Information Technology with Foundation Year BSc (Hons)

This degree offers you the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence before you advance to stage one of your honours degree.

Course description

The BSc (Hons) Information Technology will appeal to highly motivated students who have a strong interest in designing IT products and services that solve real problems and are used by real people to do real work. A foundation year will put your study success on a firm footing too.

• Choose a degree designed in conjunction with industry and the business world to ensure that you develop the skills employers are seeking
• Cover the major developments in IT today – from Big Data and the Internet of Things (IoT) to User Experience (UX) and User Centred Design
• Gain valuable experience on an optional year in industry, supported by our dedicated and highly experienced placement staff
• Work in design and development teams to deliver an IT product or service that addresses a business problem for a real client, often a local charity
• Study in our state-of-the-art facilities including our dedicated computing labs
• Build your skills using specialist tools which are harnessed by industry worldwide, such as SAS, R, SAS JMP, Watson Analytics, Python and Tableau for data analysis
• Take the chance to obtain SAS certification to strengthen your CV and improve your future prospects
• Prepare for careers in fields such as data analysis, business intelligence, web and mobile design – or even starting your own IT business venture
• Become a highly employable graduate – we are ranked 15th highest among all UK universities and 12th for English institutions, with 96% of graduates in work or further study within six months of completing their degree (HESA 2016)

As organisations become ever more dependent on information technology to operate efficiently and effectively, our BSc (Hons) Information Technology primes you for exciting career opportunities in any sector, anywhere in the world.

Foundation Year - helping you to achieve more

Including a foundation year as part of your four-year study programme will give you a head start in your academic and professional life. The foundation year offers the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence – with extensive support from our expert staff – before you advance to stage one of your honours degree. It could also be beneficial if you are planning a career change and want to get to grips with aspects of subjects which are new to you.

Our degrees with a foundation year are continuous, meaning that you won’t need to apply again once you have successfully completed the first year.

The BSc (Hons) Information Technology covers two key themes:

• Data Analysis, Big Data and Internet of Things (IoT)
• UX (User Experience) and User Centred Design

These themes are supported and enhanced as you study a range of closely related computing and business topics.

The course captures how our modern global society and the developing world are increasingly reliant on IT products and services. Mass-market consumer products, such as smart and mobile devices, are harnessing the almost seamless integration of small, portable, easy-to-use IoT devices with access to the World Wide Web and wireless communication technology. This ensures access to vast quantities of information almost anywhere – and the ‘Big Data’ generated by the use of such products can be exploited to help make sound business decisions and to contribute to wider public benefit.