Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages (Flexible)

at University of Buckingham United Kingdom

Bridging the gap between medicine and psychology, our course focuses on understanding the behavioural processes around health, illness and disability, and is one of the only British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited MScs in this subject to offer an 18-week placement. Our MSc Health Psychology programme is designed to allow students to develop knowledge and skills across all of the main areas of health psychology to postgraduate level. We cover a wide-range of topics, from advanced research methods to a working and evidence-based knowledge of health psychology approaches, theories, models and interventions.

You will develop a strong knowledge base and core transferable skills. You will learn to analyse, debate, discuss and devise behaviour change interventions for use in primary, secondary and community care. You’ll become autonomous in the design and analysis of research, and develop skills towards becoming an independent researcher. You’ll develop an awareness of the practical reality of working in applied settings before going on to perfect those skills in our embedded placement. All of this will provide you with a solid foundation for further study and employment in a variety of areas, including psychology and research assistantships, PhDs, and further training in health or clinical psychology.

This strategic marketing MSc will be invaluable to anyone wishing to pursue a career in marketing (e.g. marketing management, brand management, customer experience and customer service management).

In today’s global, digital world, effective strategic marketing puts the customer and their needs at the centre of decision-making, and a clear focus on customer experience is a critical part of this.  An understanding of this need for customer-centricity is at the core of our MSc in Strategic Marketing & Customer Experience Management.

This leading-edge programme is designed to be totally relevant to today’s organisations, exposing you to managerially relevant theory and practice, which will be of value in real-world business contexts.  The programme will provide you with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to help firms address the marketing challenges that lie at the heart of their business.

This programme provides an in-depth understanding of how firms can develop compelling value propositions, within the context of the strategic marketing planning process, and then how to deliver these value propositions across the customer journey, creating a positive customer experience.

In addition, the programme will enable you to examine the concept of service from many perspectives, by exploring service systems as well as service leadership, along with the critically important area of managing employees in a service-focused culture.

The programme also provides an understanding of consumer behaviour and digital and social media marketing – essential knowledge in this complex, digital world where consumers increasingly expect a seamless omnichannel experience throughout their customer journeys.

Additionally, a practical research methods module will set you up to embark on a dissertation, which will give you the opportunity to ‘deep dive’ into an aspect of the programme which is particularly inspiring.

The BSc in Business Management 3-year programme will benefit those individuals who wish to study an undergraduate degree but have non-standard academic qualifications.

Year one will follow the Foundation Pathway programme and introduce students to key concepts and study skills. In years two and three students will build on these skills and enhance their knowledge, understanding and practice in core subjects. Throughout the three years, a student will be equipped with the skills to reach their potential in academic studies.

Foundation courses bridge the gap between your current qualifications and the knowledge and skills required for the undergraduate programme you want to do. Even if you have not yet achieved the necessary academic qualifications or your English language is not yet at the required standard, we will help you to identify your needs and develop a learning programme to meet them in Year 1, enabling you to progress on to the full degree. Our unique condensed timetabling at Buckingham allows you to complete your foundation and undergraduate programmes in just three years. This means a faster – and smoother transition into university study in a supportive and stimulating learning environment.

Why study this course?

The BSc in Business Management aims to equip graduates with analytical and decision-making skills relevant to career development in the wider business context.

Business organisations do not exist in isolation and much of the early part of your study is focused on understanding the various external driving forces for change and the internal responses necessary for a business to survive and prosper. The programme provides a blend of theoretical and practical study, never losing sight of employers’ requirements and students’ career aspirations.

At no point in recent history has there been such an exciting time to study the dynamics of business and its role in the global environment. The programme is designed to develop skills in solving business problems that are transferable organisationally and internationally across business environments. Business Management is a broad-based, live subject. Practical and real-life projects and case studies are introduced to enhance your learning experience while equipping you to meet the needs of, and manage within, today’s dynamic business world.

