2022/23 Undergraduate Programme Catalogue

BA Professional Studies

Total credits: 360

Entry requirements:

GCSE English grade A*- C or 9 - 4 or equivalent
GCSE Maths grade A*- C or 9 - 4 or equivalent
Attended a school which achieved less than the national average of 5 A* - C or 9 - 4 passes (including English and Maths) at GCSE


AND

3 A Levels grade BBB or equivalent

Priority is given to applicants who live permanently in the UK and who meet at least two of the following:

- your permanent address is in a neighbourhood with low progression to higher education
- you attended a school which achieved less than the national average of 5 A*/7- C/4 passes at GCSE
- you grew up in public care
- the residual income of your household is less than £25,000
- you will be the first member of your immediate family (excluding older brothers or sisters or your own children) to achieve a degree
- your studies have been adversely affected by circumstances in your personal, social or domestic life.

We actively encourage applications from mature students. Further consideration will be given to the life experience of mature applicants and the circumstances in which they gained prior qualifications.

Applicants progressing straight from School must meet two WP criteria

School/Unit responsible for the parenting of students and programme:

Lifelong Learning Centre

Examination board through which the programme will be considered:

Professional Studies Examination Board
within the Lifelong Learning Centre

Relevant QAA Subject Benchmark Groups:

There are no Subject Benchmarks currently published by the QAA for multi-disciplinary honours degree programmes of this sort and none against which the BA Contemporary and Professional Studies can be assessed meaningfully.

Development of the professional strand of the degree has been informed by elements of the General Business and Management (2007) subject benchmarks.

Programme specification:

Interdisciplinary study is highly valued by employers in the UK and internationally because of the skills that it develops in problem solving, adaptability and analytical thinking. The BA Contemporary and Professional Studies is a new and distinctive interdisciplinary degree. It focuses on key issues and professional practice, to ensure that your learning is relevant, and introduces you to how and why experts from different disciplines arrive at their positions. You will be able to appreciate the significance of working across subject boundaries and recognise how this might be applied to resolve problems in the workplace and more broadly. The degree makes ample provision for you to follow-up the questions that matter to you through a University-wide choice of specialist modules and independent research projects that feature at each level of study.

Three strands run throughout the degree:

Interdisciplinary Strand : This strand will help you to appreciate the distinctive insights and questions of different academic disciplines. You will explore interdisciplinary thinking as a way of engaging with contemporary issues through modules on:
-Culture and diversity
-Health, wellbeing and the common good
-Global issues; global thinking
-Contemporary thinking and its impact
-Communication and new media

Professional and Project Strand: This strand focuses on skills relevant to employers and will encourage you to make links between academic and professional perspectives. Core modules consider:
-Business acumen, enterprise and the changing world of work
Professional studies: designing futures
-Leadership
You will also undertake three projects through the course of your degree culminating in a dissertation module in your final year. This will develop your skills of independent inquiry and provide opportunity for you to work in depth on issues of your own choice.

Broadening Strand: Each year, a third of your programme is set aside for you to choose modules from the huge range of disciplines offered across the University. You could, for example, explore scientific understanding, develop skills in a foreign language or delve into a particular specialism that is of interest to you. Programme staff will discuss your options to help you to make choices that develop your academic interests and career potential.

Teaching on the degree is imaginative and supportive to make sure that you are intellectually stretched and helped to become independent inquirers. Group sizes are small enough for you to engage actively and be well supported by your tutors and peers. Assessments are varied and include essays, projects, case studies, group presentations and examinations. This wide range gives opportunity for students to work to their individual strengths and to gain skills in different forms of expression.

Throughout your studies there will be support to help you to use your time at university to maximise your opportunities for career development. The BA Contemporary and Professional Studies has the relevance and breadth that many employers seek when recruiting graduates and you will acquire skills and knowledge that can be applied directly in work settings.

Year1 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Optional modules:

Candidates may study 0-40 credits of optional modules

Discovery modules:

Candidates may study 0-40 credits of discovery modules

Year2 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Optional modules:

Candidates may study 0-40 credits of optional modules

Discovery modules:

Candidates will be required to study 0-40 credits of discovery modules

Year3 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Optional modules:

Candidates are required to study 20 credits from these optional modules

Students may study 0-40 credits from these optional modules

Discovery modules:

Candidates will be required to study 0-40 credits of discovery modules

Last updated: 29/04/2022 15:47:14

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