What It’s Like Studying a Bachelor of Business at UTS

If you’re interested in a Bachelor of Business at UTS, then we’ve got you covered! 

We’ll dive into everything you need to know including core units, majors, assessments, uni culture and more. 

So, let’s get straight into it! 

What is a Bachelor of Business at UTS?

Core Units and Majors

How to Get into a Bachelor of Business at UTS

What’s the Teaching Format?

What’s the Faculty and Culture Like?

What is a Bachelor of Business at UTS?

A Bachelor of Business at UTS provides you with the skills and knowledge you need to confidently enter the business world. You’ll cover a range of different business subjects within the first year to build the foundations you need and get a good understanding of all the areas of business. 

This will help you to figure out which area of business you want to major in, which you will then focus on in-depth for the following two years. You’ll also get to learn in a very modern and state-of-the-art business building (trust us, it’s one of the coolest buildings on the UTS campus!). 

Can this degree be studied in conjunction with another?

There’s the opportunity to complete an Honours year and there are also some great double degrees! You can combine a Bachelor of Business with a number of other degrees including: 

• Law (5 years)
• International Studies (5 years)
• Creative Intelligence and Innovation (4 years)
• Science in Information Technology (4 years)
• Engineering (5 years)
• Medical Science (4 years)
• Science (4 years) 
• Biotechnology (4 years) 

You can find out more about the double degrees offered here! 

Career Paths

Well a Business degree is great to have because it is so versatile and there are a lot of job opportunities out there for you! Some of the roles you could end up in include:

• Accountant
• Business advisor
• Business analyst
• Economist
• Human resources manager
• Consultant
• Marketing specialist
• Publicist

…there’s really a long list that goes on and on!

Core Units and Majors

What are the Core Units?

In the first year, you complete eight core units which gives you a taste of all the different areas of business and you touch on the basic skills of each one. It gives you a good idea about what you can expect from each major in the second year – that way, you know what you are actually interested in and want to do.

The subject Integrating Business Perspectives looks at the relationship between business and society, focusing on the legal aspects of business along with issues surrounding ethics and sustainability. As you would expect, Accounting for Business Decisions A is an introduction to accounting where you learn the basic principles and then Accounting for Business Decisions B focuses on applying what you learnt to make decisions based on the numbers for various business scenarios.

You’ll also learn how to tackle and break down what all those numbers really mean in Business Statistics!

You can check all the core units out below:

• Accounting for Business Decisions A
• Managing People and Organisations
• Marketing Foundations
• Economics for Business
• Fundamentals of Business Finance
• Business Statistics
• Integrating Business Perspectives
• Accounting for Business Decisions B

Course Structure 

Now the cool thing about a Bachelor of Business at UTS is that there are lots of options with majors, seconds majors, sub-majors and electives. So it might get a little confusing but you choose your Business Major (8 subjects) in the second year and then choose one of the following options: 

• Second major
• Two sub-majors OR
• One sub-major and four electives 

If you decide you really love Marketing and want to focus on that, you can choose to do it as an Extended Business Major (12 subjects) which basically means you just spend more time on it. You then have to pair it with either:

• One sub-major OR
• Four electives 

At the end of the day, you do the same amount of work in each option and the credit points all add up to what you need to graduate – it just depends on what you’re interested in and how many different areas of business you want to learn about. 

What are the Majors?

There are eight awesome Business majors to choose from:

• Accounting
• Economics
• Finance
• Human Resources Management
• International Business
• Management
• Marketing
• Advertising and Marketing Communications 

What’s an Advertising and Marketing Communications major like?

An Advertising and Marketing Communications major focuses on the delivery of marketing to an audience (rather than purely marketing itself). In this major, you learn about consumer behaviour, various marketing and advertising strategies, how social media influences marketing in a technological world and way more! 

A major like this gives you the skills for positions not only in advertising and marketing but also strategic planning, media buying and public relations. 

What’s an International Business Major like?

Well, it sounds pretty cool and it is! You cover accounting and marketing in international contexts, look at transnational management (when an organisation’s actions and activities go beyond their borders) and even have the chance to go overseas for two weeks if you choose the subject International Management Field Study. 

The International Business major is definitely worth checking out!

Second Major

Now if you decide to choose a second major, you can choose any of the above majors and also have the option to choose Business Law or Information Technology. 

Sub-Majors

There are 34 different sub-majors to choose from which you can look at right here! There are some really cool ones like Sport Management, Tourism Management, Sustainable Enterprise and way more.

Electives 

If you choose this option, you get to pick four electives. There are Business electives but you can also choose to do almost any of the electives UTS offers – cross disciplinary electives. There are all kinds of interesting ones like Global Cinema, Climate Justice and Climate Policy or even Academic English: Communication Fundamentals. 

Extended Major 

For those who want to really go in-depth regarding a specific area of Business, you can choose from one of the following Extended Majors:

• Extended Economics
• Extended Finance 
• Extended Marketing
• Extended Accounting 

Internships 

Although you don’t have to do an internship for a Bachelor of Business at UTS, it’s a great way to get some experience and make some connections. Internships always look great on the resume too! 

There are a lot of internships exclusively offered to UTS Business students but you have to hold yourself accountable and apply for them. There’s also a Business Internship that you can take as an elective and get credit points – it’s definitely worth it! 

How to Get into a Bachelor of Business at UTS

The ATAR cut off for a Bachelor of Business at UTS is 88 for full-time students. You’re also able to get some extra bonus points for HSC subjects that you excel in and are business-related.

