28th January 2022

Get two-for-one on your degree with the University of Wolverhampton Business School and the Chartered Management Institute

Students studying on the University of Wolverhampton BA in Business Management will now be awarded a Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) on successful completion of their degree.

The CMI is the leading chartered body for management and leadership disciplines. For 75 years the body has worked with business and education to equip people with the skills and confidence required to be successful managers and leaders (CMI, 2022). It is an internationally recognised organisation whose courses, membership and research are valued by a vast quantity of organisations (Ibid). The BA Business Management course at Wolverhampton University is accredited by the CMI and embeds its level 5 certificate in the course.

One of the main benefits of studying a CMI accredited qualification is that it enhances student employability; the body’s research suggests that 58% of graduates from a CMI Accredited degree were in professional roles within six months of degree completion (CMI, 2022). The key word to focus upon here is “professional.” Many graduates gain employment following degree completion but not necessarily at the level of the organisational hierarchy that they had envisaged (Radermacher et al, 2014). It is often stated that graduates aren’t recruited to managerial job roles due to a lack of practical experience (Ibid). Studying a degree accredited by the CMI helps to resolve this difficulty by enhancing student’s practical skills. Research conducted by the CMI (2022) suggested that 81% of students on CMI accredited courses recognised their ability to develop people and capabilities.

Sarah Williams, Interim Director of the Business School, explains why this accreditation is so important to the University, “We want our students to be equipped with the skills and competencies they need to excel in the world of work. Working alongside leading professional bodies enables us to not only assure the quality of our course, but also to ensure that our students are well prepared for their future careers and inspired by current business issues.”

She continues, “The BA Business Management course is designed with business and for business to ensure that students are immersed in real-world issues from Day 1 of their course. We believe that partnering with the CMI to give our students dual qualifications will enhance their employability and give them a head-start in the labour market.”

Students will encounter a variety of teaching and assessment methods on the course with an emphasis on the development of workplace skills including problem solving, team building and the development of emotional intelligence. These soft skills can be neglected when utilising a traditional exam based structure (Hora et al, 2018; Cotronei-Baird, 2020). The CMI also offer regular networking opportunities, which provide students with possible avenues to enhance their work place prospects (CMI, 2022). To summarise the BA Business management course provides a stimulating academic experience whilst still developing practical work-based skills, desired by the modern employer.

You can find out more about the benefits of CMI membership here: Management & Leadership Development and Training - CMI (managers.org.uk) and about the BA Business Management here: BA (Hons) Business Management - University of Wolverhampton (wlv.ac.uk)

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By Alistair Sale. Alistair is a lecturer in Business Management and one of the course leaders of the BA Business Management degree programme.

Reference List

CMI. (2022). Available at: https://www.managers.org.uk/ [Accessed 18 January 2022].

Cotronei-Baird, V.S. (2020). Academic hindrances in the integration of employability skills development in teaching and assessment practice. Higher Education, 79(2), pp.203-223.

 

Hora, M.T., Benbow, R.J. and Smolarek, B.B. (2018). Re-thinking soft skills and student employability: A new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 50(6), pp.30-37.

 

Radermacher, A., Walia, G. and Knudson, D., (2014). Investigating the skill gap between graduating students and industry expectations. In Companion Proceedings of the 36th international conference on software engineering (pp. 291-300)