Foundation Year Foundation in Business

This is your introduction to the institutional culture, practices, norms and expectations of higher education and will help you to develop effective academic research and communication skills both written and oral. Also you’ll focus on listening, notetaking and seminar skills that you’ll progress while exploring pastoral, social and sustainability subject areas. You will gain confidence in critical, strategic and collaborative thinking Education for Sustainable Development (Education for Sustainable Development competencies) through a variety of learning activities that encourages self awareness.

Study the basic concepts, theories and importance of culture and communication in a globalised world. You’ll reflect on personal, consumer and global cultural identities and how these may impact on perceptions, behaviours and communication across human relations. Building your awareness of cultural diversity and intercultural competencies you’ll understand how to communicate effectively across cultures, and be able to identify the barriers to doing so. Also you’ll explore your own biases and the lenses through which the self and ‘other’ are viewed, contributing towards the development of key skills for culture and thereby Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) literacy.

In this module you will explore business studies, including some of the core areas and concepts associated with the study of business. You’ll look at people’s motives for setting up in business and the different types of businesses they can create, as well as an introduction to marketing and some of the ways in which businesses promote themselves and their products.

You will learn how business performance is measured; including an introduction to cash flow forecasts and the profit and loss account. Finally you’ll study how businesses organise their workforce and manage people at work, including the application of some of the most influential theories and practices associated with motivation.

This module will introduce you to the transferable skills and techniques used in environmentally and socially critical thinking through the exploration of issues of local and global concern. These skills will be put into practice through critical thinking and a problem-solving task. You will develop your argumentation skills using the A-C-R method. You will discuss conspiracy theories and misinformation and logical fallacies will be examined. In addition, you will learn how to conduct primary research at a basic level and complete preliminary ethics approval paperwork. You will develop your report writing skills, your ability to present information visually and your communication skills. All of this will help you question the prevailing norms, practices and opinions of key stakeholders that have contributed to these problems. and those that are most impacted by them.

Plan, research and submit an original paper on an interdisciplinary topic of sufficient depth to demonstrate your understanding of the conventions governing the presentations and submissions of academic papers in British Higher Education. The module will help you to develop your research, academic, personal literacies and your critical self-awareness. For you to gain confidence in critical thinking competency for Education for Sustainable Development. It will also help you to work as an autonomous learner, effectively planning and managing your own time and studies, in preparation for your undergraduate study.

Learn the basic principles of economic analysis and how to apply them to the real-world situations facing businesses and consumers in the UK and elsewhere. You will develop competencies in applying basic economic concepts and theories with confidence, communicating in the language of economics. Also you’ll learn how to analyse and assess economic issues impacting on business operations and decisions using appropriate economic concepts and theories as well as the use of diagrams.

This module aims to help you contextualise economic issues within wider concerns including current and emerging social and environmental issues as well as the way economic thinking is framed and contested.

This is your opportunity to explore some of the key issues (e.g.urbanisation, poverty and social exclusion, environmental concerns and gender issues) within the field of Development Studies. You’ll also look at the factors causing poverty in countries defined as less developed.

Exploring the fundamentals of how sociology, human geography and economics interact in the process of development. You’ll study key topics that will teach you to draw on your own knowledge and experience where possible to evaluate the policies in pursuit of development, and to address the problems faced by least developed countries. You’ll build your skills in identifying and reflecting on some of the key social, economic and environmental issues that challenge sustainable development.

You’ll examine the major thinkers, theories and movements of the modern era (Enlightenment to modern day). You will have the opportunity to study and reflect on critically diverse theories of knowledge through weekly lectures, readings and seminar discussions. The thinkers and theories you study will reflect the various disciplines you’ll go on to study in the fields of Science, Humanities, Social Science and Business. You’ll explore and reflect on how these ideas from diverse disciplines are interrelated and can support sustainable development.

At the heart of this module on Global Issues is a deep concern for the future of people and the planet. You'll explore current global issues and will consider their causes and impacts. You'll be invited to reflect on how to drive the changes so urgently needed for a more equitable and sustainable future.

You'll explore three overarching areas: power, people and planet and will utilise the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UNESCO ESD competencies as a framework of reference. You'll also draw on theoretical models such as Systems Thinking and Futures Thinking that support a transformative learning approach to build the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) competencies that you'll need to navigate and respond to today’s ‘super-wicked’ problems.

By the end of this module, you'll be empowered with key skills of resilience, empathy and hope that are vital for working towards a fairer, fitter future.

Build your understanding and knowledge of the nature and function of the Travel and Tourism and Hospitality industries. Your study on this module will take into consideration:

• an historical overview
• the scale and scope of tourism
• the different types of tourism
• the sectors that the travel and + tourism industry comprise
• their role and function
• the importance of accommodation and hospitality in meeting the needs of tourists.

You will also explore the tourist gaze, sustainable tourism and the future of tourism to then critically reflect on them.

This module is compulsory for Foundation in Business students who have not met the GCSE Maths entry requirements for their undergraduate programme.

On this module you will study the knowledge, skills and understanding required to interpret mathematical information and carry out the mathematical and statistical activity necessary for your future studies.

This module will help you to develop your confidence with mathematics and statistics. You will build your skills in mathematical fluency, self-reliance and problem solving and how to apply your learning to your studies and in real life. The module adheres to the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) competencies of integrated problem solving and developing an awareness of real-world issues.

Build your foundational understanding of the basic characteristics of the English legal system such as the function of the courts, and key aspects of:

• Criminal law
• Contract Law
• and Tort Law.

Also you’ll develop awareness of the difference between law in theory and law in practice, as well as the purpose and limitations of the law, equality of access to the law and how the value of justice is treated. Justice is the core theme of UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.