BA (Honours) Business Management

Ready to become a future leader, step into a new career, or even launch your own company? Our business management degree is designed to match your ambitions, equipping you with the knowledge, confidence and essential skills you'll need to make your next career move. You'll learn the building blocks of how businesses operate and the strategy and structure that lead to success. You can tailor your degree to what matters most to you – from general business management to accounting, marketing, leadership, innovation or economics.

You'll be learning from experts at a top triple-accredited business school:

Earn your degree from a triple-accredited business school:

Key features of the course

• Tailor your studies to your career ambitions with specialist routes
• Apply business theory to real-world challenges and roles
• Gain a solid understanding of how modern organisations of all shapes and sizes operate
• Develop essential skills needed for successful careers in the competitive business sector
• Gain your degree from an elite triple-accredited global business school (AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB)

We also offer a Diploma of Higher Education in Business and Management (W51) that is the same in structure as the first two-thirds of this degree; similarly, our Certificate of Higher Education in Business and Management (T27) corresponds the first third.

Entry Requirements

There are no formal entry requirements to study this qualification.

With the exception of the Accounting route, there is the option to study a mathematics module at Stage 1. Whether that module is right for you will depend on your experience and confidence with mathematics. Visit our Open Mathematics and Statistics website for information and to try some diagnostic quizzes.

Career relevance

The skills and knowledge gained from this degree can open doors to various career paths. Business management graduates are well-equipped for roles in:

• middle and senior management across sectors
• advertising and marketing
• accountancy
• human resources
• banking, including investment banking
• sales and retail
• management consultancy
• business journalism
• transport and logistics.

Accreditation

The Open University Business School is one of the few institutions worldwide that are triple-accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA), the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). These are internationally recognised quality standards which independently validate the quality of the School's teaching, research and operations. The School undergoes regular reviews to ensure that standards are maintained and has successfully retained its triple accredited status since 2004. This qualification is accredited through inclusion in these reviews.

Classification of your degree

On successfully completing this course, we'll award you our BA (Honours) Business Management.

If you choose specialist route, your degree title will show that:

• BA (Honours) Business Management (Accounting)
• BA (Honours) Business Management (Economics)
• BA (Honours) Business Management (Innovation and Enterprise)
• BA (Honours) Business Management (Leadership Practice)
• BA (Honours) Business Management (Marketing)

The class of honours (first, upper-second, lower-second or third) will depend on your grades at Stages 2 and 3.

You'll have the opportunity to attend a degree ceremony.

International recognition

If you intend to use your Open University qualification to seek work or undertake further study outside the UK, we recommend checking whether your intended qualification will meet local requirements for your chosen career. Find out more about international recognition of Open University qualifications.

Accessibility

Our qualifications are as accessible as possible, and we have a comprehensive range of support services. Our BA (Honours) Business Management uses a variety of study materials and includes the following elements:

• Online study – most modules are online; some have a mix of printed and online material. Online learning resources could include websites, audio/video, and interactive activities
• Pre-determined schedules – we'll help you to develop your time-management skills
• Feedback – continuous assessment includes feedback from your tutor and using this to improve your performance
• Using and producing diagrams and screenshots
• Finding external/third-party material online
• Specialist software
• Mathematical and scientific expressions, notations and associated techniques
• Online tutorials
• Group-work
• Practical work

Every module has its own Accessibility Statement with more detailed accessibility information – you'll find these on individual module descriptions. Visit our Disability support page to learn about our services.

Credit transfer

If you have already studied at university level, you may be able to count it towards your Open University qualification – which could save you time and money by reducing the number of modules you need to study. At the OU we call this credit transfer.

It's not just university study that can be considered, you can also transfer study from a wide range of professional or vocational qualifications such as HNCs and HNDs.

You should apply for credit transfer before you register, at least 4 weeks before the registration closing date. We will need to know what you studied, where and when and you will need to provide evidence of your previous study.

For more details of when you will need to apply by and to download an application form, visit our Credit Transfer website.