Business and Management (Entrepreneurship)

On the Entrepreneurship pathway you'll cover the key skills needed to build a successful business from scratch. You'll learn the importance of successful planning, considering all aspects of setting up a business, and explore funding options from crowdfunding to finding investors. You'll learn to pitch your ideas to maximum effect and see them come to life when you put on your own fundraising event. We'll give you the chance to work as part of a team, teaching you valuable skills in leadership, interpersonal relations and organisation.

We'll introduce you to contacts from local and regional businesses, including Bath Spa alumni who have set up their own successful enterprises, such as Cressida Bullock (Fun Science) and Ben Franks (Novel Wines). You'll develop the core skills you need to excel in all kinds of businesses, and start to build a clear picture of exactly where those skills could take you. By networking and working with real-life businesses and organisations, you'll be ready to begin your own entrepreneurial journey when you graduate.

You'll share ideas with other business and management students and peers from a range of creative courses at Bath Spa. You'll be able to bring in modules from areas outside the Entrepreneurship pathway if you want to explore issues around a particular ‘theme', such as sustainability or global affairs.

Year one
Gain a broad understanding of today’s business environment – from the context that organisations operate in through to trends in economic thinking and the importance of data in business. Modules will cover topics such as organisations and the business environment, economics and globalisation, and managing data.

Year two
Focus on the inner workings of organisations. Use business techniques to solve problems and start developing the skills that employers look for. Modules cover key themes including creativity and innovation in business. At the end of the year, you can choose to embark on a ten-month business placement or a ten-week summer placement – applying what you’ve learned so far in the real world.

Year three
Develop and explore your business learning, focusing on being enterprising and creating your own business. Undertake an in-depth business research project in entrepreneurship. You’ll also have a chance to set up a business on your own or with fellow students. Other topics to explore include: managing sustainability; organisational strategy; new trends in management; creating and hosting festivals and events, and strategic human resource management.

You'll be assessed in a wide range of ways that will test your business knowledge and management skills. These could include presentations, work related projects, group-work, computer based simulations, podcasts, examinations, essays, videos and business reports.

We offer variety in the way we teach: sometimes we’ll set you problems so that you can find the answers for yourself; sometimes we’ll lecture.

Most modules use a mix of lectures and small group seminars. There’s a good blend of online activities using our Virtual Learning Environment.

We invite business leaders to Bath Spa to talk about their experience and we arrange visits to local businesses. All of our teaching methods facilitate your development as a self-directed learner.

You’ll be given personal support in your study – we’re a friendly team of academics who are committed to helping students achieve their goals.

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities.

We give you the opportunity to work with regional and national businesses. You’ll work on live project briefs, helping organisations find creative solutions to their business needs.

Depending on your pathway and the modules you study, you can gain accreditation by professional bodies and get exemption from professional exams.

In addition to the business community projects, you'll have fantastic opportunities to work closely with business and industry through placements, projects and internships.

You'll work with the Enterprise team at Bath Spa as well as the incubator space at EMERGE. You'll also have the opportunity to work on a live fundraising project with local charity Julian House.

A number of previous students have set up their own businesses and social enterprises in a range of sectors. Graduates have also found roles in areas such as:

• Crowdfunding
• Fundraising
• Charity management
• Social enterprises
• Business strategy
• Income generation (funding, crowdsourcing).

If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.

You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.

The Professional Placement Year (PPY) provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for, and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.

By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.

Before your PPY, you'll work to identify roles of interest and secure a placement. The Placements Team will support through timetabled sessions and 1:1 appointments.

As well as completing a minimum of 900 placement hours, you will complete two assessments demonstrating your skill development, growth in professional behaviours and how the PPY has impacted your future career aspirations.

You'll have access to excellent facilities at our Newton Park campus and city centre studios as well as online resources. These include:

• Commons building
• Newton Park library
• Academic Skills support (ASk)
• Specialist resources and subject librarian
• Our Virtual Learning Environment
• Free access to courses via LinkedIn Learning
• Support from the English Language Unit if English isn't your first language
• The Studio in Bath

Our libraries offer a wide range of business resources, including a wealth of online material that can be accessed on- and off-campus, enabling you to work at times that suit you.