Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Business and Human Resource Management

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

The world’s habitats are undergoing rapid transformation. The impacts of climate change are causing species extinction at an unprecedented rate. Conservation biology as a discipline looks at the science behind these changes – including the identification of ecosystems at risk, ways of conserving biodiversity, and the role of genetics and demography.

With our masters, you’ll tackle all that and more, gaining the knowledge and skills for a career at the forefront of conservation. You’ll explore the scientific background to species conservation and the factors driving extinction. You’ll also look at the sustainable use of resources and learn valuable statistical techniques for analysing ecological data. With a range of option units, you’ll be able to specialise in areas like species recovery and behavioural biology.

But this course is as much about practice as it is about theory. While the core units include a field course to Poland, Ecuador or Tanzania, your master's project also has a practical focus, demanding in-depth research before you present your findings.

Throughout, it all, you’ll be supported by experienced academics, who’ll bring their real-world expertise directly to the classroom as you prepare to make your own way in the world of conservation. And the international focus of this degree, it’s a career journey that could take you literally anywhere.

BA (Hons) Interior Design is concerned with the occupation of space, how it is used and importantly, how it is experienced. We promote the understanding and subsequent remodelling of existing spaces, in order to create meaningful interventions.

This course views interior design as a distinct, rigorous practice. Through architectural and design interventions, we engage with collaborative and creative ventures to enhance human interaction with their environment. This can be applied at an architectural scale whilst appreciating the detail and fabrication of objects, surfaces and materials.

The core elements of the course are taught by practising designers and architects, touching on all aspects of interior design such as interior architecture, exhibition design, event /set design or object/element design.

The course advocates the synthesis of this ideology as a creative, rigorous and intellectual process. We value ideas, invention and practical resolution in the creation of new, and often unconventional interior identities. We can create experiential, experimental or functional spaces. We shape environments, generate identities, question programs, detail objects, design or specify materials and furniture.

Placement options

Professionalism is embedded in all aspects of the course through visits from respected professional critics from industry, Live projects and Unit X. Students are also supported and encouraged to seek self-directed work experience in vacation periods. Students have undertaken work experience in Manchester for companies such as Stephenson-Bell, Ian Simpson Architects, Start Judge Gill and Sheppard Robson, and in London for Imagination, Johnson-Naylor, Conran+Partners, Casson-Mann, Virgile+Stone to name a few. Many enterprising students use the vacation to seek work experience abroad and opportunities have arisen in Japan (Klein-Dytham) and Dubai (Paul Bishop Design), Australia and the US.

Our computer games development degree is designed to turn you into a games programmer and designer – from the word go you’ll be hands-on, designing and programming games as you prepare for an exciting career at the cutting-edge of interactive digital content.

In our state-of-the-art facilities, you’ll develop traditional computer science skills, such as programming and maths for computing, as well as specialist games development and design techniques. You’ll also study all types of games software, from the programming of game components, to high-level development tools such as Unity and Unreal Engine. At the same time you’ll be learning about game logic and architecture, the production of game objects and environments, and the processes used to design and develop games in industry.

We’ve designed the course to ensure direct relevance to the computer games industry and to provide you with opportunities to showcase your work to potential employers. Throughout the course you’ll build up a portfolio of work that you can showcase when you come to apply for games development roles in industry.

With hackathons, gaming events and lots of opportunities for work experience to hone your skills, by the time you leave us you’ll be well on your way to becoming a player in the action-packed world of computer games.

Right from the start, our product design engineering degree is all about developing your creativity and problem-solving skills. Even the introduction is a team-based design-and-build challenge – reflecting the kind of project-based, hands-on approach to learning you’ll experience throughout your time with us.

It’s a degree that provides the specialist knowledge and expertise required for a career in commercial product design, introducing you to industry-relevant methodologies, materials and production methods. You’ll also look at the influence on the design of history, culture, markets, materials and lifestyles. And in our specialist laboratories, you’ll get to grips with some of the latest technologies, such as 3D printing and rapid prototyping.

