In Year 1, you will learn about the fundamentals of business and management within an international business context. You also have the opportunity to study one of the many different languages offered at Oxford Brookes, which could contribute up to a quarter of your degree credits. On this course you will develop the skills necessary to prepare you for your future career. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t studied A-level Business Studies because the Foundations of Business module will provide the necessary grounding for the study of business. During the course you will also study economics and accounting.
In Year 2 and your final year you will focus on international management, critical thinking and international strategic enquiry, including such issues as how decisions are made in culturally diverse organisations, how resources are allocated to ensure success, and the challenges of long-term economic and environmental sustainability. In Year 2 you will also take a module to enhance your employability skills as you progress through your course in support of graduate employment opportunities.
The course culminates in the International Business Consultancy project. You will be able to consolidate and enrich your understanding of international business practice and incorporate an internationally based business project undertaken during the inter-semester gap. The project will take place either at one of our international partners or, for students who are unable to go abroad, in an international but UK-based setting.
Please note: the cost of this field trip is not included in your course tuition fee, and a separate fee will apply. Please email
business@brookes.ac.uk for more information.
Study modules
Please see the course structure chart.
As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you choose from may differ from those shown here.
Work placements
You can spend your third year on a work placement, which is a great opportunity to enhance your CV, preparing you for future employment. You will gain commercial and practical experience, and many students are offered graduate positions by their placement employer.
Students have enjoyed exciting and challenging positions at Danone, EDF Energy, IBM, Europanel, Samsung, Kantar Worldpanel, Nestlé, PayPal and other global organisations.
During your placement there is a fee which is paid to the university. It covers the cost of your placement tutor, and the support we provide whilst looking for a placement position and during your placement role.
Whilst on your placement you will still be classed as a student. You will be paid a financially sustainable salary which will vary depending on your role, company and location.
For more information about the fees please go to the Fees/Funding section.
Study abroad
To get the most out of your degree you are strongly encouraged to undertake an exchange for one semester at a partner institution abroad. During an exchange you will not only experience at first hand living and learning in a different culture but you will also earn credit towards your degree.
Great opportunities to study or work abroad
You may be able to go on a European or international study exchange while you are at Brookes. Most exchanges take place in the second year.
Studying abroad provides an amazing opportunity to add value to your studies by:
- Improving your employment prospects within an international market
- Boosting your language skills
- Building your confidence in adapting to new situations
- Improving your knowledge of different cultures
- While on exchange you will gain credits which count towards your degree.
We have more than 100 partner universities around the world. Funding is available through the Erasmus scheme, and also via some international programmes such as the Santander Student Awards.
There is also a European work placement programme which gives you the chance to work abroad as part of your studies.
For more information, visit our pages on studying abroad and exchanges.
Free language courses for students - the Open Module
Free language courses are available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.
Please note that the free language courses are not available if you are:
- studying at a Brookes partner college
- studying on any of our teacher education courses or postgraduate education courses.
Essential purchases
It's your responsibility to purchase core texts and cover print/binding costs where coursework submission is required. Please note that a lot of the coursework is now submitted online.
Programme changes
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published
on the website. For more information, please visit our
Changes to programmes
page.