Business and Management (Marketing) with Placement Year

Business and management with a specialisation in marketing prepares you for one of the most dynamic and central functions in any commercial organisation. Marketing is the discipline concerned with understanding customers, building relationships with them, and communicating value in ways that drive growth. It sits at the intersection of psychology, data, strategy, and creativity, and the best marketers combine analytical rigour with a genuine feel for what people want and how to reach them.

Studying it within a business and management degree means you also develop the broader commercial and organisational understanding that effective marketers need.

At the University of Reading, this four-year programme develops your marketing expertise within a comprehensive business and management framework. You will study the principles of marketing strategy, consumer behaviour, brand management, digital marketing, and market research alongside the core disciplines of management, finance, and organisational behaviour. The programme includes a placement year, giving you valuable real-world experience in a business or marketing organisation before you complete your degree.

Reading describes the degree as being designed to develop the marketing expertise to succeed in a rapidly changing business world, and the placement element is central to how that preparation works in practice.

Marketing graduates go into a wide range of roles including brand management, digital marketing, market research, advertising, public relations, content strategy, and product management. The broader business and management framework means graduates are also well prepared for general management, consulting, and commercial roles where marketing knowledge is an advantage rather than a specialism. Many graduates go on to professional marketing qualifications alongside their early careers, while others pursue postgraduate study in marketing, business administration, or related fields to develop further expertise.