The Bristol MBA
www.uwe.ac.uk/bristolmba
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Admissions Office, Bristol Business School,
Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane,
Bristol BS16 1QY
Telephone: +44 (0)117 32 83333
E-mail: business@uwe.ac.uk
bettertogether
bettertogether
Practical Learning
for the real world
The Bristol MBA is the MBA for real business today
- making an immediate impact on your career
today and preparing you for the leadership and
management challenges of tomorrow.
In the real world, challenges and decisions
don’t simply fall into neat categories such
as finance, IT and human resources.
That’s why the Bristol MBA embraces the
complexity of business and offers grounded
learning across a range of disciplines.
Inside the Bristol MBA
The tools, skills and knowledge
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Tailored learning for your future
6
Our MBAs
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Insight across a range of disciplines
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Your learning environment
12
Support through your studies and beyond
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Bristol Business School and our industry links 16
Living in Bristol
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Moving
towards senior
management
The tools,
skills and
knowledge
A real step forward
Take an important step towards senior
management and improve your earning
potential. The Bristol MBA will help to put
you in a position to make a major impact
on your organisation’s success.
The programme will give you the skills
you need to improve business and
service performance, break down
international boundaries, lead
change, bring out the best in people,
boost profitability and deliver
long-term success.
Equipped for the
challenges you’ll face
Graduates of our MBA don’t go about
their business thinking they know all the
answers. We aim to give them something
more powerful than that. We give our
students the skills and confidence to
know which questions to ask, and when.
You’ll learn to think more strategically.
You’ll study research and apply ideas to
real business problems. You’ll develop
your decisiveness and judgement,
helping you to make timely as well as
informed decisions.
The Bristol MBA is academically rigorous
and demands great commitment and
dedication from you. The more you put
into the course, the more you will get out
of it; whether you’re relating this to your
current role or a career you aspire to.
It challenged me to
think differently about
strategy development,
people and culture.
I went away with a
great strategy tool set.
To find out about our entry requirements for
the full-time MBA and part-time Executive
MBA, go to www.uwe.ac.uk/bristolmba
Lesley, MBA Student
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5
Life changing
Tailored
learning for
your future
Focused on the individual
People choose to study for an MBA for
a number of reasons and with different
goals in mind. The Bristol MBA is
vocational, and offers ways to tailor your
studies to broaden areas of knowledge
relevant to your career development
plan, meet your specific goals and
shape your future.
• Choice - Our full-time MBA attracts
students from across the world looking
to develop their skills to help them
towards senior roles. Our part-time
Executive MBA is for experienced
managers who want to continue to
work while studying.
• Personal focus - A comprehensive
Professional Development Programme
(PDP) develops you academically and
as a manager, leader and member of
the business community.
My background was
marketing, so the
real challenge for me
was in understanding
things from other
perspectives.
• Tailored learning - You will choose two
elective modules focused on key areas
of leadership and management. This
means you can tailor your learning to
fit your career, your organisation and
your future.
• Specialist study - Elective modules
change regularly to reflect the latest
developments in management
knowledge and practice.
• Flexibility - More than one intake per
year provides you with the flexibility to
begin the programme when you want.
• Two routes to success - You choose to
undertake an independent dissertation
or a consultancy dissertation at the end
of the MBA.
• Collaboration - Learning is enhanced
when staff and groups of students
share their knowledge and experiences
of the business world.
• Real business - You will have the
opportunity to take on a strategic
project with one of our partner
organisations.
• Access to expertise - You will hear
from and discuss issues with
experts thanks to a thriving guest
speaker programme.
• International links - The Bristol
Business School has close ties
with international institutes.
Bryony, MBA Student
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Challenging,
enriching,
rewarding
Our MBAs
Full-time MBA
Part-time Executive MBA
This is a one year course, ideal if you’re
looking to build business skills and
develop the expertise to take you into
a senior management role. This intensive
and challenging course will see you join
a diverse group of students from a
range of business and public service
backgrounds - from around the world.
