Marketing BA (Hons) at Northumbria gives you the specialist knowledge, creative thinking, and analytical skills to understand what drives consumer decisions and turn that insight into effective, real-world marketing strategy.
Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing and housed within an AACSB double-accredited business school, you'll gain comprehensive training across the breadth of the discipline, covering consumer psychology, digital strategy, brand management, global communications, and data-driven marketing.
Two-thirds of your study is dedicated to specialist marketing content, with optional modules in your second and final year giving you the freedom to tailor your learning to your own interests and career ambitions. The remaining third grounds you in core business disciplines, building the commercial awareness and analytical confidence to make your mark.
This extended degree offers an alternative route into higher education if you don't meet the standard entry requirements. Your foundation year builds a strong academic foundation while exploring business issues, from strategy and marketing to entrepreneurship and responsible management, and you can apply themes in an end of year project.
This year, the focus is on core marketing principles and broader business knowledge, covering financial decision making, quantitative analysis, and global communications. By the end, you'll be equipped to apply marketing theory to real-world business problems.
Specialist marketing studies take centre stage, covering digital business, market research, and buyer behaviour, with optional modules to tailor your studies. By the end, you'll be ready to tackle complex marketing problems with confidence.
Your optional placement or study abroad year gives you the chance to apply your marketing skills in a professional or international setting, building industry experience and broadening your perspective ahead of your final year.
In your final year, specialist modules cover responsible marketing and marketing metrics, before culminating in a dissertation, management enquiry, or consultancy project giving you an opportunity to apply theory to practice before graduation.
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This extended degree offers an alternative route into higher education if you don't meet the standard entry requirements. Your foundation year builds a strong academic foundation while exploring business issues, from strategy and marketing to entrepreneurship and responsible management, and you can apply themes in an end of year project.
This year, the focus is on core marketing principles and broader business knowledge, covering financial decision making, quantitative analysis, and global communications. By the end, you'll be equipped to apply marketing theory to real-world business problems.
Specialist marketing studies take centre stage, covering digital business, market research, and buyer behaviour, with optional modules to tailor your studies. By the end, you'll be ready to tackle complex marketing problems with confidence.
Your optional placement or study abroad year gives you the chance to apply your marketing skills in a professional or international setting, building industry experience and broadening your perspective ahead of your final year.
In your final year, specialist modules cover responsible marketing and marketing metrics, before culminating in a dissertation, management enquiry, or consultancy project giving you an opportunity to apply theory to practice before graduation.
Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.
You will learn how financial information can be used to assist managers and external user groups in their decision-making processes. You will initially look at the informational needs of outside user groups, the nature of the information they are provided with, and how this information can be analysed and interpreted in order to enhance the effectiveness of their decision making.
Topic areas will include:
• The reporting frameworks and ethical principles that underpin financial reporting
• The nature of international financial reporting standards
• Format and content of the statement of profit or loss and statement of financial position
• The statement of cash flows
• Analysis and interpretation of financial statements using ratio analysis
You will then examine how financial information can facilitate managers in making operational decisions in relation to planning and control.
Topic areas will include:
• Costing (full and variable costing)
• Cost, volume, profit analysis
• Relevant costs for decision making
• Budgeting and variance analysis
• Balance scorecards
• Working capital management
Finally, you will explore the motivations for entrepreneurial activity and techniques that can be used to appraise investment decisions.
Topic areas will include:
• Investment appraisal techniques (payback, accounting rate of return, net present value and internal rate of return)
• Practical aspects of investment appraisal (inflation and capital rationing)
• Risk and uncertainty
In this module, you will develop the knowledge and skills in applying a variety of quantitative data analysis techniques to support business decision making. You will be introduced to business modelling using appropriate analytical tools, and your learning will cover a range of techniques to help business forecasting and data presentation.
In this module you will be exposed to a range of data analysis tools and skills, including:
• Business Analysis and Modelling: management of complex and varied data sets; building spreadsheet models.
• Data Trends and Associations e.g. identifying relationships between business variables.
• Business Forecasting and Predictive Modelling – analysing factors and trends for business planning.
• Business and Dashboard reporting – consolidation, interpretation and presentation of data for professional output.