More generally, you’ll learn to look at the world around you through the eyes of a designer, as you establish the fundamentals of design and technology, together with the relationship that products have with their users and their environment.

Study product design engineering with us and in your final year you’ll be ready to put these skills into practice in a new product design challenge and an individual project. You’ll then have the chance to showcase your work in front of industry representatives at the department’s degree show as you look to kick-start your career in this challenging and rewarding field.

Placement options

All of our degrees offer the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. If you choose to go down this route, your degree will take one year longer, with the third year spent working in industry. These optional placements not only give you the opportunity to develop your core skills and learn about how a business really operates in your industry, but also shows employers that you’re ready to get to work. We offer a range of services to help you find the right placement, including employer presentations, advice and placement fairs.

Studying politics allows you to know what is happening today, how change is enacted, and how you can be a part of it. The principal focus of the degree is power relations between individuals, social groups and nations – so it is one of the most exciting ways to understand why things are the way they are. You’ll study a broad range of social and public policy areas and explore fundamental issues that affect communities in the UK and elsewhere, including: emancipatory political thought and theory, international politics, digital politics, and ‘issue’ politics such as environmentalism and climate change.

The course is underpinned by both the research specialisms of the staff who will teach you and a wide variety of options mean you can pursue your own interests, depending on what you choose to specialise in – with things becoming increasingly flexible as you progress through the course. In the final year, you will engage more directly with current academic debates and contemporary political developments.

We place a heavy emphasis on employability and offer practical skills training, including advanced analytical approaches, which many employers look for when offering placement opportunities. This, alongside the opportunity to study a foreign language or do an exchange abroad, means that a politics degree opens doors to a range of interesting and rewarding career possibilities, as well as providing you with a much better understanding of what is happening right now.

You can also combine politics with another subject and broaden your outlook still further. In your third year, you may have the opportunity to take a placement year with an employer or study abroad, broadening your horizons and boosting your employability.

The world of business is full of opportunities. So where do you start? This practical course will help you find your calling in international business with modules ranging from consultancy to enterprise.

BA (Hons) Business Management includes everything you could want from a business degree, from expertise in our research areas of sustainability, strategy, and enterprise to events like our leadership series of guest lectures.

Applied business skills
You’ll learn the theory behind what makes a successful business. We focus heavily on giving you the practical knowledge you’ll need for your career – whether that’s starting your own business or working your way up in a big corporation.

By the end of this course, you should be able to think strategically. You should have an entrepreneurial mindset. And you should have the skills to be a successful manager anywhere in the world.

The new sustainable business
Profits aren’t the only thing driving businesses. We believe you need to conduct business in a sustainable and ethical way to be an effective manager. Our values underpin everything we do here at Manchester Met.

In fact, you’ll live and breathe sustainability while you’re here, studying in the environmentally-friendly business school. You’ll also get to work alongside innovative start-ups at Manchester Met-based Innospace, were we support people with great business ideas and the commitment to turn them into reality.

Study Abroad
Instead of a placement, you’ll have the opportunity to spend up to a year overseas, studying with one of our partner institutions across Europe, or beyond. Go abroad in the third year of your degree, and you’ll not only learn about other cultures, improve your language skills and discover more about yourself – you’ll also boost your career prospects. Having first-hand knowledge of another country’s cultures and traditions can take you far in a range of careers. And, by going abroad you’ll also demonstrate the kind of independent spirit and adaptability that many employers want.

At the heart of the Manchester Writing School are our Master's programs in Creative Writing, available to study on campus in Manchester, and also from anywhere in the world via online distance learning.

On our Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program, you will explore and practice techniques and styles of modern and contemporary writing and apply these through the development of your own full-length book or script.

MFA students undertake all of the elements of our MA Creative Writing program (a taught element blending writing workshops with reading units, an elective, and a dissertation), then take an additional unit about the publishing, literary and arts industries and submit a full-length manuscript: a completed novel or short story collection, poetry collection, book for children or young adults, script for stage, screen or radio, or book of creative non-fiction.