The BSc in Computing with Accounting and Finance (including Integrated Foundation year) programme will benefit those individuals who wish to study an undergraduate degree but have non-standard academic qualifications.

Year one will follow the same structure as the BSc Computing (with Integrated Foundation) programme first year. In years two and three our students will build on these skills and enhance their knowledge, understanding and practice in core subjects following the BSc Computing with Accounting and Finance programme structure. Throughout the three years, a student will be equipped with the skills to reach their potential in academic studies.

Computing and communications technologies lie at the heart of modern society. They include hardware, software, networks, tools, telecommunications equipment and required standards that provide the technological framework on which the delivery of information services is based. The IT industry is reporting a widening gap in software skills while hard technology is developing and diversifying fast.

The overall aim of this programme is to enable all students to develop their potential so that they can apply what they have learnt to deal with computational problems and develop solutions in a real-world environment in relation to accounting and finance. Through studying this programme, students learn how to specify, design, develop and operate efficient and innovative computer-based systems and gain up-to-date knowledge and awareness of the relevant computing technologies within a shorter space of time. Graduates of the degree programme will be able to undertake a variety of careers in the IT sector of related industries.

This major/minor programme of study specifically aims to produce technically sound computing graduates who are exposed to basic concepts and practice of accounting and finance, providing them with IT and computing technical know-how as well as awareness of the principles of the application areas.

The BSc Computing with foundation year programme will benefit those individuals who wish to study an undergraduate degree but have non-standard academic qualifications.

Year one of BSc Computing with Foundation will follow the Foundation Pathway programme with the addition of the Access to Computing programme introducing students to key concepts and study skills. This is followed by a pre-university access programme specially designed for Applied Computing. The overall aim is to equip students who have not achieved the minimum entry requirements for BSc (Hons) Computing with the fundamental knowledge and essential skills required for the intensive study of the undergraduate degree programme at Buckingham.

These preparatory modules include mathematics, fundamentals of computing as well as web computing. Students must pass all modules before being allowed on to the BSc Computing degree portion of the programme.

In years two and three students will build on these skills and enhance their knowledge, understanding and practice in core subjects following the BSc Computing programme structure. Throughout the three years, a student will be equipped with the skills to reach their potential in academic studies.

Computing and communications technologies lie at the heart of modern society. They include hardware, software, networks, tools, telecommunications equipment and required standards that provide the technological framework on which the delivery of information services is based. The IT industry is reporting a widening gap in software skills while hard technology is developing and diversifying fast.

The overall aim of this programme is to enable all students to develop their potential so that they can apply what they have learnt to deal with computational problems and develop solutions in a real-world environment. Through studying this programme, students learn how to specify, design, develop and operate efficient and innovative computer-based systems and gain up-to-date knowledge of the relevant computing technologies at an advanced level within a shorter space of time.

You will encounter the canon of great authors, from Shakespeare onwards, but you also study themes like Film, Gender, and Empire. In other words, the degree combines traditional and contemporary aspects of the subject. Buckingham’s unique tutorial system makes for highly personalized teaching. If you’d like to try out a tutorial, come along to one of our free taster sessions.

What is Buckingham English?

• It is an encounter with the complexity and beauty of great literature
• It aids you on your journey to becoming a professional-level writer, able to write fluently and well in any context
• Like philosophy, it teaches you to argue and debate your ideas
• As a central liberal arts subject, it is a clear space to address the big questions of meaning and existence

We don’t think that formal essays are always the best way of assessing how students understand a subject, so you will find that you have opportunities to write a book review, reportage, poems and short stories, even part of a screenplay. You will learn a number of skills, not least how to write fluently and persuasively. As a result, our graduates go on into a range of careers in media, teaching, publishing, academia, business, and marketing.

BA History and Heritage Management is one of the five most popular subjects among UK university students, and with good reason. Having a historical perspective enables people to make sense of today’s rapidly changing world. Employers like it because history teaches you to think for yourself, to work under pressure, and to construct a coherent argument from the evidence. Historical research has never been more exciting than it is today, with the internet making available so many treasures from the archives.