• Data distribution, data presentation and using summary statistics – handling a range of data for statistical analysis.
• Gaining an understanding of the overlap between business and research data and the selection of appropriate tools for management of both types of data.
Working with these analysis tools, you will learn to develop confidence in dealing with a wide range of data sets. You will become familiar with the role of modelling as an aid to problem solving and will build skills which enable you to interpret data and present your findings to a range of audiences. Very importantly, you will gain a good understanding of the crucial role that analysis of data and interpretation of results plays in the decision-making arena.
Your programme aims to ensure that you are learners for business, not just of business, upon graduation. This module starts you on this journey by supporting your professional development. It aims to increase your awareness of and sensitivity to personal and employability/entrepreneurship/enterprise skills. It does this by focusing on programme-specific graduate career opportunities that require you to work on projects similar to those that graduates within your field will undertake once in employment. You are taking an experiential, team-focussed, project/problem-based approach. The module will support you in identifying and developing the essential skills, behaviours, and understanding required to sustainably and responsibly manage organisations and their people. These might include generic areas such as leadership, project management, management, resilience, empathy and professional judgment, and discipline-specific capabilities.
You will use this understanding to evaluate, practise, develop and re-evaluate your capabilities in these skills, behaviours and acumen areas, enabling you to build your own graduate identity. This approach underpins your successful future employability, entrepreneurship or enterprise activity. In addition, the activities provide you with authentic insights into the importance and challenges of team-working within organisations as you work to address real organisations’ issues.
Learner/team-led, tutor-guided sessions aim to support you in enhancing your employability and upon building your graduate identity. During the practical development of the key attributes and behaviours central to your future success within your chosen profession within a project-based environment, you will receive support from the programme team. In addition, by documenting and reflecting upon your progress towards achieving your own team defined KPIs, you will enhance your skills, behaviours, capabilities, and understanding.
In short, at the end of this module, you will:
• Have an understanding and increased awareness of, and sensitivity to, those personal skills and attributes which are central to your future employability in your chosen profession or future entrepreneurial or enterprise activity
• Be better prepared to understand the skills and qualities required by graduates in your field to secure future employment or engage in enterprise activity
Have practical experience of working on a real-life business project appropriate to your programme area, improving your project management, research, employability and collaboration skills
As part of your marketing education, it is vital you develop competencies such as commercial awareness, analytical skills, interpersonal skills, creative thinking, problem solving, communication and time management. This module will prepare you for your degree and the graduate marketplace by equipping you with the skills required to tackle a wide range of marketing problems.
This hands-on module will provide you with an introduction to experiential learning, where you create knowledge through experience. You will work on live business projects and collaborate in teams to develop solutions to business problems. A core part of this process is reflection: appreciating your own skills, how they complement those of other group members and identifying areas for your own future development.
This module will complement ‘Introduction to Marketing’, where you will be focused on learning the core principles of the marketing subject. In this module you will apply these to business cases and also learn research and communication skills that will set you up to tackle future marketing modules.
This module will examine a range of contemporary global marketing communication concepts within the current vibrant world trading environment. Within this module you will analyse the differences within aspects of local and international marketing planning. It will provide you with an understanding of key academic debates and marketing tools and will enable you to appreciate the multifaceted structure of global marketing and communications decisions.
This module will address a range of global marketing areas, more specifically will explore the following themes:
• Introduction to International Macro Environment
• Global trading environment: globalisation, localisation, glocalisation
• International marketing research
• Cross cultural issues
• Adaptation of marketing mix in the global context
• International marketing communication strategies
• International advertising and communication messages
• Traditional and digital media in global environment
• Ethical considerations in global marketing
• Global electronic marketing tools and strategies
This module will introduce you to the business philosophy and practice of marketing. It will examine how organisations can analyse and segment markets to improve performance and profitability by building long-term relationships with their customers. A wide range of marketing decisions is studied together with the influence of the changing marketing environment on these decisions.
Main lectures will introduce the basic theories of marketing:
• The Marketing Environment
• Consumer & Organisational Behaviour
• Target Marketing & Segmentation.
• Marketing Information Systems & Research.
