To meet the entry criteria for admission, a candidate must have:
A minimum of two completed A-levels at D grade and above, a BTEC Level 3 Diploma,
Equivalent of A Level Qualification based on NARIC, or 4 GCSE at grade C and above and 3 Years’ relevant work experience.

Alternative entry through the Integrated Foundation Year
IELTS minimum .5.5 reading, writing, listening and speaking or Equivalent.

Entry Requirements for Integrated Foundation Year: 

2-3 GCSE at D grade, BTEC Level 2, NVQ Level 2, and Equivalent of GCSE Qualification based on NARIC.

IELTS 4.5 reading, writing and speaking or Equivalent

                                                                                       Level 6

                                                                                        Level 5

                                                                                        Level 4

                                                                        Integrated Foundation Year

See the Pearsoln website https://qualifications.pearson.com for more information about HNDs. 

The aim of the course is to enable students to build essential skills, including employability and entrepreneurial skills, together with developing attitudes and emotional aptitude toward a career in business management. Students will also have the opportunity to gain skills and knowledge about basic management functions required to develop their career potential. Students will explore the challenges of building confidence, self-management, making critical judgement, acquiring technical expertise, cultural perspectives and leadership skills

Course specific employability skills

• On completion of this course students should be able to demonstrate the following employability skills:
• Collaborative and Team working: To work as part of a team, including building and maintaining relationships; learn to actively contribute to discussions and support co-workers; able to negotiate and engage in conflict resolution in group projects; and show emotional intelligence and empathy towards team members.
   
• Self-management and Personal Development: To build and develop skills to manage oneself; to recognise and assess personal strengths and weaknesses and develop skills to overcome weaknesses as well as to use strengths for personal advantage; to learn and acquire key personal skills such as effective time management, self-reflection, and critical assessment of personal work.
   
• Being Commercially Aware and Business-wise: To have the ability to be able to identify business opportunities and gain working knowledge of business operations; to gain an understanding of professional practices and able to manage risk and failure; able to assess the role and impacts of technology and understand the role of innovation in business operation and gain awareness of cultural change on industry and the importance of social and environmental responsibility.
   
• Problem-Solving and Decision-Making: To think rationally and logically and being able to identify appropriate problem-solving methods for given scenarios; to apply appropriate problem-solving methods systematically, screen observations and research outcomes to detect the sources of problems and find solutions as well as to make appropriate decisions given the limitation of options.
   
• Effective Leadership Skills: To understand leadership skills as an important trait and able to identify various styles and approaches to leadership and apply them in business and social settings being culturally sensitive and possessing emotional intelligence when dealing with people; and able to communicate with clarity and persuasion.
   
• Research and Analysis: To understand the research process and gain the skills to carry out research in a directed and systematic way to identify business related issues such as new product development and solving other operational related problems and able to identify and collect relevant data and analyse it.
   
• Understanding Data: To understand how to generate useful information to make sound decisions; data literacy in a variety of contexts, including data gathering and quantitative skills to analyse data for business solutions; trend analysis, estimating and modelling business problems, understanding operational functions and customer requirements, which all require managers to understand data.
   
• Critical Reflection: To reflect on personal strengths and weaknesses as well as on a variety of business scenarios and able to assess the risk involved; the ability to make realistic judgements on possible outcomes and consider any decision from multiple angles together with critical reflection to make sound decisions.
   
• Communication: To express oneself effectively and with clarity while understanding expected professional standards particularly in written and spoken communication; the gaining of skills in digital, visual and in-person communication; and being able to communicate in a business setting with confidence and make effective presentations.
   
• Project Management: To plan and deliver a project in response to a brief and having the ability to organise resources, collaborating with project teams and partners, and manage time and budgets effectively.

Career/future study opportunities
After completing the course, students will have the opportunity to either pursue a career in:

• Small business enterprise as an owner/manager
• Entry-level and junior management roles in a variety of sectors
• Entry-level administrative positions in multilateral organisations
• Consultancy positions as associates

Or pursue further studies at postgraduate level in:

• Entrepreneurship
• Management Research
• Business Administration

The overall aim of higher education has changed during the past decades.  In the field of business and management the emphasis is now very much on gaining essential skills to be an effective manager or an entrepreneur-manager and this focus requires graduates to have both theoretical and evidence-based practical skills. The employability skills noted in the earlier parts of this document, such as working in collaboration, understanding data, research and analysis, problem-solving, critical thinking, communication skills and self-management, are all crucial elements of learning that present-day educators need to consider when delivering a course in business and management. The BSc (Hons) course at ICON College of Technology and Management (ICTM) has been designed to deliver these expectations.

During the four year-period of the programme, students will be introduced to a range of business scenarios, together with relevant theoretical frameworks, to enable them to begin to think critically and make decisions in practical settings.

