
Online MBA - MBA
Currently viewing course to start in 2024/25 Entry. Switch to 2023/24 Entry
The MBA can transform your professional career and develop your leadership potential. The MBA has been designed to reflect the increasing emphasis on management skills and abilities arising from today's market developments and explores the complexity and diversity of business in an increasingly interconnected and multi-cultural world.
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Distance Learning
- Location Online Learning
- Award MBA
- Start date October 2024, January 2025
- Fees View course fees
- School Birmingham City Business School
- Faculty Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences
This course is:
Open to International Students
Overview
The MBA can transform your professional career and develop your leadership potential.
The MBA has been designed to reflect the increasing emphasis on management skills and abilities arising from today's market developments and explores the complexity and diversity of business in an increasingly interconnected and multi-cultural world.
What's covered in this course?
You will be expected to develop critical analytical skills in assessing the current and developing environment for business; identify new business opportunities and analysing markets; deal with complex issues systematically and creatively; and communicate clearly to a range of audiences.
You will continue to work full-time in a business while learning and applying theory to practice to enhance your career development prospects. The MBA covers a blend of fundamental and in-depth senior management skills across leadership and management, and is designed for proactive career focused individuals who can progressively apply their learning, demonstrating impact, by producing a portfolio of evidence meeting the knowledge, skills and behaviours required of a senior leader.
Why Choose Us?
- Our flexible online delivery means that you can study with us full-time or part-time, and at a time that suits you, from almost anywhere in the world. See ‘course in depth’ to find out more.
- You'll get an opportunity to reflect upon and assess your learning throughout the course using the journal function in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
- Our module structure encourages critical thinking by studying ‘real world’ scenarios, be they on-going or complete. Linking these examples back to your own business will allow you to see new solutions and opportunities you may not have previously envisioned.
- The course provides an innovative student experience with a professional user interface.
- You have the option to take the course over two years, meaning that you can study for an MBA and advance your opportunities without interrupting your career.
- This distance MBA course gives you the opportunity to study alongside professionals from around the world, giving you otherwise unavailable insight into a diverse range of international businesses and how they operate.
OPEN DAY
Join us for an on-campus Open Day where you'll be able to meet us in person. Booking for the next event isn’t open yet. Register your interest below and we’ll email you as soon as booking goes live.
Next Event: 29 June 2024
Entry Requirements
We require one of the following:
Essential Requirements
Essential |
---|
An honours degree of a British University or equivalent institution (minimum 2:2) |
An equivalent graduate level qualification from an overseas university or equivalent institution (minimum 2:2) |
A pre-masters programme approved by Birmingham City University |
A pre-masters programme with a minimum of 55% average |
*Other qualifications will be considered on a case by case basis.
Additional information for EU/International students
Essential | ||
---|---|---|
Applications from international applicants with equivalent qualifications are welcome. Please see your country page for further details on the equivalent qualifications we accept. In additional to the academic entry requirements listed above, international and EU students will also require the qualifications detailed in this table. |
||
English language requirements 2020/21 | ||
IELTS |
6.0 overall with 5.5 minimum in all bands If you do not meet the required IELTS score, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English courses. Please note that you must have a Secure English Language Test (SELT) to study on the pre-sessional English course. More information. |
|
Other accepted qualifications | Visit our English language page |
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MBA
Starting: Oct 2024
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Distance Learning
- 1 Year
- £10,500 in 2024/25
- Distance Learning
- 2 Years
- Show fees
- £1167 per 20 credits
- Year 1 - 80 credits
- Year 2 - 100 credits
Fees for Distance Learning students
This course can be studied on a Distance Learning study basis. The cost per year of study is based on credit requirements for that year.
Award: MBA
Starting: Jan 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Distance Learning
- 1 Year
- £10,500 in 2024/25
- Distance Learning
- 2 Years
- Show fees
- £1167 per 20 credits
- Year 1 - 80 credits
- Year 2 - 100 credits
Fees for Distance Learning students
This course can be studied on a Distance Learning study basis. The cost per year of study is based on credit requirements for that year.
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MBA
Starting: Oct 2024
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Distance Learning
- 1 Year
- £10,500 in 2024/25
- Distance Learning
- 2 Years
- Show fees
- Year 1 - 80 credits
- Year 2 - 100 credits
Fees for Distance Learning students
This course can be studied on a Distance Learning study basis. The cost per year of study is based on credit requirements for that year.
Award: MBA
Starting: Jan 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Distance Learning
- 1 Year
- £10,500 in 2024/25
- Distance Learning
- 2 Years
- Show fees
- Year 1 - 80 credits
- Year 2 - 100 credits
Fees for Distance Learning students
This course can be studied on a Distance Learning study basis. The cost per year of study is based on credit requirements for that year.
Personal statement
You’ll need to submit a personal statement as part of your application for this course. This will need to highlight your passion for postgraduate study – and your chosen course – as well as your personal skills and experience, academic success, and any other factors that will support your application for further study.
Not sure what to include? We’re here to help – take a look at our top tips for writing personal statements and download our free postgraduate personal statement guide for further advice and examples from real students.
Course in Depth
Modules
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 180 credits):
This module emphasises the acquisition of the key personal and professional skills essential for an on-going and effective career in business and organisational management in any sector of economic activity. These will include the skills expected by employers in key areas such as self-awareness and improvement, effective business communication, group work and team building, intercultural awareness, negotiation skills, business networking and working with technology. How we manage our own personal competences and their development will be a key determinant of how effective we will be in managing and leading others in any organisation.
