Overview
This is coupled with a fully integrated understanding of the theory and practice of management in different organisations.
You will develop a broad educational base suitable for a business leader of the future, as demonstrated by the range of accreditation we receive from a number of professional bodies. This includes the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
Key facts
- One of the UK's leading centres for management education, part of an elite group of global EQUIS accredited business schools
- Development and employability programmes that bring you closer to top employers, including Deloitte, HSBC, PwC and Unilever
- Opportunities to study abroad at the University's campuses in China or Malaysia or in locations such as Australia, China and Europe
- Nottingham University Business School is recognised as an ICAEW Partner in Learning
Entry requirements
A levels: AAB excluding general studies, critical thinking and citizenship studies
GCSEs: GCSE maths, 6 (B) or above, and English, 5 (B) or above
English language requirements
IELTS: 7.0 (no less than 6.0 in any element)
For details of other English language tests and qualifications we accept, please see our entry requirements page.
If you require additional support to take your language skills to the required level, you may be able to attend a presessional course at the Centre for English Language Education, which is accredited by the British Council for the teaching of English in the UK.
Students who successfully complete the presessional course to the required level can progress onto their chosen degree course without retaking IELTS or equivalent.
International applicants
For country-specific information including entry requirements, contact details and representatives, see our website. If you need a visa to study, the University can provide all the information and advice you need.
Mature students
At the University of Nottingham we have a valuable community of mature students and we appreciate their contribution to the wider student population. You can find lots of useful information in our guide for mature students.
Alternative qualifications
Our admission process recognises that applicants have a wealth of different experiences and may have followed various educational pathways. Please view the alternative qualifications page for details.
Flexible admissions policy
In recognition of our applicants’ varied experience and educational pathways, the University of Nottingham employs a flexible admissions policy. We may make some applicants an offer lower than advertised, depending on their personal and educational circumstances. Please see the University’s admissions policies and procedures for more information.
Notes for applicants
The school does not normally interview candidates; our offers are made on the basis of the information contained in your UCAS application. We welcome applications from mature candidates and consider academic and professional backgrounds on an individual basis. We also consider other qualifications in addition to those listed above.
Please note we do not accept entry, or transfer from another university, into year two or above on any of our undergraduate degrees.
Additional information
Accreditation
Nottingham University Business School is recognised as an Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Partner in Learning, working with ICAEW in the professional development of students.
This course is accredited by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) has awarded University Partnership status to Nottingham University Business School. On this course, you will be registered as a CIMA student as part of your degree, gaining valuable workplace experience, access to a wide variety of learning resources, and certain exemptions from CIMA exams.
This course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
Study abroad
On this course, you can apply to spend all or part of your second year studying abroad at the University's campuses in China or Malaysia, or to take a semester at one of our partner institutions in locations such as Australia, China and Europe.
You will get the opportunity to broaden your horizons and enhance your employability by experiencing another culture. You can choose to study similar modules to your counterparts back in Nottingham or expand your knowledge by taking other options.
Teaching is typically in English; however, there may be opportunities to study in another language if you are sufficiently fluent.
"I was able to study abroad without interrupting my degree and spent time in Malaysia: going on holidays most weekends, living in a village community, and working in Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur. I have everlasting memories from the absolute best months of my entire life and am now far more employable. In fact, most of my job interviews have focused on my experiences in Malaysia!" - James Day, BSc Finance, Accounting and Management
Year in industry
This course is also available as a four-year programme, including a placement year. If you apply for this route, you will have the option to spend your third year on placement with a relevant organisation.
Year one
In your first year, you will be introduced to the underlying core management disciplines of economics, organisational behaviour, and accounting and finance. You will also take core modules in business computing, law, and quantitative methods.
Overall, the first year equips you with a rational-economic, organisational and accounting/financial perspective of management and organisations.
