Master of Arts in International Planning and Sustainable Development

at University of Westminster - Marylebone Campus United Kingdom

Looking for a business management degree with a difference? The opportunity to work in sports management is a dream for anyone with a passion for sport, but you don’t have to be a sports fanatic to take this degree. One of the most exciting industries, sport and leisure in the UK alone employs 580,000 people. In 2019, more than a third of those employed in the field of sport in the EU-27 was aged between 15-29.

Developed in partnership with some of London’s leading sports clubs, agencies and governing bodies, including Queens Park Rangers and the MCC at Lords, our BA includes practical, professional work experience with a sports club or agency to get you work-ready.

Whether you go on to work as a marketing manager for a Premiership club, a sports analyst, sponsorship executive or diversity advisor, the career pathways are varied and rewarding.

Our degree provides an innovative, industry-focused programme that develops your knowledge of contemporary business management within the context of the wider sports industry. You will gain an in-depth knowledge of how the industry works. You will also learn to appreciate the internal and external challenges facing sports organisations, such as sustainability, diversity, and the impact of new technologies on sports marketing, management and customer engagement.

Specialist optional modules allow you to tailor your studies to match your interests. They include marketing and management, entrepreneurial enterprise, event management, sustainability, and social media innovation.

Where better to study than a centre of sports excellence? With 12 professional football teams, two premiership rugby team, and two country cricket sides, London is home to iconic sporting venues such as Wembley Stadium, Twickenham, Lord’s Cricket Ground and the Olympic Park in East London.

Construction management is integral to the success and smooth running of a construction project, from effectively tracking development and staying on budget, to improving communication across all levels of the project. Fully accredited by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE), our degree incorporates real-life professional practice from the outset with the opportunity to learn direct from industry professionals and experience projects first-hand.

You will learn about the technologies of domestic, industrial and commercial building, construction processes, planning and programming, construction health and safety, and project life cycle assessment. Our rounded curriculum means that you will also gain the knowledge of people management, leadership and the business management of construction that organisations need to succeed in this dynamic profession.

Top reasons to study with us

• Courses are professionally oriented, producing graduates capable of dealing with the technological and managerial processes associated with the production and post-construction life of buildings
• Programmes are delivered by a multicultural and international teaching body, who come from professional practice and/or regularly publish in top international journals
• Opportunities for internships and/or a placement year. For example, one student recently worked at Barratt Homes

Events play an essential role in the business, cultural and sporting life of all countries. In recent years an exciting new profession has emerged with event planners designing and organising a diverse range of events, and marketing the great variety of destinations and venues in which they take place.

This course is specifically designed for people who want to enter or make further progress in, management-level careers in the fast-expanding field of event management. London is an ideal place in which to study events with many venues on the doorstep.

This course explores the strategic development, design and logistical organisation of many different types of event.  You will also learn how events and conferences contribute to enriching the lives of communities and improve communications in business, politics and professional life. The dissertation will give you further opportunity to research a conference or events topic in depth. The course is taught by experienced academics and industry practitioners, providing valuable insight into this exciting industry sector.

Whether caused by politics, environmental issues or world health crises, the global economy is ever changing and of growing concern to businesses. Monitoring and predicting the impact of economics on business is now a top priority, raising the demand for graduates who understand how markets work and how local and international issues can affect competition and performance.

Combining the study of economics with general business management, this degree is designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge to analyse individual company and industry performance within the context of global economics. Using live and historical data in our state-of-the-art Financial Markets Suite (FMS), you’ll apply economic theory and practice to real-world businesses, learning how to plan, evaluate economic trends and become better placed to help firms make effective business decisions. 

To help you support future business and management decisions, we’ll examine how and why businesses emerge, exist and expand – studying their global environment, relationship and interactions with employees, providers of capital, customers, competitors, government and other regulatory bodies. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of the economic, qualitative and quantitative techniques and ideas used to analyse and solve business problems in a global marketplace. 

