BA (Hons) International Business with Communications Studies

Key information

Degree

Types of study

Full time

Duration

Three or four years depending on entry qualifications

Start date

September 2025

Faculty

Nottingham University Business School China

Study model

4+0

Note: For the 2+2 study model courses, the student will spend the last two years at our UK campus. For the 4+0 study model courses, the student will spend the entire degree programme in Ningbo, China with 'study abroad' opportunities from year three.

Introductory video

VZan

566609

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for our programmes vary depending on your school qualifications, which determine your entry into either the preliminary year (Year 1) or qualifying year (Year 2). Please visit here for more detailed information.

*Entry for Mainland Chinese students is through the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, commonly known as Gaokao.

Course overview

This course provides you with a broad education in the theory of and practice of business management, with an emphasis on international business issues, language and communications. The combined degree aims to provide a better understanding of the way in which organisations might be made to operate more effectively in the communications-dominated contemporary world.

The business element of the degree is based on a set of core modules: organisational behaviour, strategic management, marketing, finance and accounting, and international business. Communications studies cover language, culture and media as well as information technology-related communication subjects.

This course is an excellent foundation for a wide range of careers in business and industry and the media. It will equip you with a range of skills and knowledge that will be of practical use in a challenging global work environment.

Special features

A combined degree that aims at preparing students for doing business effectively in a communications-dominated world
A wider range of career options in the business sector and the media.

Course structure

The degree is offered as a three or four-year programme depending on your entry qualification.

For domestic students the course structure follows the Chinese higher education system and is based on a four-year program. For international students, with relevant qualifications, the course structure follows the UK higher education system and is based on a three-year programme.

Preliminary year modules

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The preliminary year is designed to help you develop your English language skills so that you can make the most of your degree programme.

This special English language programme designed by the English for Academic Purposes experts at the University's Centre for English Language Education is carefully integrated with academic content modules so that you are prepared fully for years two to four of your degree programme.

*Note:

This year is not compulsory for students with appropriate qualifications for year two entry.

Compulsory

Students (excluding International students) must take all modules in this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
CELEN048	Reading and Writing in Academic Contexts	20	Autumn
CELEN069	Oral Communication Skills A	10	Autumn
CELEN042	Introduction to Business Economics	20	Autumn
CELEN121	Critical, Creative, and Reflective Thinking	10	Autumn
CELEN082	Oral Communication Skills B	10	Spring
CELEN051	English in Specific Academic Contexts a (Arts & Social Science Pathways)	20	Spring
CELEF002	Introduction to Information Technology For Business	10	Spring
CELEN041	Introduction to Business & Management	20	Spring
	Credit Total	120

International students must take all modules in this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
CELEF008	Introduction to Academic Skills	10	Autumn
CELEN109	Introduction to Statistics for Business and Economics A	10	Autumn
CELEN107	Introduction to Mathematics for Business and Economics A	10	Autumn
CELEN121	Critical, Creative, and Reflective Thinking	10	Autumn
CELEN042	Introduction to Business Economics	20	Autumn
CELEN110	Introduction to Statistics for Business and Economics B	10	Spring
CELEN108	Introduction to Mathematics for Business and Economics B	10	Spring
CELEF007	English for Specific Academic Purposes: Business and Economics	10	Spring
CELEF002	Introduction to Information Technology for Business	10	Spring
CELEN041	Introduction to Business & Management	20	Spring
	Credit Total	120

Qualifying year modules

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Compulsory

Students must take all modules in this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI1116	Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice	20	Full Year
BUSI1114	Business Economics	20	Full Year
BUSI1088	Work and Society	10	Autumn
INCM1032	Communication and Technology	20	Autumn
BUSI1086	Organisational Behaviour	10	Spring
BUSI1130	Principles of Marketing	10	Spring
INCM1030	Communication and Culture	20	Spring
	Credit Total	110

Restricted

Group1:

Students must take 10 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI1087	Quantitative Analysis for Business	10	Autumn
BUSI1074	Quantitative Methods 1b	10	Autumn
	Credit Total	20

Additional Module Choice Information for Qualifying Year

Students must choose either Quantitative Methods 1b (BUSI1074) or Quantitative Analysis for Business (BUSI1087) as one of their options. If students wish to pursue a more financial route through the degree, Quantitative Methods 1b (BUSI1074) is a pre-requisite for many finance modules in Parts I and II. It should be noted that a Grade C at A level mathematics (or equivalent) is a pre-requisite for Quantitative Methods 1b. Any student who has done Gaokao also meets the requirements for BUSI1074 and cannot take BUSI1087.

