MSc Business Management
This degree allows you to focus solely on general business, or to select optional modules in farm management, equine management, agriculture, or climate and natural resource management to contextualise your studies in a sector of your choice.
Course overview
The business world is complex, fast-moving and exciting, and demands high-calibre employees with strong management, marketing and financial skills. The ability to manage change, risk and people, and to develop sustainable business strategies is crucial. If you wish to develop your own enterprise then creative and entrepreneurial skills are needed too.
The MSc Business Management programme provides students with an academically rigorous and professionally relevant education that will serve your career needs. The degree combines essential management knowledge with relevant practical and professional skills to prepare you for the challenging business world.
In addition to gaining a solid business foundation, you have the option of focusing on pure business management modules or embedding your studies in a rural context by drawing on our portfolio of elective modules from agricultural, environment, agri-food, land-based disciplines. Students select three electives from a range available. To indicate the scope and scale of what is available, we provide the following examples:
- Agriculture and Farm Business Management specialism using Agriculture with Farm Business Management modules
- Small Scale Farming specialism using Small Scale Farming and Local Food Supply with Integrated Organic Systems modules
- Climate & Natural Resource Management specialism using Climate Change and Sustainability Management modules
This course is run by academics and practitioners who understand global best practice within their specialism. You will gain real-world experience from guest speakers working in the industry, and from assessments based on real problems.
UN Sustainable Development Goals: This programme has now been designed to foster greater knowledge and awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These goals are mapped to our modules to ensure that at each stage of the programme we are identifying how these goals can be developed as part of business strategy and managed within a business.
This is a dual qualification. Upon successful completion of the degree you will be awarded membership and a Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute, further enhancing your CV.
Accreditations and partnerships
We are delighted to work with a wider range of businesses, partners and accreditation organisations, some of which are shown below:
Course content
You will study nine modules in the autumn and spring terms; six core modules followed by three elective modules. The research project (dissertation) is then undertaken, to be submitted in August.
Modules are assessed through continuous assessment and final examinations.
The modules available for this course are shown below. They may change for your year of study as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.
Modules
- 4086 Financial Management: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of economic fluctuations in inflation, finance and unemployment, and understand how these affect business
- 4260 Marketing Strategy: Critically asses the context within which strategic marketing decisions are made
- 4261 Leadership & Personal Development:
- 4262 Sustainable Business Strategy: Investigate how businesses can embed sustainability into their core business models
- 4263 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning: Understand and critically evaluate the linkages between entrepreneurship and venture creation, development and growth
- 4413 Research Skills: Develop research competencies related to data collection and analysis
- 4414 Research Dissertation: Undertake an independent research project with guidance from a supervisor
Plus THREE additional modules, selected from (all modules 15 credits each):
- 3036 Advanced Equine Business Management:
- 3317 International Marketing: Explore the impact of the global environment on international marketing decisions
- 4015 Farm Business and Enterprise Management: Critically examine the financial performance of farming businesses
- 4023 Operations Management:
- 4038A Integrated Agricultural Systems: Explore complex systems including agroforestry, regenerative agriculture and vertical farming
- 4203 Small Scale Farming and Local Food Supply: Examine how small scale farmers contribute to food systems on a national and global scale
- 4278 Organic Systems: Understand the agroecological principles and practices of organic systems
- 4722 Climate Change and Sustainability: Critically assess the causes and impacts of climate change
The availability of electives to individual students will be dependent on timetabling considerations and on sufficient students electing to take part.
Disclaimer information
The University has established various rules and regulations that you must agree to and follow if you accept an offer to study with us. View our full disclaimer notice.
Careers and graduate destinations
Recent graduates have followed careers in:
- Wealth management
- Finance
- Marketing
- Farm management
- Equine business
- Consultancy
Our employers include:
- Old Mill
- Unilever
- ADM
- Millar Cameron
- Weatherbys
"For me, the greatest thing about the Business Management course at the RAU is the strong and practical focus on entrepreneurship and the opportunities to
gain insights into how entrepreneurship can look like in rural settings, both in the UK and internationally."Lloyd Buck, Student
Entry requirements
We welcome applications from applicants with non-standard qualifications who are able to demonstrate knowledge, experience (in management) and skills developed in the workplace or elsewhere and which are relevant to the programme of study. Applicants will need to use their personal statement to provide further details supported by a CV. All non-standard applications will be considered by the Programme Manager on a case-by-case basis and applicants can expect that an interview may be required as part of the admissions process.
If English is not your first language, you will need to reach the requirements outlined in our English language requirements for the level of study. For postgraduate taught programmes this is IELTS Academic min. overall 6.5 with no element below 5.5 (or equivalent). English language tests usually have a validity of 2 years from the date the test is taken.
Offers will typically be made in line with the academic requirements set out above. Offers can be conditional or unconditional. An unconditional offer will be made to applicants who have already met the conditions and provided evidence that conditions have been met. Where academic or language requirements have not yet been fulfilled, applicants will receive a conditional offer stating the requirements that must be met.
Fees
2024-25 Applicants
For the academic year 2024-25 the tuition fees for this course are:
| UK | Overseas/EU | |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time | £10,950 per year | £18,050 per year |
| Part-time | Fees are calculated on a pro-rata basis depending on the number of modules taken. Please refer to Tuition Fees webpage | Fees are calculated on a pro-rata basis depending on the number of modules taken. Please refer to Tuition Fees webpage |
Tuition fees may be subject to an inflationary increase each year as set out in our Access and Participation Plan 2019/20.
For full details, please visit the fees and funding webpage.
Please note: International students can study on a part-time basis only if they are in the UK with a different type of visa (other than Student Visa/Tier 4 General) that allows them to undertake part-time study and their visa does not expire prior to the end date of the proposed course of study.
Scholarships
The University offers a range of generous fee waivers and bursaries. To find out more about the scholarships, awards and bursaries available, please visit the scholarships webpage.
Apply now for September 2024 entry
Applications to study for postgraduate degrees need to be made directly through the University using the online application form via the website.
Alternatively, if you are unable access the online form you can call Admissions on 01285 889 912, or email admissions@rau.ac.uk.
We recommend applicants keep a copy of the completed form for their records.
Application deadline, September entry:
- EU and overseas applicants must submit their application the latest by 30 June 2024
- UK applicants should aim to submit their applications the latest by 1 September 2024
Results deadline, September entry:
- EU and overseas applicants will need to meet their conditions by 1 August 2024
- UK applicants will need to meet their conditions by 15 September 2024
If you are applying for a 2024 Chevening Scholarship you can submit your scholarship application prior to receiving a course offer. Further details can be found on the application timeline and eligibility criteria sections on the Chevening website.
Applicants will be notified via email once a decision has been made and decision letters will be emailed to you. If there is a deadline by which applicants must accept an offer of admission or pay a deposit, this will be stated in the offer letter.
Requests to defer the year of entry will be considered only when an applicant holds an Unconditional offer and need to be submitted in writing to the admissions team. We cannot guarantee that requests will be granted. Decisions on deferral requests are considered:
- For September entry at the end of August
If the deferral request is granted applicants will receive a new offer letter with tuition fees which are applicable to their year of entry, at the opening of the next admissions cycle.