Taught by academics with substantial business experience across the range of business disciplines, through consultancy or knowledge exchange, there is an emphasis on learning through practice, so you graduate with the breadth of knowledge and capabilities to respond proactively and creatively to contemporary business issues and challenges. Throughout the course, you’ll also develop a range of transferrable skills highly prized by employers, such as critical evaluation, self-direction and problem-solving, as well as a sound grasp of analysis, presentations and negotiation techniques.

You’ll be capable of holding positions of significant responsibility and authority in public companies, private businesses and government agencies. Past Business Management graduates have found successful employment as management, marketing and advertising trainees, as trainee accountants and brand managers, recruitment consultants, retail managers and as assistants in market research, PR and global branding.

Buying and renting property for professional or personal purposes is one of the most important – and expensive – decisions for a business or individual to make. Real estate offers a dynamic and exciting career requiring a skillset combining economic, interpersonal, management, planning, public policy and sales expertise.

Accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), our degree covers all aspects of real estate, including buying and selling, valuing, developing, planning, managing and investing in various property markets – commercial, industrial and residential.

Our professionally oriented course has been designed with input from major employers, capitalising on our excellent industry contacts, which include Barrett Homes, Savills and British Land. With the headquarters of many major property firms close by, our central London location enables us to invite a wide range of professionals to give guest lectures and regularly contribute to the course. They provide work placements, content for coursework and help with assessment, providing a valuable practitioner perspective.

We arrange various site visits, so you can experience real-life estate strategies and see developments from construction through to completion. In the past, for example, students visited Lendlease’s nearby Elephant Park development, part of a £2.3 billion regeneration programme on 28 acres of land in the centre of Elephant and Castle. There are also optional international field trips, which have previously included visits to Brookfield Properties and Cushman and Wakefield in New York, as well as Savills in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

The course will allow you to complete the academic requirements of membership status of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. There are opportunities to enhance your CV by attending our Employer evenings and you can choose to undertake a year’s placement after your second year.

Recent graduates have found work within large and small property companies, local authorities, developers, health trusts, investment firms, landed estates and many other property-related areas.

Whether caused by politics, environmental issues or world health crises, the global economy is ever changing and of growing concern to businesses. Monitoring and predicting the impact of economics on business is now a top priority, raising the demand for graduates who understand how markets work and how local and international issues can affect competition and performance.

Combining the study of economics with general business management, this degree is designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge to analyse individual company and industry performance within the context of global economics. Using live and historical data in our state-of-the-art Financial Markets Suite (FMS), you’ll apply economic theory and practice to real-world businesses, learning how to plan, evaluate economic trends and become better placed to help firms make effective business decisions. 

To help you support future business and management decisions, we’ll examine how and why businesses emerge, exist and expand – studying their global environment, relationship and interactions with employees, providers of capital, customers, competitors, government and other regulatory bodies. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of the economic, qualitative and quantitative techniques and ideas used to analyse and solve business problems in a global marketplace. 

Taught by academics with substantial business experience across the range of business disciplines, through consultancy or knowledge exchange, there is an emphasis on learning through practice, so you graduate with the breadth of knowledge and capabilities to respond proactively and creatively to contemporary business issues and challenges. Throughout the course, you’ll also develop a range of transferrable skills highly prized by employers, such as critical evaluation, self-direction and problem-solving, as well as a sound grasp of analysis, presentations and negotiation techniques.

You’ll be capable of holding positions of significant responsibility and authority in public companies, private businesses and government agencies. Past Business Management graduates have found successful employment as management, marketing and advertising trainees, as trainee accountants and brand managers, recruitment consultants, retail managers and as assistants in market research, PR and global branding.

Whether you consider yourself an ideas person, innovator or problem-solver, our exciting degree brings together the creative and analytical aspects of marketing to offer a hands-on experience of creating, managing and measuring the impact of an online brand.

Digital marketing is fast becoming one of the most important skills demanded by employers, as business is increasingly conducted online by digital brands and traditional players alike.

Our broad curriculum pulls together the many different strands of digital marketing – understanding user channels, stages of the customer journey, how to engage customers, drive traffic to websites, search engine optimisation, paid advertising, how to build a social media following and increase conversion through email sign-up or sales.

You will have the opportunity to tailor your course by choosing specialist option modules, covering topics like user experience, brand management, mobile and social media.