You will be introduced to professionals from the publishing industries, which may include literary agents, publishers, broadcasters and arts practitioners, and the School has strong links with many major arts, educational and cultural organizations. Our MFA model is exceptional in coaching students through the development and completion of a full-length book under the sustained guidance of distinguished, practicing writers and seeing those students achieve success in publishing.

You will specialise in one of the following routes: Novel (including Short Fiction), Poetry, Writing for Children & Young Adults, Scriptwriting (for stage, screen or radio) or Creative Non-Fiction.

Delivered in collaboration with leading industry professionals, including our partners for this MA, Comma Press, this course will equip you with the knowledge and skills for a variety of careers in publishing.

You will explore the complex anatomies and eco-systems of the publishing industry and its markets in the UK and internationally, as well as the trends, innovations, opportunities and challenges facing this rapidly changing profession.

Through the duration of the course, you will gain a working knowledge of the business of publishing, examining the structures of a range of organisational models, from major corporate brands to small independent outfits; and you will develop an understanding of the different stages, roles and skills involved in the publishing process, and the different publishing formats and platforms available.

Technology is disrupting almost every area of business and the COVID-19 pandemic has only served to accelerate the change.  As technology has increasingly become part of every business, data has become the new oil and businesses are striving to make the most of it in order to gain a competitive and lasting advantage.

But technology does not just happen on its own; it needs professionals to design, implement and manage technology systems.

Our BSc (Hons) Business Technology degree gives you the skills needed in a modern business environment. You’ll learn to identify business challenges, find technological solutions, manage technology projects and services, and analyse business data. This is an area that’s constantly evolving, so we’ll give you the tools to adapt to new ideas and new ways of working.

Discover your talents
With a wide range of topics, and the choice of optional units in other areas, you can really explore your interests. Business analysis, big data, app development, e-commerce, project management – whatever you want to specialise in, you’ll have the chance to develop a strong knowledge base.

As well as vital business skills such as global strategy and technology management, you’ll also learn about some of the biggest technologies of today. Cloud computing with AWS, enterprise resource planning with SAP, programming languages, and databases all feature on the course.

Develop in areas that are in demand
Many organizations are struggling to make the most of digital technology. They know it can transform their business, but they don’t know-how. We designed this program so you have the potential to support and eventually lead them through the digital transformation process.

There is also opportunity to specialize in routes with more emphasis on technology development, data analytics, project management and social media marketing, all of which continue to be in high demand in organizations.

Placement options
Our BSc (Hons) Business Technology degree offers the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. It not only gives you the opportunity to develop your core skills and learn about how a business really operates in your industry, but also shows employers that you’re ready to get to work.

The Business School Placement Team is ready to help. They offer a wide range of services, including employer presentations, advice and placement fairs. But it’s also up to you – the more proactive you are about applying for placement opportunities, the better.

Whether it’s a successful start-up or a blue-chip company, every organization across the globe needs people with strong business skills.

Studying business with law presents you with a world of opportunities. With an understanding of the legal structures that any business has to navigate, you’ll be a valuable addition to many large organizations. With strong business knowledge and skills, you’ll also be ready for a range of management roles in the legal sector.

You’ll learn fundamental skills like team-working, strategy and commercial awareness, get the benefit of excellent industry links and build the entrepreneurial skills that make great leaders, and great careers.

Study Abroad
Instead of a placement, you’ll have the opportunity to spend up to a year overseas, studying with one of our partner institutions across Europe, or beyond. Go abroad in the third year of your degree, and you’ll not only learn about other cultures, improve your language skills and discover more about yourself – you’ll also boost your career prospects. Having first-hand knowledge of another country’s cultures and traditions can take you far in a range of careers. And, by going abroad you’ll also demonstrate the kind of independent spirit and adaptability that many employers want.