• Dimensions of a Product, Branding and Product Life Cycle.
• Pricing Theory; strategies and tactics.
• The Promotional Mix: Advertising, PR, Direct & e-Marketing.
• Marketing channels
Whilst seminars and topical lectures will apply marketing theory to different case scenarios:
• Service Marketing
• Not for profit Marketing
• Food marketing
• Digital Marketing
• Environmental Marketing
• Sustainable Marketing
You will develop your understanding of academic conventions in UK higher education aligned to your level of study, including expectations around critical analysis, structure, argumentation, evidencing, and referencing. The module focuses on developing communication strategies that will help you express your ideas clearly and coherently in written assignments and spoken activities. You will also reflect on your current academic and language skills and develop strategies for development ahead of your assessments.
In this module you will experience a comprehensive coverage of research methods and analysis that will prepare you both for work placement or study abroad opportunities alongside preparation for your final-year “capstone” research module of either Dissertation, Management Enquiry or Consultancy Project.
You will learn how to develop a research question, and linked to this, be able to choose an appropriate method of research, dovetailing both learning experiences to the development of a critical assessment of the academic literature. You will gain a basic understanding of research philosophy, whilst the coverage and importance given to research ethics will play an important part of your learning within the module and you will appreciate as part of your learning how this underpins research of quality and integrity. The role of Ethics in research will cover study design, participant selection, data collection, data handling and storage and presentation of research findings.
You will learn how to apply quantitative and qualitative methods. In the quantitative applications, you will learn about questionnaire design, sampling, presenting and summarising data, statistical inference and hypothesis testing. You will have the opportunity to use a range of appropriate software tools, such as SPSS (or an equivalent). You learn to as well appreciate the importance of survey and questionnaire piloting. In the qualitative part of the module, techniques covered will include interviewing, focus groups and visual methods to generate data, supported by appropriate analysis methods. You will learn how to execute a critical and effective analysis of your research data for both approaches,
Designed specifically for non-Human Resources specialists the HRM Essentials module will take you on a journey through the modern organisation offering you the opportunity to understand how Human Resource Management contributes to the strategic direction of organisations in varying industries and sectors. Building on the level 4 module ‘People, Management and Organisations’, this module is relevant to all those whose careers will involve dealing with and managing people in organisations. Managers are often considered the key link in ensuring the successful implementation of HR processes, and likewise, the support of the HR function is required to ensure that managers operate fairly and consistently within best practice guidelines. Managers are likely to play a key part in several core HR processes in order to ensure that they have the right people in their teams who are able to perform effectively. Thereby an understanding of Human Resources underpins effective management practice. ‘HRM Essentials’ provides a practical overview of each of these core areas, providing a broad grounding in HR practice ranging from recruitment and selection to performance and reward, and learning and development to absence and wellbeing.
This module will not only provide you with the key theoretical arguments in Human Resource Management but will also encourage you to apply this learning to practice and reflect on your own personal skill development in implementing effective HR processes which will be invaluable to you in your future graduate management role.
Throughout this module you will be introduced to the opportunities and challenges posed by doing business in an increasingly digital domain. This module is designed to give you an understanding of how using online channels impacts upon different parts of the organisation, and will focus upon 3 core areas of business:
• Digital Business Models: You will develop an understanding of the cost structures associated with using digital channels and different business models (including omnichannel business strategies)
• Digital Marketing: In this part of the module you will consider how consumer behaviour has changed in the digital era, and evaluate the ever-increasing range of digital tools available for marketers online. This will include understanding Google search rankings, social media and mobile marketing.
• Supply Chain Management and Information Systems: You will also develop an appreciation of the role of supply chains in serving global markets, addressing issues such as the application of various systems to facilitate digital transactions (e.g. ERP, CRM) and issues related to web performance.
You will be encouraged to think about digital business as a cross-disciplinary issue that requires the buy-in and contribution of various business functions to truly succeed.
The aim of this module is for you to develop a comprehensive understanding of the roles of ‘Marketing Planning’ and ‘Marketing Research’ in a successful organisation. Having already developed basic skills in research, this module will provide you with an understanding of how marketing planning and marketing research can assist managers, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in their relentless pursuit of gaining competitive advantage.
