Pre-Masters in Business

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, seminars, practical activities, etc. Interactive workshops take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through discussion and small group activities.

Seminars enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics covered in lectures, and laboratory practical sessions are focused on developing subject specific skills and applied individual and group project work. In addition, meetings (both individual and group) with personal academic tutors are scheduled throughout the academic year.  

Contact time

You will have a total of 32 hours of contact time per week arranged between classes and independent study.  

Typically, class contact time will be structured around eight hours per week for 12 weeks per semester including: 

•  Information giving, facilitated discussions, small group work, presentations.
• Practical skills – the opportunity to practice group facilitation, presentation, communication and listening skills.
• Visiting speakers and opportunities to visit other settings are regular features of the course. 

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, students are responsible for their own learning and are expected to undertake around 24 hours of independent learning per week in addition to directed learning and preparation for assessment.

This involves reading and research to further develop the material encountered in class. Independent study encourages skills such as critical thinking in selecting material to support learning, time management and prioritisation.

Typically, this will involve reading, researching, preparing for group work, rehearsing presentations, preparing for assessments and exams.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources.

Duration

• 1 year full-time

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration.

Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience and business leaders and employers.

Teaching is informed by research and consultancy, and many lecturers are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy. Teaching is informed by the research and consultancy work carried out by staff and staff profiles can be view at the WBS Staff Profile Page. 

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments. Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessment which is graded and counts towards the overall module grade.

A typical formal summative assessment pattern, for a full-time student is:

Semester 1

• 1 Diagnostic test
• 3 Group presentations
• 1 Exam
• 1 in class quiz
• 2 Individual project
• 1 Portfolio/journal

Semester 2

• 2 Individual essays/report
• 1 Exam
• 2 Portfolio/journal
• 2 Group presentation
• 1 Individual project

All assignments will be internally marked and moderated as well as being externally examined as per the University of Worcester assessment policy.

Feedback

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate.

We will provide you with feedback on formal course work assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.

Specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and how these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.