The part-time Executive MBA (EMBA) is
for busy, experienced managers who
want to carry on working while studying
for their MBA. It will prepare you for the
challenges that come with most senior
positions in modern global business.
The course can usually be completed
in two-and-a-half years.
You will attend approximately 20 hours
of classes a week at the Bristol
Business School.
The course is delivered in blocks of five
days. Depending on when you start the
programme will be dependent upon how
many times you will visit UWE Bristol.
Facts
Average age of student: 30
International students: 88%
Male/Female: 52% / 48%
I set myself the
personal challenge
of making every
single assignment
an actual and useful
piece of work for a
real business.
Facts
Average age of student: 37
International students: 5%
Male/Female: 75% / 25%
For further information on the content of
modules, electives and timetables go to
www.uwe.ac.uk/bristolmba
Course feedback, MBA Student
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Ready for
today’s
complexity
Insight
across a
range of
disciplines
We show how often
complex theory applies
to help us understand
real world problems.
From learning to application
In today’s business, complex problems
can be solved by simple ideas - with
the right application of knowledge
and insight.
Your learning will be grounded in a
range of disciplines and business areas,
from HR to marketing, finance and
more. This way, you can quickly - and
naturally - apply all your learning to the
real complexity of modern business,
where issues and decisions demand the
overlapping of disciplines.
Getting to grips with
real challenges
We place great emphasis on preparing
you for the leadership and management
challenges you’ll face in the real world. So
we make sure our courses are connected
to today’s business issues.
We invite experts from industry and
professional bodies as part of our
successful guest speaker programme,
providing you with valuable insight
as well as regular networking
opportunities. You’ll also have the
opportunity to get involved in real
business issues and situations through
the consultancy projects run with our
partner organisations.
Facts
Students on the Risk and Sustainability
module have an opportunity to go on
an overseas field trip. One year they
travelled to Malaysia to explore
sustainability, risk and security within
a global context, including visits to a
palm oil plantation and processing
plant near Kuala Lumpur.
Elizabeth Alexander, MBA Tutor
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Practical,
relevant and
grounded
Your
learning
environment
Having a student body
with considerable work
and life experience
from different industries
and countries is an
invaluable learning
experience not only
for the students but
for me too.
Elizabeth Alexander, MBA Tutor
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Working better together
Modern spaces
We offer a truly supportive environment
and are here to help you achieve your
goals. We take the time to get to know
you, and give you the support you need
to ensure that your MBA is an invaluable
investment for your career.
As an MBA student you’ll have access
to a dedicated room with WiFi and study
space for individual and group work.
You’ll also be able to access the Business
School’s Postgraduate Resource Centre,
which provides PCs, photocopiers,
binding machines, wipe boards and
flip charts, along with a number of
meeting rooms.
We review our MBA courses every year
to ensure they meet modern commercial
demands and can be effectively applied
in the real world. The courses are
delivered by true experts from different
fields and cultural backgrounds - bringing
an international influence to enhance the
overall learning experience. You will also
hear from guest lecturers on specialist
topics - key business experts giving
you their views and the benefit of
their experience.
We encourage collaboration at every
opportunity, with staff and students
sharing knowledge and experience of
their business worlds. You’ll learn through
syndicate work, group and individual
presentations, student-led seminar
groups, case studies, experiential
learning, role play and business
simulations. Assessment is a mix of
examinations, class work, case study
analysis and written coursework.
You can take advantage of a trading
room with access to the Reuters 3000
Xtra trading platform. This facility is
available to all Bristol MBA students,
and is used as part of your learning
on certain electives.
Facts
Our international student support team
can help with anything from visas and
English language queries to international
orientation sessions.
www.uwe.ac.uk/international
This dynamic, innovative learning creates
an environment that is varied, enjoyable
and hugely effective.
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Building
business
leaders
Support
through your
studies and
beyond
Our Professional
Development Programme
UWE Bristol careers service and
international work experience
Our comprehensive Professional
Development Programme (PDP) is
designed around meeting your individual
needs. It focuses on developing you
academically, as a manager and as
a leader; making you more resilient,
able to deal with complexity and
confident in managing change.