This BA in History and Heritage Management has been carefully designed and fine-tuned by Buckingham’s team of experienced and high-calibre historians. It offers an outline and conceptual modules which concentrate on the period from 1800 to the present day – though we do study some earlier periods too from the 1500s onwards too.  It covers, in particular, empires, the rise in political polarisation, World Wars and the shaping of our modern political systems, whilst considering the relationship between ideology and the historical process.

Students progress to study the history of history and to reflect on historical method. In the last part of the course, we study historical documents and texts and develop research and writing skills through a long essay and a dissertation. So the programme not only teaches history; it also teaches you to think historically and to research and write history.

Heritage Management

This distinctive combination of theoretical and vocational study of the BA History and Heritage Management provides students with a pathway to careers in the heritage sector; our students find employment in museums, galleries, the art market and with prestigious organisations like the National Trust, English Heritage and Historic Royal Palaces. Of course, our students also acquire transferable skills applicable in other fields, such as journalism, law and business.

The course includes a series of seminars (see below), given by a range of eminent guest speakers, to supplement students’ private research. These will provide a broad chronological survey of the period and an introduction to major themes in the political and social history of 20th century Britain. The seminars will take place at the elegant Reform Club in Pall Mall, and supervisory meetings will be held at the Humanities Research Institute offices at 51 Gower Street in Bloomsbury.

The programme’s major concentration will be on politics and society, but there will be a subsidiary focus on cultural history and historiography. Guest speakers will include the contemporary historians Sir David Cannadine, Lord Hennessy, David Kynaston and Michael Bentley.

Assessment is via a dissertation of approximately 25,000 words on a topic of the student’s choosing, which is completed under the guidance of a supervisor and submitted at the end of the academic year.

BA International Studies allows you to study the world  from different perspectives: political, economic, historical and legal. It enables you to understand the interconnectedness of everything. A graduate in International Studies will have a sophisticated grasp of our shared world and the flexibility to find solutions. This is an asset prized by major employers.

A key feature of the global economy is the rapid adoption of new technology. Technology has proved to be an agent which encourages cooperation across national boundaries. Technological developments in transport, telecommunications and computing have encouraged economic changes such as the decline in barriers to trade, the internationalisation of financial markets, the rise of global companies, and a massive increase in the volume of international trade in goods and services. These trends have been accompanied by political developments such as the rise of regional trading groupings of countries, international efforts to agree about common legal and technical rules to govern business dealings, arguments about ‘tax competition’ between countries, as well as increasing concern about the environmental consequences associated with world economic development. Enormous social tensions arise as these international forces come into conflict with long-established ways of doing things in every country. Political and social systems are in a continuous process of adjustment to an increasingly open world.

The BA International Studies course at Buckingham gives you an opportunity to learn about these fundamental problems. With students coming to Buckingham from over 80 countries, it is an ideal environment to learn about matters of international concern and to discuss them with people from differing cultural backgrounds.

With military history one of the fastest-growing areas of academic study, the University of Buckingham introduced a one-year MA in Military History, by research, in 2009. This is a groundbreaking programme: the first one-year Research MA in Military History, and the first with an integral course of seminars by visiting lecturers of international repute. The programme was enthusiastically reviewed by The Financial Times, which noted that “Intellectually curious professionals are signing up for a new course that gives them the opportunity to exchange thoughts on security, diplomacy and the armed forces over dinner with stellar historians and military top brass.”

The programme is London-based and directed by one of the country’s finest military historians, Professor Gary Sheffield. The lectures offered by the Course Director will be supplemented by a series of ten guest seminars by some of the most eminent scholars and authors in the field, including Professors N.A.M. Rodger, Sir Hew Strachan, Richard Overy, Sir Richard J. Evans, David Reynolds, Saul David, and Sir Antony Beevor.