BA (Hons)

Business and Management (Entrepreneurship)

Develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to launch, grow, and lead businesses in a fast-changing entrepreneurial world.

How to apply Apply through UCAS Book an Open Day Chat to Us

Key Course Details

  • UCAS Code

    N401

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £9,790*

  • International students

    £16,800*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.

  • UCAS Code

    N402

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £9,790*

  • International students

    £16,800*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
Make an Enquiry

This business management degree has a focus on entrepreneurship and equips you with practical skills, strategic thinking, and business knowledge to launch, scale, and grow successful ventures.

DESIGNED FOR

Creative, driven individuals looking to start their own business or accelerate their career in fast-moving startups.

Career paths

  • Founder
  • Entrepreneur
  • Manager
  • Consultant
  • Business development

Skills taught

  • Entrepreneurship and growth
  • Leadership and People Management 
  • Digital Skills and use of AI
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Communication

Accredited by

  • Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE)

The University of South Wales is an IOEE Academy. Students who complete the degree will receive an IOEE Professional Qualification in the Vocational Use of AI. The course is also dual accredited with CMI. Students will receive a Level 5 Certificate in Management and Leadership from CMI.

Course leader sat in front of a red backdrop smiling
An over the shoulder shot of two men in businesswear having a conversation in an office.
A close up of a student laughing at friends whilst sat on beanbags in the accommodation hub.
Two people studying together at a table, surrounded by books and papers.

Course Highlights

Flexible study pathways

At the end of your first year, choose to either continue developing your knowledge of entrepreneurship, or switch to a focus on creative industries or management.

Informed by industry

Co-designed with local and international industry partners to reflect real workplace needs.

Led by professionals

You’ll be taught by staff with experience across business roles, including starting and running their own businesses.

Start your business

You'll gain access to our Startup Stiwdio, including opportunities for mentoring and even funding - helping you to start your business sooner.

Career-ready skills

Develop the leadership, management and decision-making skills to start and scale your own entrepreneurial venture.

Module Overview

Year One is about finding your feet and finding your voice. You’ll build confidence, explore how businesses work in practice, and develop the skills, curiosity and mindset of a future leader. At the end of year one, you can choose to either continue focusing on entrepreneurship or switch to a focus on creative industries or management.

Launch your Leadership Journey
Build confidence as a university student and future leader. Develop academic, teamwork and communication skills while exploring ethical leadership, sustainability and the realities of modern business.

Managing People: Harnessing HRM
Explore how workplaces really work. Examine ethics, fairness and wellbeing while learning how people management decisions shape organisations, communities and the future of work.

The Founder’s Playbook: Build Your First Business
Experience the start-up journey from idea to growth. Work with others to solve a challenge set by USW and an industry partner and build the mindset, confidence and skills of an entrepreneur.

The Marketing Mindset
Learn how to make ideas stand out. Apply marketing thinking to real scenarios while building planning skills, creativity and a strong personal brand to support your future career.

Build on your business knowledge in areas including finance and sustainability whilst specialising in entrepreneurship and gain practical experience through real-world projects and placements with start-ups.

The Hidden Engine: How Supply Chains Power Sustainable Business
Explore how procurement, logistics and operations drive modern business. Apply carbon literacy and sustainability thinking to optimise supply chains while balancing efficiency, value and global responsibility.

Applied Accounting
Develop financial confidence to interpret, manage and influence business outcomes. Analyse real-world scenarios, make strategic decisions, and understand how finance drives both organisational and societal impact.

Analysing The Hustle: Opportunity or Reality?
Develop your own business idea. You’ll analyse markets, customers and competitors to assess viability, uncover opportunities, and build a strong foundation for your future venture.

The Entrepreneurship Experience
Immerse yourself in startup life through a 75-hour placement, gaining first-hand insight into entrepreneurial challenges, decision-making, and growth.

Experience Year (Optional)
Spend a full year in the UK or abroad gaining workplace or international experience. Build global perspective, develop professional networks, and reflect on your growth as a future leader.

Apply your knowledge to real-world challenges and continue to refine your entrepreneurial, consultancy, and strategic skills while preparing to launch, scale, and lead with confidence.

The Impact Ecosystem: Business for Social Good
Tackle complex societal and environmental challenges. Apply business knowledge to ethical, sustainable solutions, engage with stakeholders, and explore how decisions can positively impact people, planet and profit.

Starting Your Business: Innovation Incubator
Take your idea from concept to plan. Learn through case studies, entrepreneur insight and structured tools to develop a realistic business plan.

Scaling Your Business: Lessons from High Growth Firms
Look beyond start-up and focus on growth. You’ll learn how successful ventures scale, manage risk and plan for expansion or exit, applying these lessons to your own business ambitions.

The Consultancy Challenge
Step into the shoes of a business consultant. Analyse client briefs, solve complex problems, present recommendations, and merge theory with practice to build consultancy and leadership skills.

Course Highlights

How you’ll learn

Throughout the degree, you’ll follow a clear entrepreneurial journey, helping you test ideas, develop a viable business plan, and understand how to scale it for long-term success. You’ll learn through interactive sessions where you collaborate, test ideas, and apply your learning to real business situations. You’ll also hear from real startups who share honest experiences and offer valuable opportunities to network. Learning is grounded in real practice, with opportunities to work on live briefs that help you understand what it takes to build a sustainable business.

How you’ll be assessed

Assessments are practical and purposeful, designed to reflect the realities of building and growing a business. You’ll analyse start-ups, develop and refine business models, pitch solutions, and produce professional outputs such as reports, videos and portfolios. Many assessments are rooted in real entrepreneurial contexts, helping you build confidence, creativity and critical judgement and if you already have a business idea or a working venture, your work can be shaped around your own context, making your work directly useful beyond the degree. The course is designed for a post-Generative AI workplace, supporting you to use digital and AI tools responsibly to enhance decision-making and innovation.

