UDMRKTFY - BA (Hons) Marketing (including foundation year)

This course provides students with an opportunity to develop both their academic and practical skills in preparation for further study and/or their chosen career. It is foundational in its approach to preparing students who may not have traditional qualifications for admission to a degree course at university. There is a strong emphasis on developing students’ ability to learn in preparation for their future learning. The first year ‘extends’ the BA (Hons) Marketing degree in order to provide the basics on which students’ can build in order to be able to take their place on either the full the BA (Hons) Marketing degree course or other full degree courses, such as Events Management, Business Law, and/or Economics. It includes a strong focus on employability. Its overall aim is to provide students’ with the confidence, knowledge and skills required for their chosen careers and study.

The BA (Hons) Marketing course places a strong emphasis on our students’ knowledge and understanding of the greater role that marketing is playing in a digital and challenging global environment. The development of the degree is in response to the increasing demand for marketing managers in a rapidly growing and increasingly international sector. Members of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), the leading global professional body for marketers worldwide, teach the course. Our students have the opportunity to join The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) as a studying member.

The BA Marketing degree has been designed and developed to have a clear offer recognising that marketing cuts across and interacts with a wide range of disciplines.

The course adopts a modular structure with modules delivered over 12 weeks across the three levels of study. These modules include core and optional choices. The course creates an integrated approach to learning, by adopting a variety of teaching and learning strategies. These includes the traditional face-to-face classroom methods, such as: lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops, combined with some of the latest computer-mediated activities to develop students’ digital literacy. From the early stages of the course students use computerised technologies in order to access knowledge and to familiarise themselves with the latest digital communications platforms for marketing communications. Each module is supported by Web Learn so as to facilitate and implement the faculty blended learning strategy.

Students complement their in-class experience of studying marketing with links to other business disciplines such as management and human resources, work-based learning to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills. This is achieved through the use of relevant marketing and business textbooks, academic journal articles, and related practitioner and professional resources. Other elements in the delivery of the course includes engaging students in group work and individual projects. Guest speakers and industry visits are incorporated at all levels in the design of the course. Thus, students benefit from extra-curricular activities aiming to enhance their understanding of the various career options available to them upon completion of the course. In relation to this, they receive continuous support from the University faculty’s career departments which encourage them to develop practical knowledge through either a one semester or a one year industrial work placement. These combined approaches to learning presents students with the opportunity to experience different learning options and to develop their own learning style.

Students are assessed through a variety of methods such as: problem-based exercises and unseen examinations, understanding and usage of known computer software for marketing and business analysis, which require them to develop and demonstrate their intellectual skills. Other assessment instruments include teamwork for presentations, business reports, analysing case studies and presenting critical arguments through in-class and or online activities. All students carry out independent research, including a lengthy final year marketing communications project, which is a typical example of how they demonstrate their specialist knowledge, intellectual skills, understanding and practical skills. Students on the course are encouraged to engage meaningfully with personal development planning (PDP) through the curriculum. This enables them to reflect on, plan, review and record their own personal and marketing/business skills development.

The aims of the BA Marketing (including Foundation) degree are to:

1. Orientate students to study at university level and provide them with an opportunity to develop their academic and practical skill sin order to progress to further study;

2. Introduce students to the context of business management and the concepts of dealing with customers.

The course has been designed with reference to the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education subject statement benchmark for Business and Management (2019).

The main aim of the BA Marketing (including Foundation) course is to equip students with a sound conceptual and practical contemporary grounding in key theories and practices of marketing as it seeks to explore and challenge existing and new concepts in areas such as: digital marketing, global marketing brand management, customer relationship marketing, marketing analytics, driving innovation in marketing, management across cultures etc. The course seeks to prepare students for a career by specialising in a marketing function such as research, communications, brand management; or in a type of marketing, such as product, service, consumer or business to business (B2B); or within a sector, such as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), financial services, public, not for profit or entertainment – both in the UK and Internationally.