Our careers service is on hand to offer
you high quality advice, guidance and
links to industry, and is available to
all existing students and alumni who
graduated up to three years ago. There
is also an international talent work
experience scheme for international
students, connecting Bristol MBA
graduates with businesses in India,
China and Malaysia.
The programme is split into three key
stages:
1. Preparing you as a student
• Our international student welcoming
The Bristol MBA gave
me a strong foundation
of theoretical
knowledge and tools
which enabled me
to move into a senior
management role
and ultimately, into
a CEO role.
Lesley, MBA Student
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conference is a chance to settle into
the environment and meet other
international students.
Facts
Our careers service is available to existing
students and Bristol MBA alumni.
• The academic skills conference helps
you develop your ability in academic
reading, writing assignments and
referencing.
2. Your career aims
• Our career development conference
helps you see how you could
improve your CV, applications,
performance in assessment
centres and interview skills.
3. Developing you as a business leader
• Facilitated skills based workshops
develop important areas such as
communication, influencing styles and
strategies, team working, presentation
skills and creative leadership.
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Part of the city
Bristol
Business
School and
our industry
links
As a civil engineer
graduated in Brazil,
the Bristol MBA gave
me the essential
knowledge, tools
and mindset to start
an international
management career.
Quality teaching,
leading research
Draw inspiration from
today’s leaders
Bristol Business School is part of the
University of the West of England
(UWE Bristol), and is the major provider
of management education in the South
West of England. We’re renowned for the
quality of our teaching, and are widely
regarded as one of the leading new
university business schools in the UK
for research.
Studying here will help you develop
contacts that could prove invaluable
throughout your career. Being part of the
City of Bristol and its thriving and diverse
business scene, we’re well placed to
invite guest speakers throughout the
course, some of whom are Bristol MBA
alumni. This gives you the opportunity
to hear inspirational talks from
practising experts and network with
senior managers from regional and
national organisations.
The Bristol Business School is located
five miles north of Bristol’s city centre on
an impressive university campus, with
student accommodation, leisure facilities
and one of the largest university libraries
in the UK, with 24 hour access.
We employ approximately 200 highly
qualified academic staff, most of whom
have also held positions of responsibility
in business and industry; bringing
practical and relevant experience to their
teaching. Our academic team is involved
in research and consultancy work for an
extensive range of businesses.
The Distinguished Executive Address
Lecture Series is one of the highlights
of our calendar, and is a unique
opportunity to hear from and meet
high profile strategic leaders of UK
and global businesses.
Alberto, MBA Student
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History,
industry,
creativity
Living in
Bristol
Always something
new to experience
Bristol is a multi-cultural, creative,
vibrant city surrounded by the beautiful
countryside of the South West region. The
UK’s first ‘Cycling City’, it is lively and also
laid back; historic and cutting edge. A
European Centre of Culture, Bristol has a
long tradition of discovery, innovation and
creativity - Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the
BBC Natural History Unit and Concorde
are just three Bristol icons.
Bristol is officially designated as one of
the UK’s ‘Science Cities’. It is renowned
for the world class scientific research and
development carried out in its universities
and in the commercial sector. The city is
a hub for major areas of industry and in
2010 was named the most productive
and competitive economy in the UK
outside of London (UK Competitiveness
Index). The region also leads the way in
aero-engine technology, and is home
to BAE Systems and Airbus.
Prime location
Two major railway stations, an
international airport and a convenient
location at the junction of the M4 and M5
motorways make Bristol a particularly
accessible city. London is less than
2 hours away by train.
Stansted
Airport
M5
Bristol
London
M4
Bath
M5
Bristol
International
Airport
Heathrow
Airport
Gatwick
Airport
The city is a hotbed of creative industries,
most notably Aardman Animations,
creators of the Oscar-winning Wallace
and Gromit films; and the BBC Natural
History Unit, the modern benchmark in
wildlife programming.
From the annual balloon fiesta to the St
Paul’s Carnival, from famous street art to
the Watershed cultural centre - Bristol is
a place where you’ll never be short of
new experiences, people, interests and
places to discover.
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