Overview
BSc Marketing (including foundation year) is open to Home and EU students. It will be suitable for you if your academic qualifications do not yet meet our entrance requirements for the three-year version of this course and you want a programme that increases your subject knowledge as well as improves your academic skills.
This four-year course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three years of study. During your Year Zero, you study four academic subjects relevant to your chosen course as well as a compulsory English language and academic skills module. You will spend Year Zero of your four year degree studying at our Colchester Campus. For your second, third and fourth year of study, you will be based at our Southend Campus.
You are an Essex student from day one, a member of our global community based at the most internationally diverse campus university in the UK.
After successful completion of Year Zero in our Essex Pathways Department, you progress to complete your course with Essex Business School.
This highly practical marketing course combines marketing theory with interactive projects, group work and business simulation games to explore the major issues facing marketers today. We develop your creativity, analytical and strategic decision making skills so you can maximise business performance in fast-moving, digitally connected and international markets.
You study topics such as:
- digital marketing and social media
- the principles of markets, marketing and selling
- marketing strategy and planning
- services marketing
- business-to-business marketing
- consumer behaviour
- marketing communications
Your first year provides an introduction to essential business topics such as entrepreneurship, economics, accounting, finance, management and marketing. Upon graduation, you have the flexibility to continue your career in marketing, or pursue roles in other areas of business.
You undertake an independent research project in your final year, where you explore an area of marketing of your choice to build your marketing portfolio before you enter this fast-paced sector.
The University of Essex is one of just three UK universities to have received Q-Step Affiliate status, including for our BSc Marketing, to support the way we develop the quantitative skills of our graduates.
This means we can provide work placement bursaries to develop your skills in evaluating numerical evidence, analysing data and designing research. We also offer the opportunity to follow a specialised degree path, where you graduate with enhanced quantitative skills. These are evidenced on your degree transcript, to help give you the competitive edge in the graduate job market.
Years one to three of this course are taught at Essex Business School in Southend, one of the most entrepreneurial counties in the UK. Our research-led teaching ensures you learn about the latest academic thinking on issues affecting today’s business world. We’re focused on responsible management and sustainable business, with our students and staff joining us from all over the world.
Our expert staff
Our academics have a global understanding of business, specialising in both established and developing markets. They are at the forefront of entrepreneurship research and challenges effecting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and use this knowledge in their teaching to ensure your education is at the cutting-edge of real-world business issues.
Our staff specialise in areas including:
- Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
- business-to-business relationship marketing
- branding
- marketing management
- innovation and new product development
- social entrepreneurship
You’ll be guided by our expert staff for your studies in Marketing. Dr Kholoud Mohsen, lectures in in marketing and international business and her research focuses on; the international marketing strategies of emerging market firms, emerging markets MNEs and intra-firm integration mechanisms and their influence on marketing performance (effectiveness, adaptiveness, efficiency and creativity).
Specialist facilities
You will spend year zero (the first year of your four year degree) studying at our Colchester Campus. For your second, third and fourth year of study, you will be based at our Southend Campus.
Our BSc Marketing is based at our Southend Campus, in the heart of the Thames Gateway, one of the Government’s key areas for economic growth and a fitting location for entrepreneurial study. Essex has the highest number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, meaning you are ideally located for launching your business or gaining inspiration to take back home.
Southend-on-Sea combines the charms of a traditional seaside resort with the attractions of a vibrant, modern town. The town centre location gives you easy access to transport links, a host of restaurants, bars and shops, and is just a few minutes’ walk from the beach and world-famous mile-long pier. London Southend Airport is 15 minutes by taxi, but you can also reach it in just 5 minutes by train.
We are just an hour’s train journey from London which is, and always has been, a bastion of innovation. It fosters a creative climate with business incubators and accelerators feeding into Europe’s largest concentration of tech companies. 37 percent of Europe’s total unicorn companies are in the capital city which is one of the world’s richest and most open data cities.
When you choose our Southend Campus for your studies, you’ll have access to excellent, dedicated facilities, including:
- 24-hour computer suites and study pods
- extensive library
- employability support, events and initiatives
- study skills advice
- GP, dental practice and multi-faith chaplaincy
- our cosy SU Lounge, with pool tables and large-screen TV for socialising and relaxation!
The Hive Enterprise Centre is located close to Campus, providing access to networking events and business meetups that offer finance and marketing support for startups.
Your future
Skilled marketers are in high demand in the graduate labour market.
Many of our students go on to work in marketing departments or in specialist roles in marketing agencies straight after graduation as Essex Business School prepares you for the world of work from day one.
The BSc Marketing curriculum taught here embeds transferable employability skills in analysis, critical thinking, presentation and communication across all modules.
The Study Skills module in year one will develop your academic skills, while the Student Success modules in year two will build on what you learned in year one and so that you can easily step up to meet the growing academic demands of your second and final years. The Successful Futures module in year two will foster your professionalism and introduce you to the graduate recruitment process, including practical advice to excel at interviews and assessment centres.
Recent graduate destinations include:
- Relationship Manager at Footprint Digital – a fast-growing digital marketing agency
- Buyer at the John Lewis Partnership – the high-end department chain store
- Affiliate Marketing Analyst at KidStart – a save as you shop app for parents and children
The School will support you with a range of skills and careers opportunities, including: skills development workshops; employer talks; skills events and careers conferences.
BSc Marketing students can also take advantage of the services offered by the Student Development Team, including: careers advice; work experience; internships; placements; and voluntary opportunities.
Why we’re great
- You’re taught by world-renowned academics and expert guest speakers.
- You undertake a research project exploring an area of your choice instead of a dissertation.
- Guarantee your place on your chosen course if you successfully complete your foundation year at Essex.
