- The Future Factory
Graduates of this course have secured jobs within 15 months of graduation as:
- director of sales
- data consultant
- business consultant
- business intelligence and insight officer
- business development representative
- sales executive
(Data sourced from HESA Graduate Outcomes Survey)
You could also choose to continue your studies at postgraduate level.
After you leave the University, you can get help, advice and support for up to 5 years from our Careers and Employability service as you advance in your career.
Modules
Year 1
Core modules in this year include:
- Business Accounting
- Business Innovation Development Project
- Business Operations and Systems Management
- Economics for Business
- Managing People in Organisations
- Marketing Principles and Practice
- Quantitative Methods and Data Analysis
There are no optional modules in this year.
Year 2
Core modules in this year include:
- Business Analysis and Decision Making
- Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship
- Innovation Management
- Business Venturing
- Managing Product Portfolios
Optional modules in this year currently include:
- Developing Individual and Team Creativity
- Introduction to Digital Marketing
- Professional Selling
- Business and Employment Law
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 Consultancy Project
- Contemporary Issues in Product and Service Development
- Entrepreneurial Development
- Strategic Management
Optional modules in this year include:
- Business Improvement and Creativity
- Negotiation For Entrepreneurs
- Project Management For Enterprise
- Responsible And Sustainable Business
- Sales Management
- Work Based Learning (placement students only)
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.
Placement year
After your second year, you can do a paid placement year. Previous students have worked at big names like Rolls Royce and Fujitsu or set up their own businesses on their own of with others on their course.
Interested in running your own business on your placement year instead? You can start up and run your own company for a year as an alternative to a work-based placement. You'll work alone or with fellow students to build and launch a successful venture.
Assessment methods
You’ll be assessed through:
examinations
analysis of topical case studies
written reports and essays
presentations
practical artefacts such as small websites or systems
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: 55% by written exams and 45% by coursework
Year 2 students: 25% by written exams, 7% by practical exams and 68% by coursework
Year 3 students: 27% by written exams, 7% by practical exams and 66% 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)
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.
£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.
Explore these similar courses...
This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here