Have a look at the Year 12 Adjustment Factors scheme for Business!

Pathway Programs

Now, don’t worry if you didn’t get the ATAR you need for a Bachelor of Business at UTS because there is another option! 

You can study a Diploma of Business with UTS College and if you meet the required GPA (Grade Point Average), you can transfer straight into the second year of a Bachelor of Business. The Diploma can be completed in a year (standard) or even just 8 months (accelerated).

Check out all the details here! 

Assumed Knowledge

You’ll be expected to have a good understanding of Mathematics and of course, you’ll need to have completed two units of English in your HSC. 

For those trickier subjects, there is a great program called UPass which all UTS Business students can attend to get a better understanding of a specific subject and tackle all those big questions (we’ll talk more about this later on).

Scholarships

There are all sorts of scholarships that you can apply for at UTS which can be found here!

What’s the Teaching Format?

A Bachelor of Business at UTS is taught through lectures, seminars and tutorials. Lucky for you, UTS Business has semesters (sigh of relief). 

Lectures

First things first, lectures are usually always recorded! You have one lecture a week for each subject and there’s usually between 60 to 180 people depending on the subject and size of the room. 

This is where you’ll take notes, learn the content and sometimes get asked questions by the lecturer (they’re not as scary you think)

Seminars

As of the second year, some majors are better suited to a seminar instead of a lecture but you can still expect the same number of people as a lecture. 

A seminar is similar to a lecture in that you learn the content and take notes but it also has more room for an open discussion – it’s more engaging! So, the lecturer will talk, get you to work on questions and then provide feedback on your answers.  

Tutorials

You’ll have a tutorial for each subject you do with around 15 to 30 people and these are more discussion-based. In the tute, you reflect on the material from the lecture, complete questions and work on any group assignments you may have. 

If you have a finance subject, you might learn how to do the equations or if you have a marketing subject, you might participate in a group discussion on creative ways to get messages across to an audience – it really depends on the subject.

How many hours do you go to university?

If you study a Bachelor of Business at UTS, you’ll take four subjects a semester on a full-time load. So, you’re looking at around 3-4 hours a subject which gives you 12-16 contact hours a week (this can vary slightly depending on your major). 

Something to keep in mind is that it’s possible to fit all your classes into two or three days. This gives you more time to find internships, work, hang out with friends or do whatever you want to! 

Just remember to be quick when it comes to selecting classes for your timetable because the best times usually get snapped up first (lots of students have the same idea!)

What are the assessments like?

You can expect to have around 3 to 4 tasks spread throughout the semester for each subject. 

In the first year, where all the business students do the same core subjects, there’s usually in-class quizzes, group assignments, a mid-sem exam and either a final exam or report. UTS loves group assignments because it helps you to refine your communication skills and you learn how to effectively work in a team – important in any business! 

In the second and third years, there’s still some group work but you also learn to work more independently. Once again, there’ll be a mix of quizzes, reports and/or essays and exams as well as group presentations. 

In the final semester of your degree, you’ll complete a capstone (major project) with both individual and group components that combines all the skills you’ve learnt throughout your studies. 

Skills That You Learn and Refine

During the first year, you develop an understanding of the main areas in business. So, you pick up skills from finance to marketing to accounting and so on. 

Once you have your major, you then learn the specific skills related to that. You develop your communication skills (written and oral) with presentations, working in groups and writing reports/essays. 

There’s also a lot of problem-solving involved and so you have to learn to make decisions which is a fundamental aspect of any business. Of course, you refine your time management skills because between the groups assignments, working on your own individual assignments and staying on top of all the content, time just seems to fly by! 

On that note, you develop a good work ethic because you have to pull your weight in the group assignments and sometimes, it’s a bit challenging because some of the group members might have different strengths/weaknesses or might not show up to meetings. 

What’s the Faculty & Culture Like?

Students from the Business Faculty are friendly, fun and love being social! 

You’re bound to make awesome friends, grab coffees together in between classes or explore the endless delicious food options the city has to offer (Spice Alley is amazing!). You’ll meet students from different majors and also when you have group assignments so it’s really easy to get to know people. 

UTS Business Society

You’re going to want to join the UTS Business Society (BSoc) because this is where the fun happens! There’s a two-day first year business camp where you get to bond with new people who become your friends for the rest of the degree — it’s a super inclusive environment! 

They even hold Industry Panel evenings where you can talk with experts in the field and of course, the annual Business Ball where you get to boogie with all your pals.  

Support Programs

So, say you’re finding some of those finance subjects a bit challenging and need some extra help? You can sign up for a UPass class for that specific subject. 

Past students who have completed the same subjects as you revise the material with you and help you wherever you need it. Unlike tutorials, there’s more time to ask questions and have things explained because the classes are smaller and tailored towards helping you with what you specifically need. 

It’s free and all you have to do is sign up for whatever time suits you best! 

Interested in the pros and cons of this degree? Check out our article here!

Tanna Nankivell is a Content Writer at Art of Smart Education and is currently in Germany completing a year of study for her double degree in Communications (Journalism) and Bachelor of Arts (International Studies). She has had articles published on Central News – the UTS Journalism Lab and wrote a feature piece for Time Out Sydney during her internship. Tanna has a love for travel and the great outdoors, you’ll either find her on the snowfields or in the ocean, teaching aqua aerobics or creating short films.