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University of Portsmouth

UCAS Code: N123 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements

A level

B,B,B-B,B,C

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

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)

DDM-DMM

112-120 Tariff points.

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

112-120

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.

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2025

Other options

4 years | Sandwich | 2025

Subject

International business

**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**

Choose an international business degree that gives you experience living and studying abroad as you build your business knowledge and employable skills.

This degree covers vital business topics and gives you the chance to use your new knowledge as you study, including by collaborating with students overseas in our virtual exchange project.

And if you choose to study with a specific partner and complete an industrial placement year before your third year, you’ll earn two undergraduate degrees in 4 years as a dual degree.

In your first year you’ll explore business subjects such as marketing, operations and accounting, and choose where to study during your second year. Our Global Engagement Team will help you choose and prepare for your year abroad.

You’ll spend your second year studying at one of our partner universities in Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan, China, South Korea, Thailand or the USA. You’ll explore business from a non-UK viewpoint and deepen your understanding of global business. You could even divide your time away and study at two institutions in two different countries.

After your year abroad you could complete an optional paid industry placement where you’ll work with a company before your final year of study, with support from our Placement Team.

You’ll return to Portsmouth for your final year and explore business leadership with a focus on subjects like strategic management, sustainability and globalisation. You’ll choose specialisms to study in more detail, such as Equality and Diversity, or Business Improvement.

If you returned to your studies straight after your year aboard, you could take your industrial placement after your final year and work for a company for a year before you graduate.

You’ll graduate with a broad understanding of modern business, the confidence to work internationally, and the skills and experience you need to begin your career across a range of global business sectors.

**Course highlights**

- Live and study abroad in one or two countries, with all teaching in English

- Gain a second degree in international business from the University of Applied Sciences in FH Münster, or IDRAC Business School in France (details on our website)

- Get practical experience offering advice to local small businesses

- Get support for setting up your own business from our Entrepreneurs in Residence

- Learn a foreign language as part of your studies

**Careers and opportunities**
This degree will open doors to a wide variety of careers in the business world. Being able to talk about your international experience and global business learning will give you an advantage when applying to multinational companies in particular.

Previous graduates of this course have got jobs as:

- business development manager

- customer accounts manager

- marketing and sales executive

- product manager

- content curator

- merchandiser

- events coordinator

- recruitment consultant

- start-up programme manager

Graduates of this course have gone on to work for companies such as:

- Virgin Media

- IBM

- NATS (air traffic control)

- Asia Pacific Inspection

- BAE Systems

- Liquid Hub (drinks marketing)

- Morgan Stanley

- Kitchen Cut (software)

- Prospect Capital (finance)

- GSMA (worldwide mobile)

- Microsoft

(Data sourced from HESA Graduate Outcome Surveys)

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 (20 credits)
- Business Operations and Systems Management (20 credits)
- Discovering the Business Professional (20 credits)
- Global Business and Cultural Intelligence (20 credits)
- Managing People in Organisations (20 credits)
- Marketing Principles and Practice (20 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

**Year 2**

You'll spend your second year studying abroad at one of our partner universities.

**Year 3**

Core modules in this year include:

- Global Business Sustainability and Responsibility (20 credits)
- Strategic and International Management (20 credits)

Options to choose from in this year currently include:

- Business Consultancy Project (20 credits)
- Business Forecasting and Data Analysis (20 credits)
- Business Improvement & Creativity (20 credits)
- Business Intelligence (20 credits)
- Business to Business Marketing (20 credits)
- Contemporary Issues in Product and Service Development (20 credits)
- Critical Leadership: Theory and Practice (20 credits)
- Cross Cultural Awareness for Business (20 credits)
- Dissertation - Accounting, Economics and Finance (40 credits)
- Dissertation - Organisations Systems and People (40 credits)
- Dissertation - Strategy, Enterprise and Innovation (40 credits)
- Dissertation (Marketing) (40 credits)
- Financial Statement & Data Analysis (20 credits)
- International Financial Management (20 credits)
- Management & Information Systems (20 credits)
- Managing Equality & Diversity at Work (20 credits)
- Negotiation for Entrepreneurs (20 credits)
- Operations Strategy and the Supply Chain (20 credits)
- People Resourcing and Talent Management (20 credits)
- Project Management for Enterprise (20 credits)
- Public Sector Economics (20 credits)
- Transformative Marketing (20 credits)

**Placement year (optional)**

On this course, you can do an optional work placement year after your 2nd or 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.

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:

- examinations
- analysis of topical case studies
- written reports and essays
- presentations
- practical projects, such as small websites or systems

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: 17% by written exams, 8% by practical exams and 75% by coursework
- Year 3 students: 17% by written exams and 83% by coursework

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£9,250
per year
International
£17,200
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni

Course location:

University of Portsmouth

Department:

Faculty of Business and Law

Read full university profile

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.

83%
International business

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

91%
Staff make the subject interesting
89%
Staff are good at explaining things
82%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
82%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

60%
Library resources
80%
IT resources
82%
Course specific equipment and facilities
91%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

85%
UK students
15%
International students
59%
Male students
41%
Female students
70%
2:1 or above
15%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
D

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.

£23,000
med
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education
81%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

36%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
15%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
9%
Public services and other associate professionals

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

£22k

£27k

£27k

£34k

£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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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