Investment Innovation Research Excellence Employability Quality
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PRO GRESS Birmingham City University Postgraduate Magazine 2013 Investment Innovation Research Excellence Employability Quality www.bcu.ac.uk BCU_PG_magazine.indd 1 15/04/2013 14:11 ProGress 2013 ProGress 2013 02 Welcome Welcome 03 Contents WELCOME WHY CHOOSE BIRMINGHAM WHY 02-03 Welcome A postgraduate qualification from CITY POSTGRADUATE 04-05 Investment Birmingham City University gives you the chance to build on your existing 06-07 Innovation knowledge and experience to become UNIVERSITY? STUDY? 08-09 Research a leader in your field. 10-13 Excellence Independent research shows that those with We know that choosing which university 14-15 Employability a postgraduate qualification are more likely to study at is a huge decision. Whether you to find employment, and earn more on average 16-17 Quality are looking to work with academic experts, than those with just a degree. Studying a 18-21 Success are seeking professional accreditation subject you are passionate about in greater or simply pursuing a change in direction, 22-23 Birmingham depth can also provide you with a great deal we wanted to show you why Birmingham of enjoyment and satisfaction. 24-25 Outstanding support City University is the right choice for you! 26-27 Preparing to arrive Our relevant and practical teaching includes work placements, talks from leading industry • We are one of the UK’s top 10 figures and real-life case studies set by universities for our spending on facilities employers, giving you a real insight into your How do I find (Complete University Guide 2013) with a chosen field. This is further underscored by out more? planned £180 million investment www.bcu.ac.uk almost 40 professional accreditations for our programme. courses, and partnerships with companies • 94 per cent of our students thought the and organisations including Sky, Cisco, SAP teaching quality on their course was either and the NHS. consistently good or generally good Whether you are coming to the end of your to pay for it. Research by the Sutton Trust In this magazine you can find out more (Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2012). undergraduate studies, or you have been found that earnings for postgraduates were about what makes Birmingham City University • We work with companies like Apple, Cisco, in your job for a while and want to progress significantly higher than those with a degree KEY FACTS so many students’ first choice – the investment Cartier, Bosch and Hewlett Packard to in your chosen career or change direction, only – 15 per cent higher for those with a in our facilities, our focus on employability develop cutting-edge curriculums and a postgraduate qualification gives you Master’s degree and 23 per cent more for Someone with a Master’s and our innovative approaches to learning. collaborate on course projects. the opportunity to stand out from the those with a PhD. degree earns £5,500 more You can also read about the achievements • Our pioneering virtual learning environments crowd in a competitive market. Professional qualifications include ACCA per year, or £200,000 over of some of our current students and recent recreate working environments such as TV and CIMA-accredited accountancy courses, the a 40-year working life, than Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) graduates who have gone on to enjoy success studios, school classrooms, solicitors Studying at postgraduate level gives you advanced someone with just a degree. as a result of the opportunities they were offices and hospitals. knowledge of your subject as well as transferable certificate and diploma for those working in human (Sutton Trust, 2013) given here. • We won the Times Higher Education award skills that employers value, while the new resources, Subject Knowledge Enhancement courses for teachers, a wide range of professional We have also included some useful advice for Outstanding Support for Students (2010), relationships you will build with academics, 92 per cent of our postgraduates visiting lecturers and fellow students can help development programmes for healthcare for you as you prepare to move to the next in recognition of our Student Academic found work or entered further Partners scheme, where students work you to build useful professional contacts. staff plus a host of construction, media and stage of your academic journey, or perhaps study within six months of return to education after some time away. with staff to find ways to enhance how And for our students, that investment in engineering accreditations. graduating. This includes information on the application their courses are taught. their future pays off – did you know that 92 per Our postgraduates have gone on to work process and what our home city of Birmingham • Many of our academics are practising cent of our postgraduates find work or further in senior roles with such big-name companies (Destinations of Leavers from has to offer. professionals – including exhibiting artists, study within six months (DLHE 2010/11)? and organisations as Jaguar Land