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BSc Food Business and Marketing with Foundation Year

  • UCAS code
    DL64
  • Typical offer
  • Year of entry
    2023/24 See 2022/23 entry
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  4 Years
  • Year of entry
    2023/24 See 2022/23 entry
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  4 Years

COVID-19 update


Find out how we're adapting during COVID-19.

If you want to develop your core academic skills and are interested in a commercial career with a connection to food, then this BSc Food Business and Marketing with Foundation is the degree for you.

This four-year programme includes a foundation year that leads directly into the three-year BSc Food Business and Marketing course. It provides an excellent route to a degree in marketing if you do not have the typical entry requirements.

Foundation year

The foundation year will provide you with the skills and knowledge to succeed at university. You’ll develop core skills in academic study, writing and research.

Your subject-specific studies will focus on basic principles in:

  • mathematics
  • business management
  • economics
  • psychology.

Your learning will be delivered through a combination of lectures, tutorials, practical classes and workshops.

A foundation year is more than just a stepping-stone to a degree. You will also benefit from:

  • access to our full range of facilities and resources
  • full integration into university life, before your degree year begins
  • experience of an academic environment, and the ability to work independently
  • specialist support and guidance.

After successful completion of your foundation year, you’ll progress onto our three-year BSc Food Business and Marketingdegree.

It develops skills in business management, marketing and economics designed to address key food industry challenges. You will have the chance to apply these skills to live food business problems. Working as part of a team, you will develop a research proposal to address a real food business brief, carry out the research and present your findings to the company. If you're thinking of starting your own food business, this course also offers opportunities to gain entrepreneurial skills and insight.

An exciting part of the course is a marketing research project, which enables you to work as a consultant for a real food business. Working as part of a team, you will develop a research proposal to address the client’s brief, carry out the research and present your findings to the company. Past projects have included a review of the pre-packed chilled deserts category for Waitrose and fairtrade awareness for the Day Chocolate Company. Other clients have included Sainsbury's, Hotel Chocolat, Procter & Gamble, Mars and United Biscuits.

During your final year, you will complete a dissertation on a food-related topic that covers at least one of the three major disciplines of the course (business management, marketing and economics). In the past, these have covered topics as varied as food insecurity in The Gambia and the importance of corporate ownership in consumer choice.

Accreditation

This course is recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) as an Accredited Degree, enabling graduates to receive exemptions from all but one module of the Certificate in Professional Marketing or Certificate in Professional Digital Marketing qualification, or exemptions from all but two CIM modules for the Diploma in Professional Marketing qualification or Diploma in Professional Digital Marketing.

Placement

If you would like to take a placement year between your second and final year you should consider applying for our BSc Food Business and Marketing with Placement Year course. Placements can be located anywhere in the UK, and occasionally take place abroad.

You could work within a wide variety of areas including food product development, account management, category management, brand development and business administration. Recently students have worked at major companies such as Unilever, Warburtons, Mornflake and Waitrose.

You will be given advice and support for finding the ideal placement, writing a CV and interview skills by our dedicated placements officer. They will continue to support you throughout your placement year.

For more information about securing and completing a placement for your placement year, please visit our Important Information page.

For more information, please visit the Marketing website.

Overview

If you want to develop your core academic skills and are interested in a commercial career with a connection to food, then this BSc Food Business and Marketing with Foundation is the degree for you.

This four-year programme includes a foundation year that leads directly into the three-year BSc Food Business and Marketing course. It provides an excellent route to a degree in marketing if you do not have the typical entry requirements.

Foundation year

The foundation year will provide you with the skills and knowledge to succeed at university. You’ll develop core skills in academic study, writing and research.

Your subject-specific studies will focus on basic principles in:

  • mathematics
  • business management
  • economics
  • psychology.

Your learning will be delivered through a combination of lectures, tutorials, practical classes and workshops.

A foundation year is more than just a stepping-stone to a degree. You will also benefit from:

  • access to our full range of facilities and resources
  • full integration into university life, before your degree year begins
  • experience of an academic environment, and the ability to work independently
  • specialist support and guidance.

Learning

After successful completion of your foundation year, you’ll progress onto our three-year BSc Food Business and Marketingdegree.

It develops skills in business management, marketing and economics designed to address key food industry challenges. You will have the chance to apply these skills to live food business problems. Working as part of a team, you will develop a research proposal to address a real food business brief, carry out the research and present your findings to the company. If you're thinking of starting your own food business, this course also offers opportunities to gain entrepreneurial skills and insight.

