MBA Master of Business Administration

For our students coming from a non-UK educational background, UCA has launched an Integrated International Pre-Masters year. 

On this course you’ll prepare for postgraduate study with a mix of online and face-to-face learning that will give you the study skills required to complete a Master’s, and you’ll also improve your English for academic study.

Postgraduate Bootcamp 1: Creativity & Orientation
Bootcamp 1: Creativity is designed to introduce you to the Business School for the Creative Industries’ learning community and professional global network orientation. Through a series of exciting and engaging fast paced workshops, tasks and peer sessions you will access resources, build relationships and develop a vision of the function of business for the creative industries.

Business Economics
Get a better understanding of economics – and how it applies to the real world – on this unit. Through your studies, you will learn how economic policy and the main economic value drivers are applied into business, so that you can better judge the decisions affecting the allocation of finance resources in business ventures or the smooth functioning of corporations.

Creative People & Organisations
The creative industries are highly important to the UK and the global economy. As people are a principal resource for any organisation, the strategic management of creative people is an essential skill to ensure that the creative enterprise flourishes at times of rapid technological and organisational change and global competition. This module is designed to provide an insight into the complex theories and contemporary management practice within the creative industries both in the UK and globally.

Strategy: Analysis & Evaluation
Throughout this unit, you will be expected to critically examine the strategic management processes for internationally oriented organisations, so they can remain competitive within an ever-changing and demanding global environment.

Marketing, Design and Communications
If we can understand branding as strategic, we can understand marketing as the tactical force employed to achieve specific business objectives sent from the brand. This unit is about how to understand branding in this way, so you can improve your own marketing, design and communication skills and investigate solutions to current issues within this industry sector.

Creative Industries: Global Industry & Futures
Delivered in parallel with the Creative Industries: Leadership unit, you will enjoy an integrated series of guest lectures, interactive presentations, fireside chats and engaging PechaKucha sessions scheduled across 45 weeks of programming. The focus of the series is your individual development providing rich insights applicable to your personal transformational learning journey and provides a holistic view of the global creative industries context and foresight for future trends.

Creative Industries: Leadership
Delivered in parallel with Creative Industries: Global Industry and Futures, this is another integrated series following the same format.

Postgraduate Bootcamp 2: Forecasting & Predictive Analysis
Through examples from empirical research, you will have an overview of main concepts, statistical models, methods, tools and underlying principles used to improve business decision-making. You will learn fundamentals of exploratory data analysis and how to aggregate and visualize datasets.

Human-centred Innovation & Design
Human-centred design (HCD) is a creative way to solve problems. It is a process of designing for people that begins with the people for whom you are developing ideas and ends with individual solutions to meet their needs. You will learn how to design and develop systems by applying HCD and innovation principles and techniques through various relevant activities in planning and management to satisfy user needs and requirements in business, social and global contexts.

Global Creative Industries
This unit will give you comprehensive knowledge of current theories and practices for managing business and process in a global context in the creative sectors. There is a strong focus on contemporary business and marketing concepts enabling you to position yourself and your practice within this constantly changing and demanding landscape.

Masters Project
The Masters Project is the culmination of your studies and is divided into two parts – a research proposal, and your final project. Both parts represent an in-depth investigation and requires you to approach a real problem or opportunity in your specialist area, analyse it, and then develop a tangible strategy and implementation plan, while applying contemporary concepts and frameworks from your studied programme.

Creative Industries: Global Industry & Futures
Delivered in parallel with the Creative Industries: Leadership unit, you will enjoy an integrated series of guest lectures, interactive presentations, fireside chats and engaging PechaKucha sessions scheduled across 45 weeks of programming. The focus of the series is your individual development providing rich insights applicable to your personal transformational learning journey and provides a holistic view of the global creative industries context and foresight for future trends.

Creative Industries: Leadership
Delivered in parallel with Creative Industries: Global Industry and Futures, this is another integrated series following the same format.

All students choose one unit from the following:

Strategy & Decision Making
Throughout this unit you will be expected to critically examine strategic management processes for internationally oriented organisations, and how decision-making affects this. You will be provided with a robust framework of replicable solutions for better decisions and awareness of decision traps, as well as learning how to assess and choose strategic options that can add value. 

Creative Business Start-Up
With the world ever-changing, the traditional rules of business no longer apply. The drive for innovation, creativity and agility are taking precedence. This unit explores the concept of developing creative businesses and the new paths for start-ups. You will analyse the evolution of business structures and explore the new market opportunities and challenges arising from geo-politics, trade relations and the global pandemic. And you will use research to scope out new concepts designed to fulfil rising market trends such as inclusivity, diversity, and cultural differences to create and capture value.

Investment in the Creative Industries
This unit covers the various means of investment in the creative industries. You will explore availability and access of funds through loans, grants, scholarships from government and council schemes to industry organisations and trade bodies, as well as from private equity investors. You will also explore and challenge business/financial models and future landscapes.

Operations & Risk in the Creative Industries
In the continuously evolving world of business, business operations are often subject to potential risk issues. This is due to various error-contributing factors including human, machines, and finance etc. You will explore sources of potential operational risks within creative organisations, by identifying contemporary features embodying or characterising these risk factors within a range of creative organisational contexts. You will also explore diverse risk management models that can effectively be used to manage operational risk occurrences. The unit will also inform on ways to plan, design, and implement risk assessment strategies to help organisations cope with potential risk occurrences.