This module will look at organisations, people and culture from a number of perspectives, and will require you to apply theories, models and concepts of managing human resources. There will also be particular interest in the strategic aspect of managing people in organisations. The module creates the space for you to apply a number of concepts in Strategic HRM in contemporary cases of known international organisations.
All managers, but especially those with budget responsibilities, need to understand the key principles of financial accounting, management accounting and finance. They should also be aware as to how these principles are commonly applied to their own functional responsibilities and the acknowledged limitations of their use in analysis and interpretation. Such financial ‘literacy’ in the construction and interpretation of the various balance sheets is a key attribute for successful management across a wide range of activities and sectors as it underpins and guides the investment and financing decisions of managers. An ability to manage financial performance helps all managers become more confident when participating in decision making and in the assessment of projected financial outcomes.
The module reviews the strategic approaches available to all organisations, whatever their size or sector of activity. Strategic intent offer the organisations the long-term direction. By the way of this module, an attempt is made to define, understand and apply three elements of the strategy, namely the ‘long term’, ‘direction’ and ‘organisation’ in both national and international contexts. The ‘long term’ is usually defined in terms of actions spanned across several years and up to even a decade in the future. ‘Direction’ involves issues such as transfers between sectors of economic activity, e.g. print to electronic media within publishing. ‘Organisation’ can include many types, a small and medium sized enterprise, a multinational, not-for-profit enterprise or a public sector organisation.
The module is designed to provide you with a thorough grounding on how organisations might deal with various aspects of innovation and how the development of a robust strategy for innovation can lead to sustainable competitive advantage. A key thrust of this programme of study is that achieving a sustainable competitive strategy, particularly in the context of disruptive change, is dependent upon organisations fostering a culture of innovation and creativity. The module is designed to allow aspiring managers to improve innovation capacity in their current and future careers. It will help managers to develop an understanding of how context influences performance and how organisations must change and learn as their context changes. It will identify the role that innovation and creativity plays in organisational learning and development.
The module explores the diverse range of activities that comprise the marketing management role, both nationally and internationally in scope. The success of new products may often depend less on the intrinsic characteristics of the product than on the marketing decisions you or your colleagues make, especially given the increasing importance of reaching new markets beyond national borders The module evaluates a wide range of marketing approaches and techniques to reach global markets, including the use of social media, with extensive case study analysis. The module will help you develop and implement marketing plans and strategies both in domestic and international markets. Whilst widely seen as part of the marketing function, attention will also be paid to the analysis and evaluation of promotion and sales techniques and strategies.
The purpose of the Research Project module is to provide a framework for you to undertake a substantial piece of disciplinary-relevant research. It is founded upon Birmingham City Business School’s teaching and learning philosophy which integrates theory and practice.
Download course specification
Download nowDelivery
This course is delivered fully online, enabling you to study at a time that suits you. Each 20-credit module is studied over ten weeks. You don’t have to attend any face-to-face sessions, and delivery of course materials is done through our e-learning platform, Moodle.
You can choose to study with us full-time over one year or part-time over two years. As a guide, you should be allowing around 16 hours a week for part-time study, on average, as a combination of directed study (engaging with the online materials) and personal study.
Please see our Online Learning FAQs for more information on what to expect when studying with us.
Assessment
You will be assessed throughout your course, with assignments set at the end of each module. Assessment will be primarily by coursework, e.g. essays, research papers, reports, presentations, reflective journals, portfolios or posters. However, some modules may also have online exams.
Employability
Unlike undergraduate degrees, which are designed to get students into industry, our MBA degrees are aimed at existing industry professionals looking to climb further up the career ladder.
Companies around the world are now looking for a different kind of manager. They need people with different skillsets that can look at situations and opportunities in unique ways. Our MBA degrees are designed with industry experts to equip you with in-demand skills and tools to stand out from the rest.
Upon completion, you will be able to effect positive change, both in your own professional practice, and within your organisation. On a personal level, you’ll be able to utilise new skills and methods to improve your efficiency, your critical engagement, leadership skills, and your ability to instigate and manage change successfully.
Successful improvements in your personal professional practice will then benefit your organisation. The MBA degree alone can open doors, but the possibilities opened to you by utilising your skills to improve your organisation are even more impressive.
Already a managing director, in charge of your own company? The MBA degree can still benefit you internally and externally. The knowledge and skills you will pick up over the course of your degree can allow you to become an industry leader, growing your company’s reputation through innovation. The accompanying benefits of this could help cement your company’s industry position for years to come.
International
Welcome to the Birmingham City Business School, home to students from over 70 countries all around the world!
Birmingham City Business School is one of the UK’s largest, most established and most respected business schools. Our programmes are practice based and many have an international focus, which means your course will be entirely relevant to today’s business world. Almost all of our courses, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level, are open to international students.
We also have links with universities across the world, including Europe, the USA, China, India and Malaysia.
International ServicesOur international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:
- Explore some of the good reasons why you should study here
- Find out how to improve your language skills before starting your studies
- Find all the information relevant to applicants from your country
- Learn where to find financial support for your studies
The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.
Facilities & Staff
Our Online MBA course is delivered through the Moodle online learning resource, with online study materials to guide you through the appropriate topics, as well as providing links to other resources. You will also need textbooks, and a full reading list is provided with each module syllabus.
Although it is taught by distance learning, you will still have regular contact with your module tutor via virtual sessions, email or telephone to support students with the learning materials or coursework. You also have access to all the facilities at our City Centre Campus.