Year 3 modules

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Compulsory

Students must take all modules in this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI2178	Marketing Management	20	Autumn
INCM2028	Cultural Analysis	10	Autumn
BUSI2181	Technology and Organization	20	Spring
INCM2029	Public Relations and Propaganda	10	Spring
	Credit Total	60

Restricted

Group1：

Students must take a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 40 from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI2105	Quantitative Methods 2A	10	Autumn
BUSI2120	Corporate Entrepreneurship	10	Autumn
BUSI2124	Introduction to Management Science for Business Decisions	10	Autumn
BUSI2179	Human Resource Management with International Perspectives	20	Autumn
BUSI2180	Industrial Economics I: Economics of Organisation and Innovation	20	Autumn
BUSI2128	Analysing organisations	10	Autumn
BUSI2189	Introduction to Business Programming	10	Autumn
BUSI2197	Macroeconomic Growth, Cycles and Policy	10	Autumn
	Credit Total	100

Restricted

Group2:

AND students must take a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 40 from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI2182	Industrial Economics II: Pricing and Decision Making	20	Spring
BUSI2183	Firm Strategy and Internationalisation	20	Spring
BUSI2107	Introductory Econometrics	10	Spring
BUSI2109	Introduction to Business Operations	10	Spring
BUSI2131	Marketing Analytics	10	Spring
BUSI2140	Principles of Taxation	10	Spring
BUSI2194	Introduction to Modelling and Simulations	10	Spring
BUSI2132	The Consumer Psychology of Brands	10	Spring
BUSI2129	Managing Across Cultures	10	Spring
BUSI2190	Trends in Work and Organisations	10	Spring
	Credit Total	120

Group3:

AND students must take a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
INCM2025	Understanding the Chinese Creative Industries	10	Autumn
INCM2032	Translating Cultures	10	Spring
	Credit Total	20

Restricted

Group4:

AND students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 20 from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
LANG1062	General French Through Tourism 1A	10	Autumn
LANG1064	German Language and Culture 1A	10	Autumn
LANG1066	Communicative Japanese 1A	10	Autumn
LANG1068	Spanish Language and Culture 1A	10	Autumn
LANG1084	Mandarin Listening and Speaking 1A	10	Autumn
LANG1070	Korean Language and Culture 1A	10	Autumn
LANG1063	General French Through Tourism 1B	10	Spring
LANG1065	German Language and Culture 1B	10	Spring
LANG1067	Communicative Japanese 1B	10	Spring
LANG1069	Spanish Language and Culture 1B	10	Spring
LANG1085	Mandarin Listening and Speaking 1B	10	Spring
LANG1071	Korean Language and Culture 1B	10	Spring
	Credit Total	120

Restricted

Group5:

OR students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 30 from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI1113	Fundamentals of Financial and Management Accounting	20	Full Year
BUSI1112	Business Law	20	Full Year
BUSI1070	Business Finance	10	Spring
	Credit Total	50

Additional Module Choice Information for Year 3

Language modules (from Group 4):

must be same language
10 credit maximum per semester
Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German and French offered, subject to availability
language assessment test for suitability required

Students require 120 credits (minimum 90 credits at level 2 or above).

Normally 60 credits are taken per semester. University rules permit 70 in one semester, 50 in the other. Consider carefully and seek advice before doing this. It is not always permitted in year of Exchange: consult Exchange Coordinator.

In addition to the listed modules, the following modules will also be offered.

In Autumn semester:

BUSI2122 Doing Business in China A (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity, aimed primarily at international students)
BUSI2199 Industry Project_Autumn (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity)

In Spring semesters:

BUSI2123 Doing Business in China B (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity, aimed primarily at international students)
BUSI2200 Industry Project_Spring (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity)

Year 4 modules

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Compulsory

Students must take all modules in this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI3188	Strategic Management: Perspective, Process and Practice	20	Full year
BUSI3189	Business Ethics and Sustainability	20	Full year
BUSI3194	International Business Environment and Strategy	20	Autumn
BUSI3209	Capstone Project	20	Full Year
	Credit Total	80