Rover, Higher Education survey Ernst & Young, Norwich Union, Network We look forward to seeing you later this celebrated legal experts, professional 2010/11) Rail, General Electric, Capgemini, DHL, the year and I hope that this magazine will help musicians or published writers – ensuring Employment opportunities Metropolitan Police Authority, Motorola, the you to learn a little more about us. If you the University stays up to date with the In some fields, such as academia, a postgraduate “Postgraduate study can be a Crown Prosecution Service, NEC Group, the have any queries in the meantime, please latest thinking in their sectors. qualification is a requirement, while for others route to advancing in an existing BBC and Goldman Sachs. do not hesitate to get in touch – our friendly • We are ranked 10th in the UK for our it may prove highly useful; for example, a PGCE career as well as opening up Course Enquiries team would be delighted research into art and design and third is often the easiest way to enter teaching if new employment opportunities. ” your degree is not in education or a related Personal development to help you. in the UK for music research at (Department for Business, If you have completed your study at undergraduate Conservatoires (Research Assessment subject, while an MBA may be the best route Innovation and Skills, 2010) Exercise 2008). to acquiring the skills required in certain level, but still have the desire to further your Professor Cliff Allan high-flying business roles. understanding in a particular subject, you may Vice-Chancellor According to the Association of Graduate get a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction “A postgraduate degree Birmingham City University Careers Advisory Services, there are an increasing from studying it in greater depth. confers a clear economic number of occupations where employers require Postgraduate study involves a large amount advantage, with postgraduates a postgraduate qualification, including law, of independent work and you will need strong attaining significantly higher engineering, teaching, professional psychology motivation and time management skills which salaries than those with only Scan to view roles, international development and NGOs, will also be of use in later life. By becoming first degrees.” our postgraduate technical roles in the environment professions a specialist in your field, you will have the (HEPI, 2010) prospectus and quantitative roles in investment banking. chance to advance thinking in that subject and And those employers that need this lead, rather than follow, the latest developments. www.bcu.ac.uk/postgraduate additional expertise are increasingly prepared www.bcu.ac.uk/postgraduate BCU_PG_magazine.indd 2 15/04/2013 14:11 ProGress 2013 ProGress 2013 04 Investment Investment 05 MAKING PLANS FOR A WORLD-CLASS CONSERVATOIRE NEW CITY The University’s Birmingham Conservatoire, which celebrated excellent learning experience that makes How do I find its 125th anniversary in 2011, is an the Conservatoire a world leader, with out more? important part of ambitious plans to plans to create a new performance venue. CENTRE CAMPUS The move will firmly place the www.bcu.ac.uk create a world-class cultural hub at the heart of the city. Conservatoire at the cultural heart of Birmingham – along with iconic modern To watch the latest live footage of the The Conservatoire is due to relocate from buildings elsewhere in the city centre, site as Phase 1 nears completion, visit: its current base in Paradise Circus as part such as the Library of Birmingham and www.bcu.ac.uk/webcam of the wider redevelopment of the area and Symphony Hall, as well as heritage Media students will benefit from the largest feasibility studies are well under way to find landmarks including the Town Hall and concentration of TV studios between London suitable alternative premises. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. and Salford, as well as other industry-standard This new home will be fully fitted with technology designed to prepare you for your state-of-the-art facilities to continue the future career. While the School will be moving its existing state-of-the-art radio equipment to the new site, the TV studios will be entirely new, kitted out with the latest technology, to the extent that the University expects they will be FINAL PIECE IN used by professional production companies who currently suffer from a shortage of studio space in the Midlands. HEALTH JIGSAW Head of Birmingham School of Media Professor Philip Thickett added: “We hope that with the three faculties being in such close The 2011/12 academic year also proximity in future, we’ll have more opportunities saw the opening of the University’s Stephen Wordsworth. He said: “The There’s a rising sense of excitement at the for what we’re calling ‘exquisite collisions’ brand new £2 million Seacole West University is very proud of the Seacole University as the first phase of our City between students and staff, and across different teaching wing at the Faculty of Building with its contemporary architecture Centre Campus expansion - for art, design courses.