Course units

Your degree programme consists of several course units. Some of these will be compulsory and others will be option units that you can choose from in order to tailor your degree.

Here are some key things to remember when choosing units:

  • It is your responsibility to choose courses that are within your programme structure and that you have the pre-requisite for. The Curriculum and Programmes Team may check that students have chosen correctly and that you have enrolled for 120 credits for the year. If it is discovered you are taking the wrong courses you will be removed from those and expected to take an alternative course. This may not happen until week 3 of teaching meaning you will have missed a significant amount of content on another course which you will need to take.
  • Remember to check that your choices do not cause a timetable clash. If this happens you will be expected to choose an alternative course.
  • Remember that some course units have quotas and you will need to enrol onto these courses as soon as you can to secure a place.
  • After the first two weeks of semester 1, the student system will close for changes to semester one and full-year course units.
  • After the first two weeks of semester 2, the student system will close for changes to all course units.
  • You will not be permitted to drop a course which you took in the first semester in favour of a second-semester course, nor will you be permitted to opt-out of a full-year course at the end of semester one.

Course unit selection

Please consult the Course Unit Selection support pages for further guidance on course Unit Selection, including a video detailing the end to end process of using Course Unit Selection.

All programme structures are available to view on the online undergraduate handbook here. Please take care to read through your programme structure and options fact sheet that may be relevant to your programme.

Remember:

  • You cannot take a course which is not part of your programme structure
  • You cannot drop a full-year or semester 1 or full-year course in favour of a semester 2 course
  • You cannot take courses which clash at any point throughout the academic year
  • You must have taken necessary pre-requite courses

It’s your responsibility to ensure you are enrolled in the correct courses for your programme.

You will be able to view lecture and seminar timetables on the Online Undergraduate Handbook once they are finalised, you will be sent a notification when this is ready.

If you want to find out more information about courses, you can do so via the course unit information database on MyManchester. Whilst Course Unit Information on MyManchester is currently down, please refer to the general course outlines via the University Website – keeping in mind your programme structure.

As always, when course unit selection opens, if you experience any problems with course enrolment please don’t hesitate to contact us, though please be patient and mindful that the team will be dealing with all requests and queries via email so there may be a delay in replying; please do not email numerous times as the emails may be picked up by various staff at different times.

Deadlines

Changing full year and Semester 1 course units: Friday, 6 October 2023.

Changing Semester 2 course units: Friday, 9 February 2024.

These deadlines must be strictly adhered to and no changes will be allowed after this date.

  • Resit Students - if your results indicate that you have first sits or resits in the August 2023 reassessment period you will still be able to select courses but you will not have formally progressed to the next level of the programme until you pass the assessment. The resit boards will meet in early September. If you pass all your resits you will be contacted accordingly.
  • Most AMBS optional courses do not have a limit on numbers who can enrol, resit students should still be able to choose a wide range of courses in September. Unfortunately, it may not be possible for you to take a course that has a quota and you should therefore consider a wide range of options.
  • If you need help enrolling onto your course choices in Campus Solutions, please email ambs.programmes@manchester.ac.uk quoting your student ID number with a description of the problem.

How to make your choice of course units

During the second semester of your first and second years, you will be able to read course unit outlines for course units available to you in the following year. We will advise you when these course unit outlines have been posted on the web and you will be able to see them in My Manchester.

All students will attend meetings given by either their Programme Director or other tutors to receive information about courses on offer the following year. You will be notified about detailed arrangements via email in due course.

Third year IM and IMABS students on exchange will receive this information by email.

Balance of course units

You are expected to study an equal number of course units in each semester, i.e. a 60-60 credit split.

However, in exceptional circumstances, a slightly unequal split may be permitted (e.g. 70-50 or 50-70) within the constraints of the timetable and following discussion at the beginning of the first semester with your Programme Director. Any decision to take an unequal split must be made within the first two weeks of the first semester.

On academic grounds, an unequal split is not recommended by the School because an even distribution across the year is designed to ensure that you are not overburdened at any one time. Also, those who opt for a 70-50 split will not be permitted to take 60 credits in the second semester to compensate for course units failed in the first semester (or 70 credits in the second semester where a 60-60 split has been opted for).

How to change your choice of course units

We recognise that a few of you will want to make changes to your choice of optional course units, and wish to reconsider your choice once teaching has started. There is always a risk in changing course units after the start of the semester because you may miss crucial information and some seminars and workshops etc. may be full but we will help as much as we can to accommodate your change.

For this reason, you will be allowed a maximum of two weeks at the beginning of each semester in which to change your choice of course units. The deadlines for changing are highlighted above.

Second and final year students will be able to change course unit choices via the student system. If you wish to change course units, you must first check that the course unit you want to switch to is available. Whilst you will have been allocated a place based on your original choices, we cannot guarantee that a place will be available on an alternative course unit. You must also remember that changes will be subject to timetable constraints.

First year students wishing to change an optional course unit must discuss this with the Curriculum and Programmes team within the first two weeks of teaching. This only applies to a very small number of students as most courses taken by first year students are compulsory. The Curriculum and Programmes team will make this change for you as you will not be able to change this yourself within the student system.

