By Jamie Lloyd
First year modules in the Management School give you a taste of everything that’s to come. From the subject areas covered, to the way these modules are assessed you get an idea of what interest you and where your strengths lie.
Management Themes and Perspectives is the module in which students will be most aware of the subject area, as it includes marketing, strategy and supply chain. This consists of both coursework and group work for assessments. Business Management in Context builds on this module by taking related ideas and applying them to the business world right now, helping you to develop your analytical and application skills.
A possible new area to some students is Introduction to Behaviour at Work, this module focuses upon employees at work, how they act, how they react and how managers can get the best out of them.
A unique module to the Management School is Professional Self-Management, this module is brilliant at helping you not only improve your skills, but also give you an insight into what really interests you, and it includes lectures from external employers such as Santander and HSBC.
There are also modules which look to improve your wider knowledge. One such module is Business Economics, this may sound daunting to begin with but is really about understanding the basics of economics, such as supply and demand and is extremely applicable to the other modules. It allows you to bring in broader views and ideas and really helps you grasp how economics works within a business.
Accounting and Finance for Managers is another module which helps students learn about wider business activities. Again, many worry about mathematical ability, but there is nothing to be concerned about, you will only ever need to add, subtract, multiply and divide. This is assessed by an exam with a related case study so by reading the case study you can often do much of the maths before the exam to practice.
Analysis for Decision Making is the most mathematical module. There are two streams of this module, one for those who did A-level maths (A stream), and one for those who didn’t (B stream). The only difference here is that those who didn’t do maths have two lectures a week rather than one. This means if 
you’re not comfortable with maths there is lots of time to go through things slowly, along with tutorials, which are amazing at helping you really grasp theories. However, this doesn’t require you to be a maths expert, and that’s why you can take two sides of A4 filled with your own notes into the exam!
Every student has an unrestricted module choice in first year; I took Business Challenges which is a really great option for Business Management students. It consists of four challenges, all group work based, and you will be randomly assigned to one. After a couple of introductory lectures, you are in complete control, with no more lectures it is up to your group to work together to complete your tasks. Assessment comes in the form of a reflective essay from yourself about your experience, and a presentation as a group.