Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration

This innovative course is designed to develop a wide range of interdisciplinary skills that you can apply in your own work as you develop. You will gain a solid foundation in core management disciplines, including human resource management, organisational behaviour, accounting and finance, marketing and operations – learning to apply your knowledge to analyse, synthesise and evaluate a wide range of situations. You will explore economic, environmental, social and technological change issues; corporate governance; markets and customers; managing resources and operations; financing organisations; management and development of people; developing information technologies for application in business and management within a global knowledge-based economy, and development of appropriate business policies and strategies within a changing context to meet stakeholder interests.

Key features of the course

• A valuable qualification for practising managers who aspire to higher positions
• Flexible curriculum to suit your professional interests
• Takes you two-thirds of the way to our triple-accredited MBA.

The learning outcomes of this qualification are described in four areas:

• Knowledge and understanding
• Cognitive skills
• Practical and professional skills
• Key skills

Course details

There are now two routes to gaining this qualification depending on when you start your postgraduate diploma.

November 2019 onwards route

If you started with B870 in November 2019 or thereafter, including if you've previously studied any electives as a standalone module, you'll need:

105 credits from the following:

Compulsory modules

• Managing in a changing world (B870)
• Creating and sustaining value (B872)
• Effective strategic management in business and the public sector (B873)
• Finance for strategic decision making (B874)

plus 15 credits from one of the following:

Optional modules

• Contemporary issues in organisations (BB853)
• Entrepreneurship in context (BB851)
• Leadership and management of public services (BB852)
• Supply chain management (BB849)
• Sustainable creative management (BB842)

Hybrid route

If you have gained 60 credits from completing either of the discontinued modules B716 or BXFT716 you'll need:

30 credits from the following:

Compulsory module

• Effective strategic management in business and the public sector (B873)

Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, the discontinued module BB835.

plus 15 credits from the following:

Compulsory module

• Finance for strategic decision making (B874)

Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, the discontinued module BB831.

plus 15 credits from the following:

Optional modules

• Contemporary issues in organisations (BB853)
• Entrepreneurship in context (BB851)
• Leadership and management of public services (BB852)
• Supply chain management (BB849)
• Sustainable creative management (BB842)

You should note that the University’s unique study rule applies to this qualification. This means that you must include at least 40 credits from OU modules that have not been counted in any other OU qualification that has previously been awarded to you.

Details of the Final Study in the May 2020 route, which is no longer available to new students, can be seen below in the qualification regulations.