It is your responsibility to check that you meet any pre- and co-requisites for your chosen course units, that you have selected course units that meet the requirements of your programme structure, and that you have selected course units totalling the correct number of credits.

You should refer to the online course information on My Manchester for details of pre- and co-requisite course units and the AMBS undergraduate handbook for your programme structure.

Structure for your degree programme

Once you have confirmed your course units, you MUST check your choices against the rules for your programme. If you have not complied with the programme requirements, you must make the necessary changes.

Note that at the beginning of the second semester you will not be permitted to drop a course unit which you took in the first semester in favour of a second semester course unit, nor will you be permitted to opt out of a full year course unit at this stage.

If you fail to register with us any changes to your choice of course units by the end of the two-week period at the beginning of each semester you will be registered for examinations in your original choice of course units.

Selection of workshops, labs and seminars

Depending on your programme, most, and possibly all, of the course units you take this academic year will be run by Alliance MBS. All students will be automatically allocated to seminars, labs or workshops by timetabling staff and will therefore not be required to use the self-selection service.

If for whatever reason, you wish to change this you should contact the Curriculum and Programmes team and we will try to accommodate the request where possible but changes are not guaranteed.

It is also important for you to know that when you are assigned to a full year seminar, workshop or lab you are assigned to that group for the full year and there is no automatic right for this to change at the start of semester 2. If you do have a genuine seminar clash, at the start of Semester 2, with a second semester course unit choice that cannot be worked through within the full timetable availability, then the programme team will consider if there is available space in another seminar to allow for a seminar change and seek approval from the course unit director.

Using the student system (Campus Solutions)

Campus Solutions is the student records system used by The University of Manchester to undertake its key administrative processes. During your studies at Manchester you will be accessing the system for various reasons including completing registration, choosing optional courses and viewing your assessment marks.

Campus Solutions will open for course unit selection week commencing 21 August.

You will also be able to edit your addresses and see who your academic advisor is.

You can access the student system (Campus Solutions) via My Manchester.

Here are some guides to help you use the system:

If you have a problem logging onto My Manchester you can get help from the Helpdesk on 0161 275 5000 (option 2) or email selfservice@manchester.ac.uk

Course unit outlines

Please refer to the programme structures for information about the course units which are available to your programme this academic year. Towards the end of semester two, first and second year students can start to consider their optional courses for the next academic year. A course outline for each course available can be found via My Manchester.

The information provided is provisional and some amendments have to be made between then and the beginning of the new academic year due to changes in teaching staff. You must therefore consult this site again before you choose your options, on the student system, in July to make sure you are aware of any further changes.

Details of course aims, learning outcomes, and content will be available at introductory lectures for each course unit, which you should ensure you attend, and are also available in the course unit outlines.

At the beginning of the semester, you will also be able to download from Blackboard more detailed course unit descriptions, including full reading lists, details of how formative feedback will be delivered, the nature of the coursework assessment required, dates and instructions for submission of work, arrangements for marking and feedback and the consequences associated with failure to comply with the submission dates. Any student who does not receive this information should contact their Programme Director.

Introductory course unit videos

In order to assist with your course unit selection some course unit directors have provided the following introductory videos to give a flavour of their course:

BMAN11171 – Principles of Tax

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BMAN10501 – Financial Reporting

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BMAN20081 – Financial Statement Analysis

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BMAN22061 – Management of Projects

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BMAN32082 – Applied Practical Investing

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BMAN31762 – Wicked Problems, Clumsy Solutions

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Optional course units

Students entering the second or final year of their Alliance MBS degree programme in September 2023 choose their 2023/24 optional courses via the Student System.

Students can choose lectures at this time, the related classes (seminars, tutorials, workshops and labs) will be assigned automatically at this time. If you wish to make changes you should contact the Curriculum and Programmesteam who will accommodate your request if possible, though changes are not guaranteed.

You will find further information about course selection below.

BMAN30180 Consultancy Project

Students can apply to take BMAN30180 Consultancy Project. The deadline for applications is 12pm on the 19 July 2023. Students will need to complete an application form. Please read the FAQ document which will help you answer any questions. 

BMAN32082 Applied Practical Investing

If eligible students can apply to take BMAN32082 Applied Practical Investing. The deadline for applications is 12pm on the 15 September 2023. Students will need to complete an application form. Please read the FAQ document which will help you answer any questions.

Links and guides

  1. Instructions will be made available soon.
  2. 2023/24 programme structures and options factsheets.
  3. Timetables for 2023/24. Please ensure you refer to this before making your course choices as it can lead to back-to-back classes.
  4. Course unit outlines are available via My Manchester and contain all course information such as aims, objectives, course content and assessment methods. You will be able to see all courses that are available to you so please refer to this list before making your choices.
  5. If your programme structure indicates you can take a language you can view the available courses via the University Language Centre. Applications will be accepted from 5 July 2023. Please find here how to apply for a Language course.
  6. University College Courses - students can take up to 10 credits of UCIL courses, this limit varies depending on the programme, details appear on your programme structure and factsheets. Visit the website to see what courses are available.