In the Integrated Foundation Year students will be equipped with the essential skills needed to embark on the Undergraduate Degree in Business and Management, including basic numeracy, English language, academic writing, values and ethics and stuffy skills.  Students will develop the management skills needed for success in the workplace while exploring both the internal and external business environment. Level 3 will cover the basics of business, management, analysis.

Students will be encouraged to understand and appreciate management concepts and models as well as the underlying theoretical frameworks in business management through Level 4 modules.  Modules will include: Business Environment and Market Trends, Contemporary Management, and Financial Resources and Decision Making. Additional modules will include: Development Skills for Management and Work-life Balance, and Concepts of Innovation.

In Level 5 modules are designed to complement what the students have learned in Level 4 and provide an opportunity to further explore the application of business and management models and concepts. While the modules of Organisational Behaviour and Strategic Human Resource Management further enrich the students’ theoretical foundation in management, other modules of Sustainability and Responsible Management and International Business as well as Project Management and Managing Small Enterprise provide opportunities for the students to apply what they have already learned. Managing Small Enterprise, Sustainable and Responsible Management and Project Management are practical modules where students will be required to demonstrate their ability to apply theory in real-world settings.

The Level 6 modules provide further opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability to apply knowledge. Level 6 modules are rather more demanding and expect students to show how useful their skills and knowledge have developed when applied in real-life settings. Delivery of modules focusing on Leadership Theory and Practice, Strategic Management, Managing Change and Marketing in the Digital Age will embed relevant employability skills to prepare students for effective management careers. The Dissertation module provides an opportunity to explore a topic whereby the student undertakes an in-depth, faculty supervised, investigation of a business or management problem involving a critical review of literature.  This unit requires the student to show a high level of self-management and critical reflection, creativity and professional presentation skills.

The College will adopt a variety of appropriate methods for the delivery of modules throughout the course to meet the module expectations and learning outcomes. The delivery will be flexible to accommodate both the learning styles of the students and the diversity of the module contents.

Using state-of-the-art technology available for teaching, tutors will be able to use the classroom environment to deliver lectures, seminars, workshops, and tutorials involving either a block of students or one-to-one tutorials for dissertation or project supervision. Industry visits and field trips, as well as guest lectures, are also standard aspects of learning/teaching delivery. With the help of the University, the College will consider establishing a short industrial placement initiative for students to facilitate learning across some agreed modules.

Throughout module delivery, tutors, through formative assessment, will be urged to keep track of students’ achievement in gaining specific employability skills as outlined as relevant to specific module. For specific modules in Level 5 of the programme, special workshop sessions will be used to assess the students’ level of achievement in employability skills such as critical thinking, creativity, research and analysis, team working and self-management.  The College will provide blended learning. Some of the lecture-led sessions and videos can be delivered online using the virtual classroom system. The College will use the existing 

virtual learning environment (VLE) to deliver modules as well as for submitting assignments for both formative and summative assessments as part of blended learning.

The College will provide blended learning. Some of the lecture-led sessions and videos can be delivered online using the virtual classroom system. The College will use the existing virtual learning environment (VLE) to deliver modules as well as for submitting assignments for both formative and summative assessments as part of blended learning

The College is also committed to Research-informed Teaching (RIT) where teaching will be research-led, research-tutored or even research-based. In a research-led approach, students learn about cutting-edge research in their fields of studies. In contrast, in a research-based approach student learn through critical engagement with peers and tutors in producing new findings. The research-based teaching seems to have effect on academic outcomes as well as employability.

Course Assessment Strategy

This programme makes use of a range of assessment methods to reflect meeting the modular learning outcomes and employability skills. All students will also need to submit an 8,000-word project based on an independent piece of research undertaken during the final stage of the course.

Summative assessment: This remains a key assessment method used by the College. Summative assessment consists of a variety of methods by which students’ achievement in learning will be tested against the pre-defined learning outcomes for each module. Some of the modules will be assessed by a single coursework assignment and others will have a set of two summative assessment methods. All modules will be assessed using ICON College Common Assessment Criteria.

Students will have an opportunity to receive one-to-one summative feedback from the module tutor. This feedback session will enable the students to identify any deficiencies and areas for improvement and further development. An Employability Skills Tracking sheet maintained during the module delivery will be discussed during the feedback session.

Formative assessment and feedback: Formative assessments are useful ways to track students’ progress during the term and forms an integral part of the course delivery at ICON College. However, students will not receive any marks or grade for this assessment. At least two formative assessment sessions are expected in every module, except the dissertation module where students’ progress will be monitored throughout the process by an assigned supervisor who carries out frequent formative assessments at different stages of the development of the project.