Core modules
Business Finance
This module provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of finance and will help you:
- understand that there is a relationship between the risk of an investment and the expected returns
- understand the concept of the time value of money and be able to calculate the present value of a single and multiple future cash flows
- be able to apply NPV to project appraisal in realistic situations
- understand the fundamental ideas or portfolio theory and be able to apply the CAPM
- to be able to estimate cost of capital for equity (CAPM and dividend growth model) and bonds (market value and IRR)
Business Law
This module will cover:
- UK legal framework
- impact of EU legislation
- law of contract - essential elements, performance and remedies
- business and the law of tort
- employment law
- law in a local and global context
- agency
- legal personality; sole traders; partnerships and limited companies
- purpose and legal status of memorandum and articles
- management and the administration of a company
- insolvency
Computers in Business
This module will introduce the use of computers and IT in business today - and in particular spreadsheet modelling - via a lab based assessment and a case study group report and presentation.
Economic Principles
This module introduces you to the microeconomic theory of the market, firm and consumer and to the nature and scope of the macroeconomic policy agenda, developing the analytical frameworks necessary for the evaluation of policy instruments. The module enables you to understand the economic arguments that underlie different views and to evaluate relevant arguments.
Topics include: market demand, supply and equilibrium; firm production and costs; market structure (perfect competition, oligopoly, monopoly); consumer theory; market failure; asymmetric information; externalities; aggregate demand; money and interest rates; aggregate supply; unemployment and inflation; balance of payments and exchange rates.
This module provides you with the opportunity to apply for CIMA accreditation in the CIMA paper: Fundamentals of Business Economics. It also provides you with the foundations to build upon in quantitative and econometric modules which provides you with the opportunity to apply for additional CIMA accreditation.
Fundamentals of Financial and Management Accounting
This module covers:
- key accounting concepts
- the impact of accounting policy selection
- the recording and collating of accounting information, including double entry bookkeeping
- preparation of financial statement from accounting data
- cost concepts and allocation of manufacturing overheads
- absorption and variable costing
- cost-volume-profit analysis
- relevant costing
- budgeting
Organisational Behaviour
This module will introduce you to the basic ideas of organisational behaviour. The content will encourage you to develop an understanding of managing and developing people within business organisations.
The module will draw its primary material from the major theorists and theories of both organisational psychology and organisational behaviour. The module will also develop links with other aspects of the business school curriculum such as general management and international business.
Professional and Academic Development
This module covers:
- rules and regulations of studying at University, organisational skills and time management, and how to approach reflective work and skills analysis
- essay writing, referencing and plagiarism, taking minutes and agendas
- team working, listening skills, values, personal attributes, networking, cultural awareness
- problem solving, critical thinking and decision making, SDGs and project - social enterprises
- study abroad, careers insight days, CVs and applications
- communication - personal brand, self-awareness values
- project management
- interviews and assessment days - careers and some external companies, commercial awareness
- presentation skills
- ethics in business and technology in relation to future careers
Quantitative Methods 1B
This module covers:
- economic application of calculus
- confidence intervals
- introduction to hypothesis testing
- partial differentiation
- optimisation of two variables
- probability
- random variables
- sampling distributions
Optional modules
One from:
Managing Operations in the Digital Economy
This module provides an integrated overview of operations management and information systems, covering the following:
- Key technology trends: Web 2.0, cloud, mobile computing
- Manufacturing systems design and management (process choice, layout, location)
- Service operations design and management
- Balancing capacity and demand
- Information systems analysis and design
- Operations planning and control, including inventory management
- Operations excellence, lean thinking and business process re-engineering
- Supply chain design and management
- Customer relationship management
- Knowledge management
- Business intelligence and analytics
Origins and Development of the UK Economy
The module provides an opportunity for you to learn how the modern UK economy, whose fortunes they study in other modules, has evolved over the last 300 years.
Starting with the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th century, we will look at how Britain became the 'Workshop of the World' in the mid-19th century, at how relative decline later set in and at the economic impact of the two World Wars. We will end by considering the economy since 1945, including the 'Golden Age' of the 1950s and 1960s, the oil crisis of 1973, the 'Big Bang' in 1986 and the financial crash of 2008.
