Study International Management Studies and Intercultural Studies and graduate with a university degree

Do you want to develop your language skills and your knowledge of business contexts in the EU?

Europe’s growing integration has created a greater need than ever for graduates with business and marketing skills with knowledge of foreign languages and cultures. Similarly, its increased mobility has opened up more opportunities for them too. Our courses enable you to take advantage of both these developments.

You’ll combine aspects of international business and marketing with studying a language (French or Spanish), plus the economic, political, social and cultural environment in which international business is conducted. There’s also a unique opportunity to take a double qualification with institutions in France or Germany.

Year 1

Highers BBBB.
A-levels BBC.
IB Diploma with a total of 32 points.
HNC or HND with Bs in graded units.

Access courses and other UK/EU and international qualifications are also welcomed.

General entrance requirements apply.

International students can study our Undergraduate Certificate if they do not possess the necessary entrance requirements to be admitted directly to the first year of an undergraduate degree course.

Other information

If examinations are taken over two sittings, or there are repeats or upgrades, the entrance requirements may be higher.

Required subjects

Beginners and Advanced courses in French and Spanish are available.
English Standard Grade (2), Intermediate 2 (C), GCSE (C) or equivalent. Applicants with English Standard Grade (3) will also be considered, although alternative entry conditions may be made in this case.

information on possible sources of funding

Full-time (three modules per semester).
Part-time (one or two modules per semester).
Available in the day.

International Management and Intercultural Studies (IMIS)

The IMIS double degree is a unique course available in conjunction either with the Ecole de Management in Strasbourg, France, or the University of Passau in Bavaria, Germany (the latter is open to native speakers of German only).

In either version, the course leads to the award of a degree from Stirling and also a degree from the partner institution.

In each case, the degree course involves the study of three subjects. Students studying for the double degree with Strasbourg take French, Business Studies or Marketing, and have a choice of third subject, which can be either Spanish, Economics or Politics.

Native speakers of German studying for the double degree with Passau take French or Spanish, Business, and History or Politics.

Degree structure and study abroad

The double degree with EM Strasbourg has a five-year course common to the degree in International Management Studies in Semesters 1 – 4, after which it has two variants. Students taking only one language, French, spend Semester 6 at another French business school, and Semesters 9 and 10 at EM Strasbourg. Students studying two languages spend Semester 6 in Spain, return to Stirling for Semesters 7 and 8, then go to EM Strasbourg to study there for two further semesters.

The double degree with Passau also has two variants. Variant A, for native or near-native speakers of German who begin their studies at the University of Stirling, involves five semesters of study in Stirling, followed by a semester studying in France or Spain and then a year studying at Passau. You then return to Stirling to complete your degree and graduate from both universities on completion of your degree at Stirling. Variant B, for students who begin their studies in Germany, involves six semesters of study at Passau or another German University, two semesters at Passau, followed by a final two semesters in Stirling.

European Union applications

Applications are encouraged from students from throughout the European Union. As well as native speakers of German enrolled on the Passau degree, there are a number of EU students enrolled on the EM Strasbourg version of the degree, which is also open to native speakers of German.

If you decide at any point that you do not wish to take up the option of a double degree, you have the option to transfer to the related degree programme International Management Studies.

International Management Studies

All students study three subjects during their degree. There are two compulsory pathways, namely a language (either French or Spanish) and a Business/Marketing pathway. In addition, a third pathway is chosen from a second language, Politics, Finance, Business Law or Economics. Each pathway contains modules with an international or European content.

Semesters 1 - 4

You will take the following subjects:

• French or Spanish
• Business or Marketing
• One of: a second language, Politics, Finance, Business Law, Economics

Semesters 5 - 8

In Semesters 5, 7 and 8 you will follow the same pathways but have an increasing choice of options within those pathways.

Teaching combines a mixture of lectures, tutorials and small group language classes. In addition, the use of information technology and native language assistants encourages rapid progress. Assessment focuses on a variety of skills gained across the modules studied and ranges from translations to essays, from grammar tests to oral exams and presentations (in both English and the appropriate target language). We use both continuous assessment and final examinations.

Business Studies; Economics; French; Marketing; Politics; Spanish.

Semester 6 is spent on a work placement or studying at a university or business school in France or Spain. Students of French may spend the whole of Year 3 studying at the Ecole de Management, Strasbourg.

Students taking two languages may take a year out at the end of Year 2 during which they would work as a Language Assistant in France or another Francophone location, or Spain or Latin America.  They will then spend Semester 6 in the country of the second language. In this way the degree offers two lengthy periods abroad in the country of each language studied.

Graduates will be ideally equipped for a career in international business or marketing. Not only will they have command of a language, but their study of the management subjects will have been deliberately orientated towards the international context.

Recent Stirling management graduates have gone on to a wide variety of jobs. These include advertising, marketing, banking and management. Graduates have secured positions with leading manufacturers and retailers, communications companies, and financial institutions, as well as with a variety of small- and medium-sized businesses.