During formative feedback sessions the tutor and the student will be able to discuss the progress, deficiencies, and ways of improving their work. It is an opportunity for the students to receive constructive feedback on their work at different stages Formative assessment and feedback will help the students in the preparation for summative assessment. As for the entire course, formative assessment and feedback received in Levels 3 and 4 modules may have some bearing on the Level 5 modules but Level 6 modules are designed to enable students to pursue their interests independently and confidently with a reflective content in the assessment.

Assessment Methods: Modular assessment methods reflect the specific Aims and Learning Outcomes. Assignments remain the key method of assessment and are designed to facilitate learning and how students develop knowledge along with critical and reflective thinking. Some assignments may have more than one method used for assessment purposes. The Module Guide provides an explanation on how each module will be assessed. The following are typical assessment methods used in this course:

CA: Coursework Assignment

TH: Thesis/Dissertation

PO: Portfolio

CT: Class Test

PP: Presentation and Pitches

CR: Critical Review

EX: Examination

OT: Other types of assessment such as Case study, blog, etc.

The classification of the degree shall be determined in accordance to the following criteria: First Class (1):

• Students achieving an overall mean score of 70% or above.
• Students achieving an overall mean score of between 68% and 70% with at least 60 Level 6 credits at above 70% with the approval of Assessment Board.

Upper Second Class (2:1):

• Students achieving an overall mean score of between 60% and 69 %.

• Students achieving an overall mean score of between 58% and 60% with at least 80 Level 6 credits at above 60% with the approval of Assessment Board.

Lower Second Class (2:2):

• Students achieving an overall mean score of between 50% and 59%.

• Students achieving an overall mean score of between 48% and 50% with at least 80 Level 6 credits at above 50% with the approval of Assessment Board.

See the Pearsoln website https://qualifications.pearson.com for more information about HNDs. 

Students submit assignments through the ICON VLE where a check for plagiarism is made and feedback from the tutor is provided. A student will not be able to submit their assignments if their attendance is low and is not in line with College attendance policy.

Assignments submitted after the final submission deadline, and within one week of the deadline, will be capped at 40% (Pass) unless extenuating circumstances apply. Any assignment submitted later than two weeks after the deadline (week one final submission and week two, the following week, which is late submission window) will not be accepted. A student then should follow submission and resubmission process.

Where circumstances beyond the student’s control impact negatively on an assessment opportunity a student may submit a claim for exceptional extenuating circumstances and their work will not be capped at Pass if it is accepted.

A student who, for the first assessment opportunity and resubmission opportunity, still failed to pass the module, will be allowed to repeat the module. The module will be capped at Pass and can be repeated only once.

For further information on Assessment regulations about submission, resubmission and repeat of the module, please refer to the Student Handbook.

The College assigns every student a designated Personal Tutor who is available by appointment throughout the academic year. The Personal Tutor is the first contact point at the College who would act as a mentor, and guide the student who encounters with non-academic problems, e.g., financial hardship, accommodation matters, learning disabilities. All Personal Tutors will be expected to have online personal tutor meetings with each of their tutees at least once a semester.

The aims of the Personal Tutoring System are:

• To ensure a student has someone who provides general advice and can point him/her in the direction of other resources in place to support the student.
• To ensure a student has someone who will support the student’s academic progression and identify any problems.
• To ensure that a student has a named person they can go to for support.
  
  The College has a Hardship Fund intended to provide support to all students who are experiencing exceptional financial difficulty during their studies

The College provides pastoral care and counselling through a Private Therapy Clinic (which is an external healthcare company). A Student Career and Welfare Officer is available for published hours each week (including Saturdays) to provide counselling and welfare advice to ensure equality of access to provision.

The College has two members of staff, including the College Student Career and Welfare Officer, to provide advice regarding academic transition and progression following Course completion. The members of staff publish their availability on a noticeboard outside their office detailing the time each week they are available to provide this advice, including in the evening.

The College is committed to providing equality of access to education to all students through disability support services. The Student Career and Welfare Officer is responsible for liaising with the student and the relevant staff to implement all reasonable measures.

a) The Assessment Board receives and evaluates the External Examiner’s reports every year and evaluates the standard achieved by the students and the quality of the provision of their work. They then produce a report for submission to the Academic Board.

b) The College also gives formative feedback on assignments to students through an online Formative Feedback Forum

c) The internal moderator checks a range of assessment decisions for all assessors and modules by sampling some of the assignments. In case of unexpected assessment decisions, e.g., everybody achieving First Class in the assignment, additional sampling will be conducted on individual modules/assessors.

The Academic Board has the responsibility to oversee the management of academic standards and quality of teaching and learning for all Courses and for ensuring that the requirements of the College are fulfilled.

See the ICON College https://www.iconcollege.ac.uk for more information about the BSc (Hons) Business Management

Course Handbook