You’ll learn to build, focus and measure digital marketing messages and content to achieve the greatest effect on behalf of a brand, organisation or cause, using these same skills to manage your own professional presence online. In doing so, you’ll have the opportunity to develop and present your content ideas for campaigns, websites and apps in Switch 23, a collaborative digital marketing lab, which features the same Adobe Creative Cloud applications used in top agencies.

Top reasons to study with us

• Access to our dedicated digital marketing lab, Switch 23, using the same Adobe Creative Cloud applications used in top agencies
• Emphasis on real-world learning – you’ll engage with industry, working on real problems set in partnership with businesses and marketing agencies
• Focus on practice-based assessment with flexible final project of a dissertation or consultancy report that plays to your strengths and interests
• Optional placement or international year to gain valuable work experience. For example, one previous marketing student spent six months working as a podcast assistant for MailOnline, while another worked at IBM
• Hear from experts and mingle with marketing students by joining the student-run Westminster Marketing Society or gain experience working for the student-run Westminster Business Consultants (WBC)

Internationalisation and evolution of markets have created opportunities for companies to focus on marketing from a global perspective. On our degree, you’ll explore the complexity and diversity facing marketers in the highly competitive and continually evolving world marketplace, incorporating the latest marketing strategy, tools and techniques.

You can also boost your employability by gaining additional qualifications with the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) and/or the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). Our status as a CIM Graduate Gateway institution entitles you to apply for exemptions from modules on its professional qualifications, while you can gain IDM’s Award in Digital Marketing during the Digital Essentials of Marketing module.

Since our marketing degrees share a common first year, you get to experience all the main areas in marketing whilst retaining the flexibility to change course at the start of your second year.

Focusing on marketing within an international context, you will gain awareness of the global, cultural, social, economic and ethical professional environment within which marketers now operate, and the connections with other functional business areas needed for overall corporate success.

Top reasons to study with us

• Professionally focused course with chance to gain additional professional qualifications from the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
• Marketing degrees share a common first year, giving greater flexibility when choosing your specialism
• Option to spend one semester or one year studying abroad at one of our partner institutions, gain valuable work experience, or a combination of both. For example, one previous student worked as a marketing executive for ICG Medical
• Opportunity to study a foreign language as an optional module in each year of study
• Hear from experts and mingle with marketing students by joining the student-run Westminster Marketing Society or gain professional experience working for Westminster Business Consultants
• Guest lectures from industry practitioners have previously included speakers on Google analytics and from organisations such as IBM, Tableau, Coca Cola and LinkedIn
• Programmes are delivered by a multicultural and international teaching body, who come from professional practice and/or regularly publish in top international journals

Architecture is a fascinating subject involving wide-ranging academic, practical and vocational activities. It requires creativity and imagination, as well as the inventive employment of environmental and technical knowledge.

Architecture is normally studied with a view to becoming a professional architect, but as it embraces the fields of art, history and science, it also opens doors to a range of postgraduate study options and other forms of career development.

At the heart of our course is a rich choice of design studios, in which students are taught in small groups by current practitioners, reflecting London’s dynamic architecture scene. There are also lecture courses in environmental and technical studies, history and theory of architecture, as well as numerous opportunities to engage with the architecture profession through construction site visits, mentoring and a work placement.

Field trips are offered in the second year and there are opportunities to study abroad, with the most recent destinations including Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and China.

This course develops your ability to initiate and implement advanced analysis and research in transport policy, planning and management. You will learn the techniques and methodologies you need to take decisions, or to provide the necessary information for others to take policy decisions. The MSc course has been running successfully for many years, and is offered by the Department of Planning and Transport. The course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), and graduates are exempt from the Institute's exams. The Course also forms part of the pathway to the Transport Planning Professional (TPP) qualification.

The course will enable you to understand the causes and motivations of personal travel and goods movement; to analyse transport problems and develop, and implement policies and measures for resolving such problems; to evaluate transport projects, plans and policies, taking into account the need for stakeholder participation and recognising the political, social, health, environmental and economic issues involved.

The MSc course balances theoretical and practical applications in the three separate components: core modules, option modules and a research dissertation.