Throughout, the emphasis will be on how individual businesses have evolved, the opportunities and problems they have faced and how lessons from the past can help in understanding business today and tomorrow.
Quantitative Methods 1A
This module introduces you to:
- numbers
- algebra
- functions
- equations
- exponents
- logarithms
- descriptive statistics
- differentiation
- optimisation
- integration
Tourism Futures: The Challenge of Sustainability
This module will survey the international tourism industry in the 21st century. Starting with lectures on the history and sociology of tourism and its broader cultural significance, it will analyse trends in tour operation management, sustainable transport practice, niche markets like eco-tourism, and investigate and evaluate the various social, cultural and environmental impacts which the tourist industry has on destinations.
Work and Society
The module explores the nature of work and society. The module will look at the development of our understanding of work and society. The development of the industrial and the post-industrial society will be explored and its impact on the nature of work, organisation and management.
There will be a historical and critical review of the schools of thought and key writers. Examples of research into individual and group experiences of work, organisation and management will be discussed.
The above is a sample of the typical modules that we offer at the date of publication but is not intended to be construed and/or relied upon as a definitive list of the modules that will be available in any given year. This prospectus may be updated over the duration of the course, as modules may change due to developments in the curriculum or in the research interests of staff.
Year two
The second year of the course allows you to develop specialist knowledge in finance, accounting and management by building on your first-year studies. Specifically, your second year will include core modules in corporate finance and reporting, management accounting and information systems, and management strategy, as well as quantitative methods and econometrics.
The second year also provides an opportunity to develop your particular interests through optional modules within or outside the Business School.
Core modules
Accounting Information Systems
This module looks at the use of accounting information systems in financial and management accounting and their control and audit. You'll cover topics such as:
- introduction to systems
- business processes
- budgeting and decision support systems
- internal control and audit
- computer crime and external audit
- enterprise resource planning systems
Corporate Finance
This module concentrates on the major investment and financing decisions made by managers within a firm.
Intermediate Corporate Reporting
The module addresses the application of financial reporting principles in preparing financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards for a range of transactions and economic events. This module also develops your understanding of the role of external audit, and audit theory and practice.
Introductory Econometrics
This module will provide an introduction to the theory and practice of quantitative economic modelling at a basic level. The theoretical framework will be developed around the classical regression model and its extensions, with theoretical understanding being supplemented with computer-based practical examples of modelling and data analysis.
Management Accounting
This module will introduce the following topics:
- Activity based costing
- Process costing
- Transfer pricing
- The changing role of the management accountant
- Curvilinear cost functions (for example, the learning curve)
- Pricing decisions and strategies
- The range of alternative approaches to performance measurement and their respective merits/problems
Management Strategy
This module provides you with a theoretical and applied overview of strategic management in today's operational environment. It introduces and analyses the key concepts, frameworks and techniques of strategic management, which allow them to diagnose complex situations related to real-world business development.
Quantitative Methods 2A
In this module you'll study further maths and statistics including topics such as linear algebra, constrained optimisation, difference equations and hypothesis testing.
Optional modules
Plus 20 credits of approved optional modules.
The above is a sample of the typical modules that we offer at the date of publication but is not intended to be construed and/or relied upon as a definitive list of the modules that will be available in any given year. This prospectus may be updated over the duration of the course, as modules may change due to developments in the curriculum or in the research interests of staff.
Year three
In your final year, you will study four core areas in depth: corporate reporting and analysis, management accounting, business ethics and sustainability, and financial markets.
There are also more opportunities for you to tailor the course to your interests and career aspirations through optional modules.
Core modules
Advanced Corporate Reporting and Analysis
This module covers advanced financial reporting topics including:
- accounting conceptual framework
- accounting measurement and recognition issues
- special topics
Advanced Management Accounting
Business Ethics and Sustainability
Financial Markets: Theory and Computation
This module examines the workings of the major financial markets. Markets for equity and debt are dealt with (money and foreign exchange markets are also the focus) as are markets for derivative instruments. The module covers the key theoretical models of modern finance, key market conventions and mechanisms, financial risk management with derivative instruments.
