Course Overview
This degree provides you with a broad set of skills and knowledge needed to support modern organisations. You'll begin to specialise after your first year, choosing from a wide range of modules designed to stretch and challenge you and equip you with the skills you need to start a successful career or to serve as a basis for further study.
In your first year, we build on the maths you did at school, introducing techniques and approaches that help organisations to plan and make better decisions. You will learn to think statistically and analyse data. You'll learn how to make forecasts and how to use data to understand complex behaviour and you'll be introduced to the operations and strategic business contexts in which these ideas can be applied. You will also have the opportunity to take a 'live' module, working in small teams to deliver a project for a client in the Lancaster area.
You choose to specialise at the end of the first year, selecting a main track from Business Analytics; Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management; Project Management; and Information Systems. We encourage you to also take a few modules from other tracks alongside modules in your main subject.
The Business Analytics track provides you with the mathematical tools that develop practical, numerate and computer-based modelling skills. The Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management track includes: Supply Chain Management, Purchasing, Forecasting, Inventory Planning, Risk Analysis and many other relevant topics aimed at developing your understanding of specific business problems faced by operations managers.
On the Project Management track, you'll learn project management and consultancy skills to implement ideas in practice, encouraging all employees to participate in change.
If you decide to follow the Information Systems track, you'll learn more about designing and managing the computer-based systems on which most organisations depend in the digital economy.
You will spend the third year of this four-year degree on a supervised placement in industry.
Related Courses
Modules
Lancaster degree programmes are flexible, offering compulsory and optional modules. We are committed to continually improving our programmes and as a result the below module list will be subject to change.
Part 1 (year 1)
- Introductory Analytics and Statistics
- Introduction to Project Management
- Introduction to Operations Management
- Introduction to Operational Research/Management Science
- Introduction to Accounting and Finance
- Principles of Economics
- Introduction to Marketing
- Management and Organisation
- Entrepreneurship: Key debates and concepts
Part II (year 2)
- Statistical Methods for Business Analytics
- Spreadsheet Modelling for Business Analytics
- Consultancy Project Skills
- Optimisation
- Quality and Risk Management
- Supply Chain Management
- Business Modelling and Simulation
- Managing Projects
- Introduction to Financial
- Marketing Fundamentals
- Research @ Work
Year in Industry (year 3)
Part II (year 4)
- Negotiation and Decision Support
- Structuring Complex Problems
- Leading Projects and Change
- Data Mining for Direct Marketing
- Demand Forecasting and Revenue Management
- Advanced Spreadsheet Modelling for Business Analytics
- Developing Business Information Systems
- e-Business
- Strategic Management
- Dissertation
Lancaster University offers the chance to follow a structured study programme or the option to devise a more flexible programme. We divide academic study into 2 sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). In Part 1 you will take three modules of study which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects, a higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster visit our Teaching and Learning section.
For further information about the department, staff and courses please visit the Management Science department website.
Entry Criteria
A-level: AAB (Maths/Stats)
Scottish Highers: ABBBB
International Bacc: 35 pts overall with 16 pts from best three HL courses
BTEC: Overall grades DDD/DDM
Mature students: Applicants welcome and usually interviewed. Please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office (01524 592028) for further information
IELTS: 6.5
Careers
The benefit of a business analytics and consultancy degree is its wide application across the business world. Our graduates work for large and small companies around the world, in a variety of roles. The skills you gain from your degree are highly sought after to solve business problems and improve decision making. For example in the travel industry, business analytics are used to help airlines ensure that staff and aircraft are where they are needed, or in deciding variable room rates for hotel companies. Business analytic skills can also help banks and finance companies weigh up credit risks to determine lending policies.
Even within the health sector, business analytic skills are valuable to help healthcare providers keep waiting times down and improve services. Supermarkets use business analytics to plan their stock and manufacturers rely on analytics to ensure that their products are made when their customers need them, at the right price and quality. Roles in any of these situations are possible with a business analytics and consultancy degree.
Lancaster University is dedicated to ensuring you not only gain a highly reputable degree, you also graduate with the relevant life and work based skills. We are unique in that every student is eligible to participate in The Lancaster Award which offers you the opportunity to complete key activities such as work experience, employability awareness, career development, campus community and social development. Visit our Employability section for full details.
Lancaster Management School has an award winning careers team to provide a dedicated careers and placement service offering a range of innovative services for management school students. Our high reputation means we attract a wide range of leading global employers to campus offering you the opportunity to interact with graduate recruiters from day 1 of your degree.
Studying
Teaching and Learning Methods
At Lancaster we offer a broad range of learning environments which include the traditional lecture-tutorial , interactive workshops, laboratory and practical activities, student-led seminars and web-based delivery.
The modules which make up a programme of study are assessed using a variety of different methods, enabling students to demonstrate their capabilities in a range of ways. Typical coursework assignments include laboratory reports, essays, literature reviews, short tests, poster sessions, group work assessment and oral presentations. Formal examinations include short answer questions, essays and data analysis. Students are supported in the production of final year project reports and dissertations. Details of the assessment methods for individual modules can be accessed via the university's online module catalogue.
In addition to these learning and teaching methods we encourage independent study, meaning you take responsibility for your own learning. For more information visit our Teaching Approach page.
Assessment Methods
We offer you a variety of stimulating and effective approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. This enables you and your tutors to explore the very latest thinking within your subject and develops your skills in problem solving, analysis and critical reflection, communication, application of knowledge and modern technologies.
As a University, we commit to providing all our undergraduates with a minimum number of contact hours per week, providing you with timely feedback on your work and a maximum number of 15 students per seminar group.
Funding
Lancaster University has committed £2.7m in scholarships and bursaries to help with your fees and living costs. Our financial support depends on your circumstances and how well you do in your A-levels (or equivalent academic qualifications) before starting study with us.
Lancaster University's priority is to support every student to make the most of their life and education. For students starting their study with us in 2013, over 600 each year will be entitled to bursaries and/or scholarships to help them with the cost of fees and/or living expenses. For UK students entering in 2013 we will have the following financial support available:
- An Academic Scholarship of £2,000 for the first year of study to any student from the UK entering with A*, A*, A or equivalent academic qualifications
- An Access Scholarship of £1,000 per year for all UK students from households with an income of less than £42,600 who achieve grades of A*, A, A or the equivalent academic qualifications
- A Lancaster Bursary of £1,000 per annum for all students from England with a household income of more than £25,000 but less than £42,600
- As part of the National Scholarship Programme, a £1,000 Bursary, a £1,000 Fee Waiver and a £1,000 Accommodation Discount in the first year of study, for students from England with a household income of less than £25,000. Plus a Lancaster Bursary of £1,000 in subsequent years.
*All of the financial awards above are subject to approval by the Office for Fair Access July 2012.
For full details of the University's financial support packages including eligibility criteria, please visit our fees and funding page
View details of our current Undergraduate fees.