The course has been developed in conjunction with the needs of the industry and professional bodies.
The degree is organised into three levels with specific aims, as follows:

Level 3 (Foundation) aims to orientate students to study at university level in preparation for further study, introduce them to business contexts and concepts and help them to develop both academic and professional skills.

Level 4 aims to provide a firm theoretical marketing and management foundation to support the more advanced marketing studies. This first level offers a general collection of general knowledge in, marketing, marketing data analysis and fundamentals of management and dedicates valuable time to enhancing students’ business communications and marketing skills.

Level 5 aims to deepen students’ specialist knowledge of the course and develop their intellectual and problem-solving skills, as well as their marketing communication skills. This second tier of modules incorporates the latest specialist theory of communications and digital marketing, global marketing and brand management, consumer insight and marketing research as well as other business options. This level of study challenges students’ intellectual and specialist skills by asking them to compete in generating feasible integrated communications plans for various organisations. Students learn to research from a considerable number of textbooks and academic journal reading and case study material. Particular attention is given to their future employability, competence and global awareness of marketing and business operations at this level.

Level 6 aims to develop and test independent judgement and critical awareness and to develop an enquiring, analytical and creative approach to learning. Students studying at this level see the broader implications of the theories studied and refine their personal development planning activities. This level provides students with an advanced understanding of CRM and marketing analytics, Marketing planning and strategy, as well as options in marketing, management and human resources.

The University learning outcome that cuts across the entirety of the London Metropolitan University provision, and thus, the BSc (Hons) Marketing (including foundation year), is:

On completion of this course, students will be able to: demonstrate confidence, resilience, ambition and creativity and will act as inclusive, collaborative and socially responsible professionals in their discipline (ULO)

Thus, upon graduating with an honours degree in Marketing, students will be able to:

LO1: Have the confidence needed to take leadership decisions in challenging situations (LO1).
LO2: Possess the necessary communication skills that will help them adopt a global and multicultural perspective in their professional context (LO2).
LO3: Be cognisant of the effects of the social and environmental of their decisions and will remain active citizens of the places they live and work (LO3).
LO4: Demonstrate application of creative thinking skills to practical problems, and possess the analytical and organizational skills to translate creative ideas to operational solutions (LO4)
LO5: Show knowledge and understanding of marketing plans, tactics and tools and operational processes allowing for effective decision-making against different influences.

LO6: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the consumer in the management of service /product offering in planning targeted marketing in areas including entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation, sustainability, governance, ethics, diversity and globalisation

LO7: demonstrate knowledge and understanding sources, uses and management of finance, budgets the use of accounting and other information systems for marketing planning, control, decision making and managing financials

LO8: Analyse and critically evaluate theoretical perspectives of marketing, management and human resources, and develop critical thinking, problem-solving, within the context of circumstances to determine the cause of a problem, & solutions through research skills and identifying and selecting appropriate marketing outputs.

Business and Management 2019.

The BA Marketing course uses a wide variety of assessment methods to test students’ knowledge and abilities. These assessment methods have been mapped to ensure that they are evenly spread and allow the student to perform at their best in achieving the course learning outcomes

Students are encouraged to engage in a dialogue through feed forward activities with staff on assessments. The aim is to encourage engagement support & constructive guidance from academic staff. This is also to facilitate and to ensure that assessment have an effective developmental impact on student learning and allow the student to reflect on their learning.

The assessment methods include:

• Coursework including problem based marketing/business briefs and case studies are used to help enhance students’ analytical and prescriptive skills.
• Examinations are used to facilitate learning and integration of knowledge.
• Oral presentations, including individual and group based, are used to enhance key marketing and business skills such as interpersonal, team, time management and communication skills
• Essays and report writing; these tools are used to enhance and demonstrate students’ research skills, critical as well as business & academic writing skills.
• Portfolio work; portfolios are used to encourage progressive building of evidence of competence and skills and to facilitate personal reflection on learning.
• Individual research project/dissertation; this demonstrates students’ specialist subject knowledge, their in-depth understanding of a marketing research area, their ability to work independently and draw conclusions based on a vast amount of primary and secondary data.