Placements and work experience

You’ll have opportunities to gain real-world experience alongside your studies. This includes a 75-hour placement with a start-up, offering insight into the reality of running a business and an option to take an additional sandwich year in the UK or internationally. These experiences help you apply theory in practice, build professional confidence, expand your networks, and strengthen your employability before graduation.

Facilities

Studying Business and Management means learning beyond the classroom. Through the South Wales Business School, you’ll engage with industry partners through visits to real organisations and occasional teaching delivered in workplaces across Wales. You’ll also have access to Startup Stiwdio, a dedicated space offering business events, expert guidance and a supportive community of like-minded entrepreneurs, with the Enterprise team on hand to support freelancing and new business ideas.

You’ll also benefit from resources provided by the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE), including case studies, networking opportunities and business planning guidance, alongside access to laptops, on-campus IT facilities and library resources.

Student Stories

Student Sumaya Khan sits at a table and smiles at the postgraduate centre in Treforest
Discovering my passion for marketing, refining my skills, and building an international network.

Sumaya Khan

Business student

Chidinma sits in front of red backdrop smiling at camera
Building Expertise in Sustainable Procurement.

Chidinma Fofah

Procurement student

Student Nadifa Saleh sits with their legs crossed on a chair against a red backdrop
Stepping out of my comfort zone and finding my passion.

Nadifa Saleh

Business graduate

Graduate and business owner Shane poses for a photo in his shop
Graduate Shane now runs his own comic book business.

Shane Richard Jordan

Business graduate

profile-ug-marketing-humand-resource-management-hassan-raza-50110.jpg
Connections with industry through guest lectures and seminars were a huge benefit.

Hassan Raza

Human Resource Management student

Business graduate Alicia Smith (right) with her partner Mathew Hunt
Taking inspiration from my course to start a business.

Alicia Smith

Business Graduate

A smiling business student in a green blazer stands in front of a computer in a classroom setting.
Exploring every avenue in Business Management

Daljeet Choda

Business student

Careers and Employability

Graduate careers

This course helps you take the next steps in your entrepreneurial venture, with graduates going on to run successful businesses across industries, from tech startups to coffee brands and luxury web design studios. Other business students have gone on to work for well-known businesses like Network Rail, Velindra and Deloitte, and some students have even been offered a position directly at the company they completed a work placement in throughout their degree. Our dedicated Enterprise team and the Startup Stiwdio are also on hand to support with all things freelancing, entrepreneurship, and starting your own business.

Industry partners

Strong industry connections sit at the heart of the course, with partners including the NatWest Enterprise Hub and active start-ups shaping learning through live briefs, workshops and occasional on-site sessions. Our partnership with the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE) gives students access to case studies, business guidance and a range of networking opportunities. These connections give students direct entrepreneurial insight, practical experience, and networks to support future ventures.

Careers support

For students going on to start their own businesses, there's funding and further training, support and mentorship available through USW's Startup Stiwdio and Enterprise team.  If you're not quite ready to start your business yet, careers support is also embedded throughout your degree. You’ll take part in interview practice, assessment centre activities and employer-focused tasks within your modules, alongside access to one-to-one careers advice, digital tools and employer networks to support your progression. Support from the USW Careers and Employability service remains available even after you graduate.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

UCAS points: 96 (or above)

The course is also available with an integrated foundation year for students who have not quite met the entry requirements.

Typical qualification requirements:

  • A Level: CCC
  • Welsh BACC: Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales Grade C and CC at A Level
  • BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma Merit Merit Merit
  • Access to HE: Pass the Access to HE Diploma and obtain a minimum of 96 UCAS tariff points
  • T Level: Pass (C and above)

Additional Requirements:

The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 4 overall and a minimum of 4 in each component or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

UK Full-time Fee

£9,790

per year*
UK Full-time Fee

£9,790

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£16,800

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£16,800

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£16,800

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£16,800

per year*

Further Information

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

 

Fees and Funding Scholarships and Bursaries Cost of Living Support

ADDITIONAL COSTS

As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment. 

*Obligatory.

The University has computers available on campus and laptops for loan. However, it is highly recommended that you have your own personal laptop.

As a student you will be able to download a free copy of any software relevant to the course.

Cost: £250

Textbooks are provided via the USW library but students may wish to purchase their own private copies.

Cost: £300

Students are offered the opportunity to complete an internship during their second year of study. Students undertaking an internship may incur costs associated with travel and expected workplace attire and this will vary according to the placement. 

Cost: £250

Students have opportunities to take part in international placements or travel throughout the degree. These are optional and funding is available, however there may be costs associated with visas and travel beyond the funding received.

Cost: £250+

student sat on campus in treforest

Future Ready Fund

We are offering eligible full-time students £1,000 paid directly to them in their first year of studies. Check the details today!

Future Ready Fund

Life at USW

Halls are a big part of your student experience and there’s accommodation at all three of our locations. If you don’t want to live near the campus, there are great transport links to keep you connected.

A student sat smiling and talking to friends off camera in Treforest Student's Union
Student Life
The University's Ty Crawshays building at Treforest, Pontypridd.
Pontypridd Campus, Treforest
A double room at our Pontypridd accommodation featuring a large window.
Accommodation

How to apply

All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS. You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time).

Advanced entry

If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.

Applicants accepted through advanced entry may study a different combination of modules to those advertised, as they will be joining a course already in progress. You will be contacted and advised about these modules once your application has been processed and an offer made.

International admissions

International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.
 

Next Steps

How to apply
Apply Through UCAS
Book an Open Day
Chat to Us