First, the basics of marketing research are presented, enabling you to develop skills in applied qualitative and quantitative research. You will then learn the fundamentals of marketing planning, underpinned by the core components of the marketing mix and analysis frameworks and will then learn how to use marketing research in order to underpin marketing planning.
Upon completion of the module, you will be able to:
• Describe and explain the key theoretical terms and concepts of marketing research. You will furthermore receive first-hand experience of qualitative and quantitative marketing research in the interest of developing qualitative and quantitative marketing research skills.
• Describe and explain the key theoretical terms and concepts of marketing planning. In addition, you will have the appropriate skills to develop research-driven marketing plans.
• Make use of qualitative and quantitative research findings in the development of evidence-driven marketing strategy and marketing plans.
Optional modules may include:
Optional modules may include:
This module will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of how marketers can monitor and analyse the effectiveness of their marketing activity. Whilst marketers have always attempted to assess the effectiveness of their campaigns, the digital explosion now offers an almost limitless range of data through which to measure performance.
This module will consider the most suitable metrics for both online and offline marketing activity. Specifically, the module will address the following core themes:
- Overall Marketing Metrics: You will cover classic marketing metrics including return on investment and market share as a means of assessing overall marketing success. You will also consider how marketers can use external sources of market data to inform strategic marketing decisions.
- Offline Metrics: Here you will consider an array of techniques used to measure the success of traditional offline marketing channels. For example, you will utilise metrics such as brand awareness and opportunities to see (OTS) in the context of advertising and advertising value equivalent (AVE) for public relations.
- Online Metrics: You will interpret a range of online metrics used to assess digital marketing techniques. This will include an appreciation of Google Analytics and other dashboards that assess the effectiveness of email and social media marketing.
- Reporting: You will develop skills in how to interpret and present data in a way that can influence other business stakeholders.
The module provides students with a comprehensive understanding of concepts, theories and techniques in the context of strategic marketing, responsible marketing and sustainability. The intension is to support the development of knowledge and skills required to undertake strategic analysis of markets and organisations and formulate a competitive, responsible marketing strategy. A contemporary approach to marketing is adopted throughout the module, as you will have the opportunity to learn and discuss the concepts that have changed the way we perceive marketing today. In doing so you will examine, both theoretically and practically, a number of areas associated with responsible marketing strategies, such as:
Theme 1 Contemporary Strategic Marketing
• Marketing Audit and key trends that impact on marketing and the society
• Contemporary Marketing Research and Planning
• New product development and Disruptive Innovation
• Service-Dominant Logic and Value co-creation/Co-destruction
• Developing and implementing appropriate marketing strategies and metrics
Theme 2 Responsible Marketing
• Ethics and Sustainability in a marketing context
• Responsible Marketing strategies and Sustainable Development Goals
• Sustainable Consumer Behaviour and Ethical Consumerism
• Sustainability, Ethics and New Media
• The Future of Sustainability and Responsible Marketing
On completing the module, you will be able to critically evaluate the usefulness of marketing knowledge in the context of responsible business and sustainable consumer behaviour and apply theory to develop appropriate marketing strategies. You will also develop the skills required for effective Integration of learning from marketing and other business areas into a plan for solving business problems.
Optional modules may include:
Standard Offer 112 UCAS Tariff Points
From a combination of acceptable Level 3 qualifications which may include: A-level, T Level, BTEC Diplomas/Extended Diplomas, Scottish and Irish Highers, Access to HE Diplomas, or the International Baccalaureate.
Find out how many points your qualifications are worth by using the UCAS Tariff calculator: www.ucas.com/ucas/tariff-calculator
Contextual Admissions 96 UCAS Tariff points
Northumbria University is committed to supporting all individuals to achieve their ambitions and we understand that every applicant’s circumstances can be different, which is why we take a flexible approach and assess your individual circumstances and potential when reviewing your application.
To find out more, review our Northumbria Entry Requirement Essential Information page for further details www.northumbria.ac.uk/entryrequirementsinfo
GCSE Requirements:
Applicants will need Maths, Statistics, or Physics and English Language at minimum grade 4/C, or equivalents.
