UDBUSALW - BA (Hons) Business and Law

With the increasing need for businesses to operate within a context of regulation and compliance, the BA Business and Law degree provides students with a unique opportunity to develop knowledge and expertise in business and the legal framework in which business operates.

The course, which is delivered by highly qualified academics and practitioners, will be of interest to students in business management who need to have a greater understanding of the practical applications of law from making commercial contracts, to employment obligations of management. Or those who require knowledge of company law, corporate compliance and governance to complement practical elements of doing business. It will also be of interest to students who have an interest in aspects of law but do no intend to practice law but wish to improve their employability within the business market.

The course provides a rigorous programme including selected core foundations of law modules relevant to the business management environment as well as the underpinning theoretical foundations of business management.

The BA Business and Law degree encompasses the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Subject Benchmark statement for Business and Management 2019 and the QAA Subject Benchmark statement for Law 2019. Collectively, both subject benchmarks seek to:

Increase understanding of organisations, their management, the economy and the business environment in preparation for, and development of, a career in business management.
To incrementally strengthen the subject specific knowledge and practical legal skills gained by students, to ensure that they are equipped to thrive successfully in the professional workplace.

The subject specific knowledge and skills, cognitive abilities and non-subject specific skills outlined in the benchmark statement are referenced in the relevant sections of this course document.

The Teaching and Learning strategy of the BA Business and Law degree is designed to ensure that the following key outcomes are achieved:
To comply with – or improve on – the benchmarks set out by the Quality Assurance Agency;
To encourage the acquisition and understanding of knowledge by students, engendering an enthusiasm for the subject areas and life-skills learning, including the progression from surface learning to deep learning;
To facilitate students in developing independent skills and responsibilities for their own learning.
TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS

The degree draws on the reputation of the Guildhall School of Business and Law for pedagogical innovation, as well as utilising traditional teaching methods.

Lectures will be used to introduce core business and law concepts. Seminars and workshops will be designed to enable students to gain a deeper understanding of key concepts and to enable students to lead and contribute to discussion and debate on contemporary issues. Seminars will also use a problem based learning (PBL) approach designed to foster student centered learning and engagement. This approach will enable students to research, synthesise, analyse and to discuss and apply core principles.

Students can develop their practical skills and decision-making through participating in on-line business simulations, which are embedded in the course and through the Pro Bono law clinic that will provide students with the opportunity to work on real legal (commercial) cases.

The combination of opportunities to produce legal advice through Pro Bono work and the management of a ‘virtual’ company will provide a strong mechanism for feedback on student performance as well as enhancing their confidence as young managers.

The degree has a central all encapsulating theme of employability with the aim of providing students with the confidence and the transferable knowledge and skills required for their chosen careers. Students are offered the opportunity to acquire business experience in their second and final year through Work-Related modules. These modules are designed flexibly to allow students to acquire a diverse range of business experience and give them crucial skills relevant for their future careers. This aspect of the course underpins the importance of the employability agenda and demonstrates a deep commitment to the professional development of students.

The course aims:

• To provide a contemporary and dynamic programme of study which gives students knowledge and understanding of the fundamental subjects in business and law and prepares them for a wide range of careers in business management.

• To enable students to acquire the business and legal transferable skills set out in the QAA Subject Benchmark Statements for Business Management and Law.

• To develop commercial awareness, team and inter-cultural communication, critical thinking through taught provision, practical application and independent research.

• To develop and instil ways of thinking that are intrinsic to the study of business and law including an appreciation of the complexities of ethics, governance and the rule of law in the practice of business.

• To assist students in evaluating their learning and embedding personal development in their professional practice in research/project activities.

• To provide a sound academic and professional practitioner base in the understanding of business management and legal framework in which businesses operate.

• To provide an integrated and broadly based business management and commercial law curriculum. Students will have the opportunity to explore and examine key concepts and principles and link the multi-disciplinary subjects of business management with an emphasis on the commercial law framework.

Throughout the degree students will engage with leading edge themes of business management and law including, leadership, entrepreneurship, consumer rights, innovation, international trade law, company law, sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Optional modules at L5 & L6 will allow students to focus more directly on subject areas of particular interest to them.

Level 4 will aim to provide a firm foundation to support more advanced studies of business management and law. Students will be introduced to key relevant quantitative approaches, legal principles and critical analysis and self-reflection.

Level 5 will aim to introduce specialist subject knowledge. Students will learn about the decision making process of business organisations, the legal obligations to consumers and employees and the social, cultural and ethical environment in which businesses operate.
Further focus will be placed on developing students’ intellectual skills, understanding, problem- solving capabilities and to promote the students ability to analyse, synthesise and evaluate business management and legal principles from a wide context.

Level 6 aims to challenge students intellectually and promote independent learning through an individual research project culminating in a dissertation. Students will be given an opportunity to explore wider and more advanced and specialist subjects in law and business management such as international trade law, global regulation, company law and small business survival. The aim is to enable the students to have a broader coverage of both disciplines of law and business. Central to this focus is to allow students to develop a wider perspective of the interrelated subjects and to enhance the student’s ability to view the wider employability prospects and opportunities of the degree.

Students will also have the opportunity to undertake a work placement prior to completing their final year of study.