Postgraduate Bootcamp 3: Competitive Intelligence & Research
Bootcamp 3: Competitive Intelligence Research is designed to familiarise you with the gathering and analysis of competitors, customers, distributors, technologies, and other relevant stakeholders and features in the environment for proactive decision making in the face of threats and opportunities.

Masters Project
The Masters Project is the culmination of your studies and is divided into two parts – a research proposal, and your final project. Both parts represent an in-depth investigation and requires you to approach a real problem or opportunity in your specialist area, analyse it, and then develop a tangible strategy and implementation plan, while applying contemporary concepts and frameworks from your studied programme.

Creative Industries: Global Industry & Futures
Delivered in parallel with the Creative Industries: Leadership unit, you will enjoy an integrated series of guest lectures, interactive presentations, fireside chats and engaging PechaKucha sessions scheduled across 45 weeks of programming. The focus of the series is your individual development providing rich insights applicable to your personal transformational learning journey and provides a holistic view of the global creative industries context and foresight for future trends.

Creative Industries: Leadership
Delivered in parallel with Creative Industries: Global Industry and Futures, this is another integrated series following the same format.

All students choose one unit from the following:

Trends & Forecasting
Staying ahead of your customer is vital to commercial success. In this unit, you will learn both perceptive and analytical approaches to trends research, as well as key theories. Then, from the context of your subject discipline, you will interrogate this methodology within your area of specialism and adapt it to gather and validate insights pertinent to your industry.

Business Analytics
You will explore how to acquire, process, analyse and interpret data to provide meaningful value for creative organisations, and look at how data is used in the creative industries, how AI and machine learning are advancing this area, and what the future may look like for the creative industries.

Global Logistics & Supply Chain Management
Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management is critical for all global organisations, whether business, government or non-profit, where connections to other organisations exist within a network of relationships. This unit examines the processes of supply, production, and distribution that transcend organisational boundaries to make other strategic objectives possible in a globalised marketplace.

Tuition fees - Jan and May 2024 entry

UK students:

• MBA course - £13,900

EU students:

• MBA course - £13,900 (see fee discount information)

International students:

• Integrated International Pre-Masters course (30 weeks) - £17,500
• Integrated International Pre-Masters course (15 weeks) - £8,750
• MBA course - £18,500

Tuition fees - Sept 2024, Jan and May 2025 entry

UK students:

• MBA course - £13,900

EU students:

• MBA course - £13,900 (see fee discount information)

International students:

• Integrated International Pre-Masters course (30 weeks) - £17,500
• Integrated International Pre-Masters course (15 weeks) - £8,750
• MBA course - £18,500

Further information
The fees listed here are correct for the stated academic year only. For more detailed information about our course fees and any financial support you may be entitled to please see our fees and finance pages.

Financial support

There are lots of ways you can access additional financial support to help you fund your studies - both from UCA and from external sources.

Discover what support you might qualify for please see our financial support information

UCA scholarships and fee discounts

At UCA we have a number of scholarships and fee discounts available to assist you with the cost of your studies.

You'll find everything you need to know for your level of study on our scholarships page.

Additional course costs
In addition to the tuition fees there may be other costs for your course. The things that you are likely to need to budget for to get the most out of a creative arts education will include books, printing costs, occasional or optional study trips and/or project materials.

These costs will vary according to the nature of your project work and the individual choices that you make. Please see the Additional Course Costs section of your Course Information for details of the costs you may incur.

You may want to undertake further study or a research degree to specialise even more.

MBA course

• A good honours degree or equivalent qualification in the subject or a related discipline
  
  

and

• Two years' relevant work experience, demonstrating your ability to study at postgraduate level.

Consideration will also be given to applicants who can make a strong case for admission in relation to a particular project and can demonstrate their potential to satisfactorily complete the course.

Portfolio requirements

This course does not require a portfolio.

MBA course

The entry requirements will depend on the country your qualifications are from, please check the equivalent qualifications for your country:

• Non-UK equivalent qualifications

Any additional entry requirements listed in the UK requirements section, e.g., subject requirements, work experience or professional qualifications, also apply to international applicants applying with equivalent qualifications.

Portfolio requirements

This course does not require a portfolio.

MBA course with Integrated International Pre-Masters course

• A recognised bachelor degree or 3 year diploma with a strong portfolio in a relevant subject.

Any additional entry requirements listed in the UK requirements section, e.g., subject requirements, work experience or professional qualifications, also apply to international applicants applying with equivalent qualifications.

Portfolio requirements

This course does not require a portfolio.

English language requirements

To study at UCA, you'll need to have a certain level of English language skill. And so, to make sure you meet the requirements of your course, we ask for evidence of your English language ability, please chcek the level of English language required:

• English language requirements

MBA course

• A good Honours degree or equivalent qualification in the subject or a related discipline

And

• Two years' relevant work experience, demonstrating your ability to study at postgraduate level.
  
  

Consideration will also be given to applicants who can make a strong case for admission in relation to a particular project and can demonstrate their potential to satisfactorily complete the course.

Check the equivalent qualifications for your country and the English language requirements:

Any additional entry requirements listed in the UK requirements section, e.g., subject requirements, work experience or professional qualifications, also apply to international applicants applying with equivalent qualifications.

MBA course with Integrated International Pre-Masters course
A recognised bachelor degree or 3 year diploma with a strong portfolio in a relevant subject.

MBA course
MBA course with Integrated International Pre-Masters course

These courses don’t require a portfolio.