This course will ensure you’re fully equipped for a career in business information systems and are totally up to date on what the industry needs right now. 

This programme combines in-depth teaching on the capabilities of business systems and a thorough grounding in the operations of contemporary businesses. By studying these crucial and exciting subjects you will also develop skills applicable to the wider employment sector, such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, organisation, and time keeping. 

The relatively recent move to more iterative computer systems development methods has had a knock on effect on the skills and knowledge required from developers. As a developer, you are now expected to be able to work in small multi-skilled teams alongside your business users. That means you don’t just need technical competence but also the ability to be flexible, creative and a good communicator. 

Above all you need to be able to speak your customer’s language – with an understanding of businesses and how they operate. Our external visiting speakers emphasise this point again and again – so we ensure that our business information systems courses give you this important mix of skills. 

In your first year you will get a thorough grounding in systems development, programming and databases, while also learning about business and organisational behaviour. Over the next two years you’ll explore systems analysis, operations strategy and management, systems engineering and organisational information systems. 

You will also be able to select from a wide range of optional modules, allowing you to tailor your own degree to concentrate on your computing expertise or your business knowledge – or more often than not, a valuable balance between the two. 

Popular options include project management, software engineering, consulting, marketing, and information retrieval.

In your year in industry you’ll put what you’ve learnt to practice, gaining new skills and building links with potential employers such as Aviva, Bloomberg and IBM. Another benefit is that you’ll pay a much reduced tuition fee for your placement year and you’ll be paid – a great way to help fund your studies. 

In your final year you’ll complete a final year project pulling together the business and computing aspects of your degree. You also have the option to work together with an external company on this project. 

PLACEMENT YEAR AND STUDY ABROAD

You will be expected to seek your own work placement and in the first two weeks of your second year you will be asked to write a curriculum vitae and to apply to a range of companies. Not only will this ensure that you work within your preferred field, it will also provide you with the essential job-hunting skills you will require after graduation. We will, of course, offer our guidance and support whilst students are identifying and negotiating placement opportunities. 

During this year you’ll be supported by an industrial supervisor and a mentor from the University. You and your industrial supervisor will feed back during the placement to ensure that it is progressing well, and your UEA mentor will visit you during the year. 

Please note that we cannot guarantee any student a work placement as this decision rests with potential employers. 

If you were unable to secure a work placement by the end of your second year you will have the option to apply to be transferred onto the equivalent degree programme without a Year in Industry. 

AFTER THE COURSE

You’ll leave as a well-rounded graduate with a range of enviable employment opportunities open to you. Our recent graduates have secured roles at IBM, Logica, Capgemini, Marks & Spencer, and Aviva. 

You’ll develop your employability throughout the course by hearing from industry guest speakers, going on company visits and participating in the local tech community (NorDev) and start up community (SyncNorwich). 

Our students have been very successful in the annual 54-hour start up event, called Sync the City. Taking part in events like this will boost your confidence, employability and contacts book. 

CAREER DESTINATIONS

Examples of careers that you could enter include: 

• Business analysis 

• Project management 

• Systems development 

• Systems analysis 

• E-Marketing 

• Business management