On successful 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 Business and Law students will typically:

Have the confidence needed to take leadership decisions in challenging situations (LO1).
Possess the necessary communication skills that will help them adopt a global and multicultural perspective in their professional context (LO2).
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).
Demonstrate application of creative thinking skills to practical problems, and possess the analytical and organizational skills to translate creative ideas to operational solutions (LO4)
Have a wide knowledge and understanding of the broad range of areas of business and law and the detailed relationships between these and their application in practice such as the contextual knowledge of substantive areas of commercial law. Civil and criminal liability in business, elements of a legally binding agreement, consumer rights and sale of goods and services, limitation of liability, misleading statements, legal requirements of business organisations, directors’ obligations, international trade obligations and governance and compliance (LO5).
Consistently demonstrate a command of subject-specific skills as well as proficiency in generic skills and attributes (LO6).
Have a view of business and management influenced by a wide range of learning sources, based on a proactive and independent approach to learning (LO7).
Be distinguished from the basic standard (threshold) of achievement by their enhanced capacity to develop and apply their own perspectives to their studies, to deal with uncertainty and complexity, to explore alternative solutions, to demonstrate critical evaluation and to integrate theory and practice in a wide range of situations (LO8)

These undergraduate attributes will be delivered primarily through 15 credit core modules, supported by a choice of elective modules, and independent learning.

The QAA Benchmark statement for Business and Management has been adopted (reference to QAA Law November 2019)

Both formative and summative assessment take a variety of formats including, coursework, portfolios, blogs, essays, exams, group presentations, business reports, statement of claim, problem-based activities, practice-based projects, group research projects, videos, computer-based tests, business simulations, pro-bono activity and a final dissertation. Feedback and feedforward is provided on both formative and summative in keeping with university guidelines.

At Level 4, students will have the opportunity to reflect on their learning process and engagement through the completion of a formative assessment in week 7.

In addition to a mandatory core employability module at Level 5 the course offers an optional 12 month professional work placement at Level 5. The Course also provides opportunities for a wide variety of work experience at Levels 5 and 6 in the Work-Related modules. These modules are designed to enable students to gain business experience in the widest possible sense. They are flexible in delivery and will enable students to capture and build on their existing work and other experience. Students will be able to develop their action learning ability and reflect on their current and future course of action in setting goals for improved performance. Virtual and other flexible delivery approaches will also be used when face to face delivery is not possible.

Students are also able to experience the legal environment through the compulsory work-related learning elements at Level 4 and throughout the course by way of extra curricula activities including the Pro Bono Law clinic. The Legal Method module will offer work-related learning assessment including the writing of CV’s suitable for the legal sector; and practice in the making of applications for jobs, work experience and internships.

There are no specified part-time structures for this course. Students on a part-time mode of study are required to take between 30 and 90 credits per academic year to complete the degree programme within the maximum time length allowed (6 years for a three-year course).
Programme planning is therefore agreed between the student and course team, in accordance with regulations on progression and completion.

As part of our Undergraduate Student Promise, every student will benefit from accredited work-related learning (in either the form of a work placement or ‘live’ project with a partner organisation or practical small business planning) as a core, compulsory element within the study programme.

Standard University Regulations apply.

Reflective learning and personal development planning is introduced and developed through the Principles of Management and Legal Method modules at Level 4 and is further developed and articulated through the core modules at all levels. It is linked to assessment throughout the curriculum and forms an element of formative feedback in several modules for the development of this key skill. Independent and self-managed learning is introduced at Level 4 and encouraged and developed at all levels of the course.

Students’ reflective and experiential learning is encouraged throughout the curriculum and in modules including the work placement module and in the dissertation, consultancy and project modules. Students are encouraged to engage in their own learning around the subject including engagement in extra-curricular activities including Pro Bono, community and social justice initiatives.

All have formative and summative assessment requiring varying degrees of critical self- evaluation and reflection in the context of business management professional practice.

FEHQ

The course includes a number of business management and law related activities during the academic year as well as number of career oriented workshops which help students to identify and develop key employability skills. Presentations by industry experts will be included and students will be able to participate in workshops designed around identified self-development issues.

At all levels students can present their ideas to a variety of law and business people including those from London Metropolitan’s business incubator, the Accelerator. These initiatives are linked to improving the students’ employability prospects and their transferable skills.

Business and Law students will have the opportunity to pursue careers within both disciplines. Business and Law graduates will have opportunities for careers in a variety of highly skilled and analytical roles in, for example, business, finance, compliance and corporate governance, education, public policy, public service and social services in the UK and internationally.

Students interested in pursuing a career in Law will have the opportunity to gain relevant experience while studying through work placements, mentoring schemes, mooting and pro bono opportunities. Students will have access to the annual ‘Get Into Law’ day, where students are given the opportunity to hear from, and to question, a panel of legal professionals about their careers and how to get ahead in the legal profession.
Employability skills are also developed through extracurricular activities including presentations and events organised by the Mansfield Student Law Society and the careers service, together with work experience and networking with other students.

We want to make sure you’re in the best possible position to get work after you graduate, which is why this course focuses so much on employability. You’ll build confidence in business management and gain transferable skills that can be used in a range of professional roles.

Our business graduates have gone on to work for global organisations including Tesla, Aldi, NatWest, Lloyds Bank, PwC, Google and AON.

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

• a minimum of grades CCC in three A levels (or a minimum of 96 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification)
• English Language and Mathematics GCSE at grade C/4 or above (or equivalent)

These requirements may vary in individual cases.

If you don't have traditional qualifications or can't meet the entry requirements for this undergraduate degree, you may still be able to gain entry by completing our Business Management (including foundation year) BA (Hons).

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.