Optional modules
Plus 40 credits of approved optional modules.
The above is a sample of the typical modules that we offer at the date of publication but is not intended to be construed and/or relied upon as a definitive list of the modules that will be available in any given year. This prospectus may be updated over the duration of the course, as modules may change due to developments in the curriculum or in the research interests of staff.
Careers
Graduates from the Business School are highly sought after in the job market, gaining employment in accountancy, banking and other financial services, while many others develop careers in management consultancy, marketing and human resource management.
Recent graduate employers include Accenture, Amazon, Apple, Barclays, British Army, Deloitte, EY, HMRC, HSBC, KPMG, Lloyds Banking Group, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley, PwC, RBS, Saatchi & Saatchi, Samsung, Santander, and Standard Chartered Bank.
The Business School's careers and recruitment service provides targeted and bespoke support to help steer you onto a career path of your choice. You will have opportunities to network with top employers throughout your degree, with many of these companies choosing to sponsor prizes for the highest-performing students in different years of study or particular subjects.
Professional accreditation
Nottingham University Business School is recognised as an ICAEW Partner in Learning, working with ICAEW in the professional development of students.
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) has awarded University Partnership status to Nottingham University Business School. On this course, you will be registered as a CIMA student as part of your degree, gaining valuable workplace experience, access to a wide variety of learning resources, and certain exemptions from CIMA exams.
Graduates from this course will also obtain exemptions from a number of professional examination papers set by the:
Average starting salary and career progression
98.7% of undergraduates from the Business School who were available for employment had secured work or further study within six months of graduation. The average starting salary was £24,000 with the highest being £42,000.*
* Known destinations of full-time home undergraduates who were available for work 2016/17. Salaries are calculated based on the median of those in full-time paid employment within the UK.
Careers support and advice
Studying for a degree at the University of Nottingham will provide you with the type of skills and experiences that will prove invaluable in any career, whichever direction you decide to take.
Throughout your time with us, our Careers and Employability Service can work with you to improve your employability skills even further; assisting with job or course applications, searching for appropriate work experience placements and hosting events to bring you closer to a wide range of prospective employers.
Have a look at our careers page for an overview of all the employability support and opportunities that we provide to current students.
The University of Nottingham is consistently named as one of the most targeted universities by Britain’s leading graduate employers (Ranked in the top ten in The Graduate Market in 2013-2019, High Fliers Research).
Fees and funding
Additional costs
As a student on this course, you should factor some additional costs into your budget, alongside your tuition fees and living expenses.
You should be able to access most of the books you’ll need through our libraries, though you may wish to purchase your own copies of more specific titles which could cost up to £600. The library will hold only a limited number of copies or core texts and these are in high demand during term and revision periods, so purchasing your own copy is advisable.
Please note that these figures are approximate and subject to change.
Scholarships and bursaries
The University of Nottingham offers a wide range of bursaries and scholarships. These funds can provide you with an additional source of non-repayable financial help. For up to date information regarding tuition fees, visit our fees and finance pages.
Home students*
Over one third of our UK students receive our means-tested core bursary, worth up to £2,000 a year. Full details can be found on our financial support pages.
* A 'home' student is one who meets certain UK residence criteria. These are the same criteria as apply to eligibility for home funding from Student Finance.
International/EU students
Our International Baccalaureate Diploma Excellence Scholarship is available for select students paying overseas fees who achieve 38 points or above in the International Baccalaureate Diploma. We also offer a range of High Achiever Prizes for students from selected countries, schools and colleges to help with the cost of tuition fees. Find out more about scholarships, fees and finance for international students.
Related courses
Disclaimer
This online prospectus has been drafted in advance of the academic year to which it applies. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate at the time of publishing, but changes (for example to course content) are likely to occur given the interval between publishing and commencement of the course. It is therefore very important to check this website for any updates before you apply for the course where there has been an interval between you reading this website and applying.