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What makes Digital Business at the University of Worcester special?

Digital technology is transforming our workplaces, challenging organisations from all sectors to seek out graduates with the digital business know-how that is essential in all sectors. If you aspire to build a career in the areas of ecommerce, social media and digital technologies, our Digital Business course will give you the knowledge, skills and experience to prepare you for the digital revolution facing employers. This course enables you to step ahead on the route towards digital transformation to support organisational growth. You'll be supported by regular coaching, and our professional network of academic staff, business leaders and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

With the Learning & Work Institute reporting that the UK is heading toward a “catastrophic” digital skills shortage, this course will place you in an ideal position having developed your digital skills for employability. These skills will enable you to meet the needs and aspirations of organisations adopting new digital technologies with roles including Digital Business Transformation, eCommerce, Digital Content Systems, Business Data Analytics and Cybersecurity. You'll be able to demonstrate your digital business knowledge through active experience, such as applied consultancy projects, paid placements, internships, and study abroad. This active experience will demonstrate that you are a digital native, with creative, e-business-oriented skills that are valued by today’s employers. 

Overview

Overview

Key features

  • Enhance your employability through internships, consultancy projects, a one-year paid placement and integrated coaching from experienced marketing and digital business leaders
  • Grow your experience of working on digital business initiatives, including social commerce, e-business planning, the internet of things and cyber security
  • Experience international cultures and develop a global mind-set through options to work and study abroad
  • Achieve accreditation through the Chartered Management Institute
Chartered Management Institute logo

Accreditation

This course has been mapped for dual accreditation with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Upon successful completion of specific modules and your course, you will be awarded a CMI Level 5 Certificate in Management and Leadership, in addition to your degree. During your studies, you will also benefit from associate membership to the CMI (at no extra cost), inclusive of an interactive induction session hosted by the CMI, as well as access to the CMI's digital library, resources, and employability skills audit.

“Research has indicated that with a CMI Dual Accredited Degree, graduates have the key skills required by 97% of employers. CMI Dual Accreditation also offers a 7%-point employability boost 15 months after graduation, with earnings on average 8% more than non-accredited graduates”.

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Entry requirements

Entry requirements

112
UCAS tariff points

Entry requirements

112 UCAS tariff points (for example, BBC at A Level)

Applicants with no formal qualifications may be considered for Mature Student Entry Routes

T Levels may be used to meet the entry tariff requirements for this course. Find out more about T levels as UCAS tariff points here.

Other information

If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the Admissions Office on 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk for advice.

Further information about the UCAS Tariff can be obtained from http://www.ucas.com

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Course content

Course content

Our courses are informed by research and current developments in the discipline and feedback from students, external examiners and employers. Modules do therefore change periodically in the interests of keeping the course relevant and reflecting best practice. The most up-to-date information will be available to you once you have accepted a place and registered for the course. If there are insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, this might not be offered, but we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative. 

Year 1

Mandatory

  • Unlocking Individual Potential
  • Customer Insight and Marketing
  • Financial Management
  • Generation Digital

Optional

Year 2

Mandatory

  • Unlocking Organisational Potential
  • Integrated Marketing Communications
  • Digital Content Systems and Ecommerce
  • Social Commerce

Optional

  • Responsible Business 
  • Consultancy & Research Methods
  • Market Insight
  • Essential PR
  • Cultivating the Entrepreneurial Mind-set
  • Life-style Marketing
  • PR and Campaigning
  • Managing Successful Projects
  • New Venture Formation
  • Value Chain Management
  • Micro Economics
  • Creating a High Performance Workforce
  • Selling and Sales Management
  • Macro Economics
  • Developing Employee Talent

Optional Placement Year

You can choose to take a placement year and convert your degree to a 4-year sandwich degree by taking a year in industry between your second and final years.