International Qualifications:
We welcome applicants with a range of qualifications which may not match those shown above.
If you have qualifications from outside the UK, find out what you need by visiting www.northumbria.ac.uk/yourcountry
English Language Requirements:
International applicants should have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.0 with 5.5 in each component (or an approved equivalent*).
*The university accepts a large number of UK and International Qualifications in place of IELTS. You can find details of acceptable tests and the required grades in our English Language section: www.northumbria.ac.uk/englishqualifications
The UK tuition fee for 27/28 is £10,050 and is set in line with the UK Government's tuition fee cap. The University may increase this fee in subsequent years in line with any changes to the tuition fee cap. Students will be notified of any increase ahead of it taking effect.
The remaining fees for 27/28 are to be confirmed and relate to the International Soccer Academy and accommodation fees. Accommodation fees may increase in subsequent years. Students will be notified of any increase ahead of the re-issuing of tenancy agreements.
The University may increase tuition fees in the second and subsequent years of your course at our discretion in line with any inflationary or other uplift, as decided by the UK Government, up to the maximum amount for fees permitted by UK law or regulation for that academic year. To give students an indication of the likely scale of any future increase, the UK government has suggested that increases may be linked to RPIX (Retail Price Index excluding mortgage interest payments). If the University intends to exercise this right to increase tuition fees, notification will be communicated with all students affected by the end of June in the academic year before the one in which we intend to exercise that right. Student fee loans have risen in line with the level of uplift decided by the UK Government.
Extended Degrees: Students will pay the applicable Foundation Year fee in the first year of study. Tuition fees will follow the Level 4 cap in the first year of Undergraduate study, with tuition fees in subsequent years increasing as per the above information.
* Fees subject to annual increases over the course of the period of study. Students will be liable for payment of any/all tuition fees which are not sponsored by their employer or other third party.
This is the tuition fee for your first year of study. You should expect to pay tuition fees for every year of study. The University may increase fees in the second and subsequent years of your course at our discretion in line with any inflationary or other uplift. Students will be notified of any increase ahead of it taking effect.
Tuition fees in the academic year 2027/28* will be £10,050. Fees are set in line with the UK Government's tuition fee cap. The University may increase fees in subsequent years in line with any changes to the tuition fee cap. Increases will be linked to inflation. For example, increases may be linked to RPIX (Retail Price Index excluding mortgage interest payments) Students will be notified of any increase ahead of it taking effect. Student fee loans rise in line with the tuition fees cap.
This is the programme fee for your first year of study. The programme fee includes the international tuition fee, International Soccer Academy and accommodation fees. Accommodation fees may increase in subsequent years. Students will be notified of any increase ahead of the re-issuing of tenancy agreements.
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Newcastle Business School holds AACSB accreditation in both business and accounting, a distinction held by fewer than 200 institutions worldwide (AACSB, 2026).
Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing at levels 4 and 6, plus the chance to take an Institute of Data and Marketing certificate through selected option modules.
Have the opportunity to engage with a live business challenge through Northumbria's Business Clinic consultancy projects, applying marketing theory to real organisational problems ahead of graduation.
Northumbria's Graduate Futures Centre provides dedicated careers guidance, placement support, and assessment preparation throughout your studies, giving you structured career support from your first year onwards.
Business and Management at Northumbria is ranked 9th in the UK for research power, meaning active academic research directly shapes what and how you learn on this course. (REF, 2021)
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Newcastle Business School holds AACSB accreditation in both business and accounting, a distinction held by fewer than 200 institutions worldwide (AACSB, 2026).
Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing at levels 4 and 6, plus the chance to take an Institute of Data and Marketing certificate through selected option modules.
Have the opportunity to engage with a live business challenge through Northumbria's Business Clinic consultancy projects, applying marketing theory to real organisational problems ahead of graduation.
Northumbria's Graduate Futures Centre provides dedicated careers guidance, placement support, and assessment preparation throughout your studies, giving you structured career support from your first year onwards.
Business and Management at Northumbria is ranked 9th in the UK for research power, meaning active academic research directly shapes what and how you learn on this course. (REF, 2021)
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