An exciting part of the course is a marketing research project, which enables you to work as a consultant for a real food business. Working as part of a team, you will develop a research proposal to address the client’s brief, carry out the research and present your findings to the company. Past projects have included a review of the pre-packed chilled deserts category for Waitrose and fairtrade awareness for the Day Chocolate Company. Other clients have included Sainsbury's, Hotel Chocolat, Procter & Gamble, Mars and United Biscuits.

During your final year, you will complete a dissertation on a food-related topic that covers at least one of the three major disciplines of the course (business management, marketing and economics). In the past, these have covered topics as varied as food insecurity in The Gambia and the importance of corporate ownership in consumer choice.

Accreditation

This course is recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) as an Accredited Degree, enabling graduates to receive exemptions from all but one module of the Certificate in Professional Marketing or Certificate in Professional Digital Marketing qualification, or exemptions from all but two CIM modules for the Diploma in Professional Marketing qualification or Diploma in Professional Digital Marketing.

Placement

If you would like to take a placement year between your second and final year you should consider applying for our BSc Food Business and Marketing with Placement Year course. Placements can be located anywhere in the UK, and occasionally take place abroad.

You could work within a wide variety of areas including food product development, account management, category management, brand development and business administration. Recently students have worked at major companies such as Unilever, Warburtons, Mornflake and Waitrose.

You will be given advice and support for finding the ideal placement, writing a CV and interview skills by our dedicated placements officer. They will continue to support you throughout your placement year.

For more information about securing and completing a placement for your placement year, please visit our Important Information page.

For more information, please visit the Marketing website.

Entry requirements

Select Reading as your firm choice on UCAS and we'll guarantee you a place even if you don't quite meet your offer. For details, see our firm choice scheme.

Typical offer

CCD

We welcome applicants from non-traditional educational backgrounds (for example, mature students, students who study part-time or those who have studied at International Schools in the UK or elsewhere) and will consider applicants on a case-by-case basis.

International Baccalaureate

24 points overall

BTEC Extended Diploma

DMM

Extended Project Qualification

In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) provides to students for University study, we can now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with no component below 5.5

For information on other English language qualifications, please visit our international student pages.

Alternative entry requirements for International and EU students

For country specific entry requirements look at entry requirements by country.

Pre-sessional English language programme

If you need to improve your English language score you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.

  • Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme

Structure

  • Foundation year
  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3

Sample modules may include:

Compulsory modules:

  • Mathematics Foundation
  • Foundation in Academic Skills 

Optional modules:

  • Economics
  • An Introduction to Business and Management
  • Mathematics Foundation
  • Information Systems and Statistics
  • Foundation topics in psychology 

Please note that all modules are subject to change

 

Core modules include:

  • The Food Business
  • The Fundamentals of Business and Marketing
  • The Economic Environment
  • Research and Professional skills for Business and Marketing
  • Global Sustainability: Challenges and Prospects

Optional modules include:

Options from a list drawn from across the University including:

  • Digestion and Nutrition
  • Student Enterprise
  • Consumer Psychology
  • International Development
  • Law and Society
  • British Society

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Core modules include:

  • Applied Marketing and Management
  • Research Methods and Data Analysis
  • Branding Theory and Practice
  • Food Retail Marketing
  • Food Choice and Regulation
  • Either: Consumer Attitudes and Behaviour or Digital Marketing

Optional modules include:

  • Practise of Entrepreneurship
  • Financial Management
  • Foreign Languages (IWLP)

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Core modules include:

  • Marketing Strategy
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Regulation of the Food Industry
  • Either: Independent Research Project or Applied Marketing Project

Optional modules include:

  • Human Motivation
  • Contemporary Issues in Consumer Behaviour and Marketing
  • Human Resource Management
  • Marketing Communication
  • Cross Cultural Marketing
  • Entrepreneurial Project
  • Digital Entrepreneurship
  • IWLP language module
     

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250

New international students: £20,300

*UK/Republic of Ireland fee changes

UK/Republic of Ireland undergraduate tuition fees are regulated by the UK government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.

EU student fees

With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read the UK government’s guidance for EU students.

Additional Costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Careers

As a graduate of this course you will leave with a range of specialist and transferable skills, including tools for market and business analysis, qualitative and quantitative research enquiry, and an understanding of consumer behaviour and marketing and business strategy.

You will be well-placed to move into a range of key business roles within the food industry and other sectors. These can include marketing, brand management, category management, retail management, supply chain management, sales, buying, policy analysis and production development. Previous students have gone on to work for a wide range of companies, both big and small, including Mars, Sainsbury's, Kellogg's, Unilever, and Heineken.

Alternatively, you may choose to move into other careers, such as banking, accountancy or teaching. This degree is also an ideal stepping-stone for postgraduate study.

Contextual offers


We make contextual offers for all our courses.

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