2-Term Pathway - Pre-Master's in Social Sciences - Continue to Master of Business Administration (MBA)

If students hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, but don’t meet the entry requirements for a master’s, a Pre-Master’s can help them gain a place on a postgraduate degree. For progression to the 1st year of a postgraduate degree at the University of Essex. Course length is determined mainly by students' English language level (UKVI IELTS score).

Students on all course lengths take a set of common or similar modules to gain a solid base of skills for university. If their course is longer than 2 terms, students will take additional modules designed to improve one or more of their English language level, academic skills, and basic knowledge of particular subjects.

The University of Essex MBA seeks to develop socially responsible entrepreneurs delivering sustainable business. Their students are talented, ambitious and full of energy. They possess an entrepreneurial spirit that Essex does their best to foster. Essex's MBAs aspire to achieve lasting positive change for themselves and those around them. Essex aims to inspire them to create the world they want to live in.

Students will study a broad range of business functions, known as the MBA Essentials, which includes:

Essex hopes to foster the students' entrepreneurial spirits, so they can build sustainable, resilient business models that make sense to shareholders and the environment. Students explore the impact of internationalisation on businesses, suppliers and customers and gain the skills to lead in increasingly demanding marketplaces.

Essex's Director’s Workshops are integral to The Essex MBA and run as one and two-day workshops at key stages of the programme. The sessions may include company visits, trips to business incubators and presentations from industry practitioners, as well as Essex's specialist academics. The Director’s Workshops gives students the opportunity to relate current business issues to content taught in their modules and develop their professional skills. Recent examples include sessions on personal branding, new business creation, business ethics, risk management, big data for small businesses, value proposition development and company visits to the likes of Adnams PLC, Cambridge Science Park and HSBC.

The course begins with one week of activities to develop networking, team work and adaptive thinking skills. It ends with a Capstone, where students choose to complete a dissertation, comprehensive business plan or consultancy project that can be tailored to their professional experience or goals.

Essex's MBA is taught at Essex Business School, which is located at the heart of the Knowledge Gateway, the research and technology park on their Colchester Campus. The Knowledge Gateway also incorporates Parkside Office Village, an SME hotspot, and the Innovation Centre, which is home to the University’s Start-Up Hub.

Essex's world-class MBA tutors have both academic and extensive private sector experience and are at the cutting-edge of research in: business ethics and corporate social responsibility; organisation studies; leadership and strategy; finance and banking; risk management; and international management.

Studying with Essex in the Essex MBA is an excellent investment in a future career. Essex connects students with the latest developments in business by bringing in practitioners from leading companies to talk about contemporary business issues as well as experts in the MBA graduate jobs market.

Essex's MBA students have gained posts in a range of businesses, including large corporations, and have used their qualification as the catalyst to start their own businesses.