Year 3

Mandatory

  • Digital & Social Media Marketing
  • Digital Business
  • The Next Big Thing
  • Cyber Security
  • Managing Cyber Risks

Optional

  • Research Project
  • Consultancy Project
  • Advertising & Digital Communications
  • Spin Doctors, Lobbyists and Other Influencers 
  • Strategic Challenges for HRM
  • Brand Management
  • Customer Relationship Management
  • The Dark Side of Management
  • International Marketing
  • Business Intelligence and Analysis
Teaching and assessment

Teaching and assessment

The University places emphasis on enabling you to develop the independent learning capabilities that will equip you for lifelong learning and future employment, as well as academic achievement. A mixture of independent study, teaching, academic support through integrated coaching and the personal academic tutoring system enables you to reflect on progress and build up a profile of skills, achievements and experiences that will enable you to flourish and be successful.

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, seminars, laboratory practical sessions, fieldwork, practical activities, etc. Interactive workshops take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through discussion and small group activities. Seminars enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics covered in lectures, and laboratory practical sessions are focused on developing subject specific digital skills and applied individual and group project work. As this is a ‘digital-focused’ programme, there will be particular teaching focus on delivery using digital technologies, drawn from the latest web-based platforms and digital apps.

In addition, meetings (both individual and group) with personal academic tutors are scheduled throughout the academic year. There is an opportunity to undertake a year-long placement in the third year of the course, supervised by a work-based mentor and a University tutor.

Contact time

In a typical week students will have at least 12 contact hours of timetabled teaching(including lectures and seminars/workshops) which will mostly be face-to-face, with some elements of online delivery based on pedagogic needs of each module. At Level 6,if students choose a Research or Consultancy project, they will have guided supervision time (as opposed to contact time in the format of lectures/seminars) with a Project Supervisor. 

Typically class contact time will be structured around:

  • Lectures: delivery of core concepts to a larger group of students
  • Seminars: the opportunity to engage in group discussion of module concepts, to practise group facilitation, presentation, communication and listening skills, and for application of learning within practical activities such as applying digital tools within business contexts
  • Guest lectures: Visiting speakers and opportunities to visit other settings are usually regular features of the course. 

Typically, this is a mix of either a 1-hour lecture and a 2-hour seminar, or a 1.5-hourlecture, and a 1.5-hour seminar, or 2 x 1.5 hour combined lecture/seminar. 

Independent self study

In addition to the contact time, full-time students are expected to undertake around 24 hours of personal self-study per week, plus additional preparation for assessments and examinations. Typically, this will involve meeting with individual tutors to discuss progress and feedback, completing online activities, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library and online. In addition to this, students will spend time sharing ideas with fellow students, taking part in extra-curricular learning activities, and engaging with external employers.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources as well as our network of employers and entrepreneurs.

Duration

  • 3 years full-time
  • 4-6 years part-time
  • 4 years full-time including one year placement.

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration. Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course.

The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience and business leaders and employers.

Teaching is informed by the research and consultancy work carried out by staff and you can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles. All of our teaching team either have or are currently working towards a PGCert in Education or a Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments. Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessment which is graded and counts towards the overall module grade. 

Assessment methods include reports, practical artefact portfolios, reflective portfolios, exams, and presentations.

The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the mandatory and optional modules taken, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern for each year of the course is: 

Year 1

  • 1x 4000-word Reflective Portfolio
  • 1x 2500-word Report and 15min Group Poster Presentation
  • 1x 2hr Examination
  • 1 x 2000-word report and Practical [Digital] Artefact
  • 1 x practical Artefact and Group Project (Presentation and Poster)

Year 2

  • 1 x 2000-word Reflective Portfolio and 2000 word written assignment
  • 1 x 1000- word (equiv.) Individual Presentation and 3000-word Marketing Communications Plan
  • 1 x Portfolio with E-commerce artefact and written piece
  • 1 x Portfolio with Social Commerce artefact and written piece
  • 1 x 3000-word individual report
  • 1 x 3000-word case study

Year 3

  • 1 x 1500-word Portfolio and Social Media Campaign and 2500-word report
  • 2 x Practical Portfolios (Artefacts)
  • 1 x 3000-word Report
  • 1 x 1500-word Report and 1500- word (equiv.) Presentation
  • 1 x 1500-word Report and 1500-word Risk Assessment 

Programme Specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience and business leaders and employers.