Restricted

Group1:

Students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 20 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI3101	Corporate Restructuring and Governance	10	Autumn
BUSI3115	Logistics and Supply Chain Management	10	Autumn
BUSI3118	Marketing Services	10	Autumn
BUSI3119	Advanced Calculus for Business, Economics and Finance	10	Autumn
BUSI3195	Globalization and innovation in China	10	Autumn
BUSI3211	Big Data Marketing	10	Autumn
BUSI3213	Entrepreneurial Management	10	Autumn
BUSI3214	Performance Management and Compensation	10	Autumn
	Credit Total	80

Restricted

Group2:

Students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 20 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits	Taught
BUSI3196	Economics of Regulation and Public Choice	20	Spring
BUSI3116	Management of Quality	10	Spring
BUSI3145	Digital Marketing	10	Spring
BUSI3124	Stochastic Calculus and Numerical Analysis	10	Spring
BUSI3120	Strategic Innovation Management	10	Spring
BUSI3146	Brand Management	10	Spring
BUSI3144	Issues in Contemporary Leadership	10	Spring
BUSI3199	Managing Headquarters – Subsidiary Relationships	10	Spring
BUSI3198	International Alliances	10	Spring
	Credit Total	100

Restricted

Group3:

AND students must take a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 40 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits		Taught
INCM3047	Documentary and Reality		20	Autumn
INCM3088	Hollywood and Chinese Cinema		20	Spring
INCM3045	Media Management		20	Spring
INCM3046	Digital Games as Communication		20	Autumn
	Credit Total		80

Restricted

Group4:

AND students must take a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 20 credits from this group

Code	Title	Credits		Taught
LANG2055	General French Through Tourism 2a		10	Autumn
LANG2057	German Language and Culture 2A		10	Autumn
LANG2059	Communicative Japanese 2a		10	Autumn
LANG2061	Spanish Language and Culture 2a		10	Autumn
LANG2077	Mandarin Listening and Speaking 2A		10	Autumn
LANG2063	Korean Language and Culture 2A		10	Autumn
LANG2056	General French Through Tourism 2b		10	Spring
LANG2058	German Language and Culture 2B		10	Spring
LANG2060	Communicative Japanese 2b		10	Spring
LANG2062	Spanish Language and Culture 2b		10	Spring
LANG2078	Mandarin Listening and Speaking 2B		10	Spring
LANG2064	Korean Language and Culture 2B		10	Spring
	Credit Total		120

Additional Module Choice Information for Year 4

In addition to the listed modules, the following modules will also be offered.

In Autumn semester:

BUSI2199 Industry Project_Autumn (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity)

In Spring semesters:

BUSI2200 Industry Project_Spring (compensatable, 10 credits, with limited capacity)

All credits of language modules, from Group 4, must be within the same language. Students will be required to take a language assessment to test their suitability for the language modules. One or more of: Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German and French will be offered, subject to availability. 10 language credits maximum per semester permitted.

Students must take 120 credits. At least 100 credits must be at level 3. Although 60 credits per semester is the normal allocation, University rules permit 70 credits in one semester and 50 in the other. This variation from the norm requires careful consideration and it is sensible to seek advice.

*For the most up-to-date and detailed course structure, please refer to the online course catalogue.

Careers and further study

The majority of our graduates were employed by leading global companies such as Citi Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of China, PwC, KPMG, Deloitte & Touche, L’oreal, Wrigley, Siemens, Mars, Ogilvy & Mather, Nestle, Neilsen, and McKinsey.

For those who pursue further study in the class of 2018, 33.3% were admitted by World Top 50 universities according to QS Ranking. Examples of further study destinations include the Australian National University, the University of Manchester and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Fees

Chinese Mainland students

100,000 RMB / year (2024 Entry)

China's Hong Kong, Macao & Taiwan students

100,000 RMB / year (2024 Entry)

International students

120,000 RMB / year

Scholarships, sponsorships and bursaries

To encourage academic excellence, we offer a comprehensive and expanding range of full and partial scholarships.

Historically nearly 30% of our undergraduate students were awarded scholarships for their entry. Once enrolled, current students are eligible for additional merit and/or performance-based scholarships and awards, which covers approximately 32.5% of our whole student body.

Please check here for scholarship types and policies for applicants from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas countries. If you are a mainland Chinese student, please visit the Chinese language prospectus.