The university operates a marking and moderation process that are both rigorous and transparent to quality assure that:

• student work is assessed on a fair basis
• students are provided with supportive and appropriate feedback
• Academic standards in relation to student work and final awards are maintained

Where possible work will be marked anonymously. The marking process on the course involves first marker who has responsibility for giving formal feedback and making an initial assessment of the standard and a provisional mark. A sample of students work is moderated by an internal 2nd marker. Marks and feedback may be adjusted if necessary. A sample of work is moderated by an external examiner who is independent of the university a subject specialist. External examiners are required to report back to the University and to the Chair of the Subject Standards Board that formally processes the marks. Following the regulatory framework of the marking process students are unable to appeal your final marks and/or grades on the grounds of academic judgement.

The BA (Hons) Marketing degree students will be given extensive advice on how to undertake work experience. Work-based modules are offered at both level 5 and 6 of the programme. The course has a considerable tangible Alumni network and is visible on online platforms such as: Facebook and LinkedIn. BA Marketing students have the opportunity to interact and work with graduates and practitioners and to be mentored by them. In addition, via the Erasmus programme or other international exchange programmes, if desired, students will have the opportunity to study abroad

Marketing professionals and industry experts will be invited as guest speakers during direct learning time when and as appropriate throughout the three years of the programme. External experts will be invited into the university to deliver workshops for students with focus on employability issues or other areas of their expertise.

Modules are required to be taken as indicated in section 22 above. Where a student is taking no more than 90 credits in an academic year within the maximum permissible time limit, they may be designated as Part Time.

There are no course specific regulations.

Modules are required to be taken as indicated in the course structure.

Reflective learning is embedded throughout the course curriculum. Students are exposed to the concept of reflective learning in level 4, 5, and 6 and are able to practice and develop the skills necessary to be an effective reflective practitioner. Both reflective and personal development planning are central to the students’ academic and career development. Reflective learning is linked through both formative and summative assessment throughout the curriculum and students have the opportunity for formative feedback to guide them in the development of this key skill. Students are also supported in this process through the use of Academic Tutors.

During the course of their degree students are able to build their own personal development which enables them to reflect on their evolution in terms of skills and knowledge. All the BA (Hons), Marketing core modules contribute to this personal development planning through the engagement of students reflecting on own performance and future performance.

QAA Frameworks for
Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) (2014)

The course places a strong emphasis on students’ employability and the development of marketing skills takes place through a continuous process of self-development embedded in all core modules. There is an underlying philosophy of linking the acquisition of knowledge to real business/marketing situations and providing as much as real marketing experience as possible. Students are placed in the best possible position after graduation to pursue rewarding and successful careers in different areas of marketing. Graduates from our previous BA Marketing degree course have gone onto work in large organisations as part of a graduate training programme. Some graduates prefer to work in smaller organisations where they gain a broad appreciation of marketing ahead of specialising a little later in their careers.

For students who study this BA Marketing degree there are career opportunities can be developed by specialising in a marketing function such as research, communications, brand management; or in a type of marketing, such as product, service, consumer or business to business (B2B); or within a sector, such as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), financial services, public, not for profit or entertainment.
The BA Marketing degree may qualify undergraduates for Student Membership of the chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). Employability is embed in the course through a core employability module and students are given the opportunity to take additional employability modules to gain credit on work experience.

Students who successfully complete this undergraduate programme and wish to continue postgraduate studies have the opportunity to join our MA Marketing degree.

This marketing degree will allow you to work in a range of sectors, in areas such as:

• brand marketing
• market research
• digital marketing
• b2b marketing
• product marketing.

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:

• at least one A level (or a minimum of 40 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg BTEC Subsidiary/National/BTEC Extended Diploma)
• English Language GCSE at grade C/4 or above (or equivalent)

To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Tier 4 student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.

If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.