Teaching is informed by the research and consultancy work carried out by staff and you can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles. Here are a few of the current members of the department who teach on this course:

Joanne Law

Joanne Law

Joanne is a lecturer in E-Business and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has a background in both Computing and Business and has taught subjects relating to both areas, at Worcester, since 2015. Joanne has a keen interest for technology and how to provide innovative solutions for business impact. She also has an interest in how technology can enhance the learning and teaching experience. Joanne is currently researching in the field of open-source intelligence, specifically in relation to screening practices.

Rowena Simmons

Rowena Simmons

Rowena is a Lecturer in Digital Business and teaches on a variety of undergraduate modules. Her areas of expertise include digital business, digital technology, e-commerce, and international trade.

Rowena is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and holds an MBA in Executive Leadership and Management.

Before venturing into academia, Rowena distinguished herself as an entrepreneur, founding several companies, including Black & White Boutique, Franco Florenzi, and Enjiie.

Dr Helen Watts 2

Dr Helen Watts

Helen is a Principal Lecturer in Business, and teaches marketing, consumer psychology, consumer behaviour, and research methods (quantitative, qualitative, mixed), as well as supervising and examining research students at various levels (UG/PG/DBA/PhD). Helen has achieved Chartership in Occupational Psychology, and holds a PhD in Customer Membership Retention giving her professional and academic expertise in both occupational and consumer psychology.

Outside of academia, Helen has conducted numerous contract research projects with high profile membership organisations, researching membership perceptions, satisfaction and loyalty, and has worked as an associate for various consultancies helping HR managers to improve their business processes in relation to retention, selection and assessment, psychometric testing (personality, ability), talent management, learning and development, outplacement and research.


Careers

Careers

Employability

Our Digital Business Degree offers a range of benefits to kick-start your e-business career. These include:

  • Benefit from integrated career coaching throughout your course, where we will support you with preparation of your CV and interview technique
  • Gain professional body accreditation, exemptions and recognition
  • Create a portfolio of direct business experience through a one-year paid placement, internships, consultancy projects and company visits
  • Potential to develop your own business with support from the corporate development team
  • Build your own digital business network
  • Learn a foreign language and experience international cultures through opportunities to work and study abroad
Two students are walking next to each other and smiling

Careers and Employability

Our Graduates pursue exciting and diverse careers in a wide variety of employment sectors.

Find out how we can support you to achieve your potential
Costs

Fees and funding

Full-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2024/25 academic year is £9,250 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

International students

The standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2024/25 academic year is £16,200 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Part-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard tuition fees for part-time UK and EU students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the academic year 2024/25 are £1,156 per 15-credit module, £1,542 per 20-credit module, £2,312 per 30-credit module, £3,083 per 40-credit module, £3,469 per 45-credit module and £4,625 per 60 credit module.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Additional costs

Every course has day-to-day costs for basic books, stationery, printing and photocopying. The amounts vary between courses.

If you decide to take up the optional placement year accommodation and travel costs may be incurred dependent on location of placement. As placements are paid by the employer at minimum wage plus these costs can be covered by the student's wage. During this year you will pay 10% of normal academic fees to the University. You are provided with a placement tutor, and have access to the advice of the full placement team, as well as all University student support and services. You may need to pay for an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check for your placement.

There are also occasional trips which may require you to incur travel costs.

There may be a charge for membership of professional bodies

Accommodation

Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience. Our halls of residence are home to friendly student communities, making them great places to live and study.

We have over 1,000 rooms across our range of student halls. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Chestnut Halls' at £131 per week to 'Oak Halls' at £221 per week (2024/25 prices).

For full details visit our accommodation page.

How to apply