University News Last updated 24 June 2013
Birmingham City University’s commitment to graduate employability has stepped up a gear thanks to the introduction of a unique scheme that offers students and businesses the opportunity to partner up in a work-based degree. It launches September 2013.
Birmingham City Business School (BCBS) is the first in the region to provide organisations with the opportunity to train and develop high calibre students as future management potential.
Prospective students will be offered the opportunity to obtain a degree, whilst they are in paid work, and pay no course fees. Organisations, who are also able to place their existing staff onto the degree, will act as ‘sponsors’ to their employee on the programme, and will work with academics at BCBS to build a tailored programme to blend in with the training and development needs of the organisation.
The new BA (Hons) Leadership and Management Practice sponsored (Work Based) degree will operate over a two year (fast track) or three year (conventional) cycle, and will be enrolled after a ‘work-like’ interview and assessment centre process; as opposed to the normal UCAS system.
Vanessa Clarke, Director of the Undergraduate Leadership Development Programme at the university, said: “This exciting new programme provides an innovative approach to learning in the workplace and is the first of its kind within the West Midlands region to focus on student employability and practical skills within a business context.”
Jerry Robinson, Head of HR at Greene King, one of the UK’s leading brewers, praised the work that BCBS does. He said: "The great thing about BCBS is that they make it real for people. The course content is directly connected to what our managers are doing in the workplace.
"I think the work-based degree is a great programme and there should be good demand for a degree course with such sector relevance. Companies need to take a longer term view of management development and the BCBS courses address a real need to develop graduate managers and prepare them for moving into future roles."
The BA (Hons) Leadership and Management Practice degree has been designed with businesses, to offer an academically rigorous degree that is practically based, developing graduates with high potential and who have the confidence and capability to make an immediate and effective impact in an organisation upon graduation. Company’s participating in this programme sponsor students on the course, by paying the university academic fees, which are subject to negotiation. Statistics show that overall investment of participating in the degree is efficient relative to the cost of recruiting, training and retaining graduate talent from conventional campus based university programmes.
Organisations or students interested in taking part in the programme can contact BCBS for more information on 0121 331 6228 or contact Vanessa Clarke at Vanessa.Clarke@bcu.ac.uk.