Pre-Masters course modules

You study:

10 modules for the three-term Pre-Masters
8 modules for the two-term Pre-Masters

Starting in September 2010 we will be offering a new route for the Pre-Masters programme that will allow students to progress onto a series of Informatics Masters (see progression on the right here or in our Pre-Masters progression page). Students choosing the Informatics route will be studying Introduction to Programming and Database Design and E-Commerce instead of the Economics and the Business and Management modules.

Term 1(only studied on the three-term Pre-Masters)

Pre-Masters Skills for English 1 (PSE 1)

Study the four academic language skills of writing, reading, listening and speaking alongside university study skills. Improve your IELTS to 6.0 (the required level for term 2 and term 3) and develop your note-taking, summarising and referencing techniques as well as your research skills.

Academic Business English Skills (ABES)
Further develop your academic English skills by focusing on a range of business issues such as globalisation, the environment, business ethics and scenarios in the context of relationship building, team working and business communications.

Term 2

Pre-Masters Skills for English 2 (PSE 2)
Develop your English language to the equivalent of IELTS 6.5. Includes an introduction to a range of wider academic skills such as critical thinking, writing a bibliography, preparation and delivery of presentations and the development of communication and group work skills.
Quantitative Methods in Business
Develop your numeracy skills as you learn to utilise mathematical methods and techniques to inform the decision-making of managers.
Introduction to Economics
Learn about the economic theories and systems you need to analyse information relevant to economic problems and issues. Among the topics studied are economic models, concepts of allocative efficiency and the role of government.
Introduction to Business and Management 1
Develop knowledge of the role played by sociology, psychology and economics in the development of business and management models. Learn how to gather and interpret business related data and study the differences between qualitative and quantitative data collection and how to use critical skills to analyse the various business related models.

Term 3

Pre-Masters Skills for English 3 (PSE 3)
Further advance your English and develop your research, referencing and presentation skills. You will start work on more complex academic texts and the writing of factual essays on academic topics.
Business and Management 2 – Operations Management and Organisational Behaviour
Learn about the key concepts of organisational behaviour, including management and leadership styles and the analysis of different cultural models. Operations management sessions will focus on supply chain management and inventory planning.
Business and Management 3 – Strategy
Learn about the key models and concepts in the field of strategy. Building on work in earlier modules, you will consider topics such as resource and capability analysis, competitive advantage and corporate, global and diversification strategies.
Business and Management 4 – Case Study
Using the knowledge, understanding and techniques learned in earlier modules, together with the guidance and support of your tutor, you will identify a FTSE 100 company on which to base a 4,000-word case study. Your tutor will help develop your independent learning skills by advising you on how to develop materials and use models and concepts to apply critical analysis techniques.

Modules for the new Informatics progression options

Introduction to Programming

This module will teach you the principles of object orientated computer programming. You will learn by solving programming related problems. You will also improve your research, study skill and group work skills.
You will learn:

Object orientated design of classes with reference to Java
The concepts of instantiation, inheritance, encapsulation and polymorphism
Data structures, including arrays, lists and trees
Common components of programming algorithms such as loops, decisions and recursion
Events and parameters in the context of user interactions.

Database Design and E-Commerce module

This module will teach you how to design and use databases and associated web technologies. You will also improve your independent study skills in research, self-study and group work. You will also develop your critical thinking and project management skills.
You will learn:

How data base applications can help solve a range of business problems
The basic principles of system analysis and design and the use of Codd’s Laws
How to develop and implement relational databases
How to use technology to integrate web pages with database driven transaction systems
How to create data driven web pages using a scripting language.