We invite guest lecturers to speak frequently. Some are graduates from this course. They'll share their experiences of the computing industry with you and they'll help you to develop the skills that employers want - skills such as communication, time management and team work. In Year 1, we'll introduce you to a variety of IT disciplines. These include information systems, system analysis, design and development, website publishing and hardware and network elements. In Year 2, you'll cover IT systems for business, including planning and forecasting, networking and the development of information systems for the internet. Early on in the course, you'll focus on the requirements for your Year 3 project, linking with professional development to assist you to consider your employability skills. You can complete an optional one-year placement as part of the course. If you can't commit to a full year, you could take a shorter work experience module instead. We have partnerships with placement providers such as Perkins Engines, United Christian Broadcasters, Promtek and schools. In your final year, you'll focus on developing your specialism. You'll do this by selecting relevant options as well as working on a major project. You'll develop a software artefact, with relevant development documentation and a reflective report on your work. You will also undertake a substantial collaborative group project to enhance your employability skills.

The BSc (Hons) degrees, in the Applied IT Degree Scheme, aim to produce graduates who are reflective and critical learners with the necessary technical skills to prepare them for the world of work in the computing environment. Across all levels of the degrees, we provide the graduates with discipline expertise. We instil a critical knowledge of the discipline. The teaching and learning of discipline expertise and critical knowledge is underpinned by the experience, research and scholarship of the academic body who strive to highlight the key issues that affect the world in which we work and live. As part of our commitment to ensuring that Applied IT graduates demonstrate professionalism, we aim to produce graduates who are equipped to enter the world of work and are enterprising and entrepreneurial by nature. We employ tutorials, practical sessions, work placements, the final year project and group case study modules to develop and refine transferable skills that create graduates with the abilities and attributes employers seek. Work placements give the student the opportunity to have real world experience enabling them to put their academic studies into a practical working context. In order to further capitalize on the knowledge and understanding that the study of the degrees provides, we focus on the essential graduate attributes of effective communication and an ability to work in teams and work with diverse stakeholders. These attributes lie at the heart of the Applied IT degrees and they are nurtured and developed throughout the progression of the course.