BA (Hons) International Business with French

Key information

Why choose this course?

  • You’ll be supported in your studies and preparing for your future
  • Study for an internationally recognised EFMD accredited degree
  • Improve your employability with a language

On the three year route, you will need to spend a minimum of one semester in year 2 at a partner institution in Europe, North America, Latin America, Australia, Africa, Middle East or Asia. Ideally you will spend all of year two abroad on this route to really immerse yourself into a different culture. UK nationals who spend the year abroad pay a reduced tuition fee.

On the four year route, you will have the opportunity to spend one or two years studying, and working, in Europe, North America, Latin America, Australia, Africa, Middle East or Asia. Most of our courses offer the opportunity to study abroad for a year, but if this isn’t enough for you, don’t worry. Everyone on this course will study abroad in Year 3 (with no tuition fees to pay). However, as bonus you can also choose to spend Year 2 abroad (with reduced tuition fees for UK nationals). There’ll be opportunities for work placements too with an option to do a 12 month placement on the four year route if you have studied abroad in year 2. We have partnerships with over 100 universities and business schools around the world, so there’s lots of choice.  

This course reflects the growing need for managers of tomorrow to have the business and leadership skills, language competency and cultural awareness for success in today’s global business environment. 

We’re one of eleven UK business schools with an EFMD Accredited course and one of only 96 schools worldwide (October 2021). The European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) is an internationally recognised badge of programme quality, with its strong focus on internationalisation, ethics and sustainability. You’ll also be joining a university that is recognised for a high standard of teaching and support.

We are part of the Transatlantic Business School Alliance (TABSA) and through this you will also have the opportunity to gain a dual degree with one of our TABSA partners by spending tow years at the partner institute.

You’ll also be able to study a language alongside. We offer five languages: French, German, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. You can start a new language or continue your study of a language. If you select to take a language through the whole of the degree, it will be reflected in your degree title. 

Find out more about studying a language with this course. 

What's the course about?

Study plan overview – Three-year programme

Year 1: University of Hertfordshire  

Year 2:  Study abroad in English (Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia or Australia). Minimum study abroad of one semester required and ideally you will be away for the whole year.

Year 3: University of Hertfordshire 

Study plan overview - Four-year programme

Year 1: University of Hertfordshire  

Year 2: University of Hertfordshire or Study abroad in English (Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, Australia) for one or two semesters.

Year 3: Study abroad with the option of a work placement (Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia) or a year-long placement if you have studied abroad in Year 2. The work placements can also be in the UK, in internationally facing roles and would need to be approved by the placements team. 

Year 4: University of Hertfordshire 

In your first year, you’ll start your studies at the University of Hertfordshire.  Your core modules will be Marketing, Economics, Accounting and Human Resources. You’ll learn regional consumer patterns that influence how companies decide to advertise and digitally communicate to their audience. Explore how politics and levels of infrastructure, such as transport, can affect global economic development. If you decide to, you can pick up a language during this year.   

In your second year, you can stay at the University of Hertfordshire or study at one of our partner universities in English taking similar subjects. In the four-year route you have a choice to study at a partner university, whilst in the three-year route you must study at a partner university for at least one semester. The programme team at Hertfordshire will support you in your choice of modules at the partner university. Alternatively, you may decide to pursue a dual degree and go to one of our TABSA partners in Spain, Germany, France or the USA for two years and complete with two degrees.

Here there’s a stronger international focus of the business disciplines. You’ll explore geographic influences on international relations in geopolitics and gain an international insight on global employment laws, performance and people management in HR and finance. You’ll also explore economics at an international level and get a better understanding of our own and the European market.   

You’ll start taking your learning into your own hands. You can choose to continue with your language if you want and you have a choice of optional modules. You can dip into Exploring Business Ethics, learn about project management or learn about Cross Cultural Management.

Students on the four-year route will all be abroad in your third year. You can shape your learning through study or practice too. This means you can study for one semester at one of our partner universities, then do a placement. Or you can spend the entire year studying abroad. This can be at one university, or you can experience two. Wherever you go, they’ll teach you in English. However, you can challenge your language skills and study some of your modules in their native language. The great part about this year is that you don’t pay tuition fees to us or the university that you go to.  You’ll be learning about different cultures. You’ll build your international networks and get the contacts you need, should you decide to start your career abroad. If you have studied abroad in your second year, you will be able to undertake a year-long placement in your third year.  

On both the three-year and four-year programmes your final year will be at the University of Hertfordshire. Your core modules will be Contemporary Issues in Ethics, Business and Sustainability, International Strategic Leadership, Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation. You’ll choose the other half of your programme from a wide variety of business modules offering a strong global focus, including in marketing, HR, finance, management systems and economics. You can also continue to study a language and can choose to do a dissertation You’re able to tailor your final year to match your own interests and career aspirations.    

Please keep in mind, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we will need to consider government guidelines regarding travel at the time you reach your second and third year.   

Study a language


At Hertfordshire Business School there are a lot of opportunities to study a modern language as part of your degree alongside another subject. Your chosen language will comprise 25% of your studies and will be listed on your degree certificate. This course will develop language and communication skills, and cultural insights into the countries of the language studied. The course will also develop many other transferrable skills to boost your employability prospects, such as time management and organisation; resilience; cultural understanding; working both independently and as part of a team.

Your main campus is de Havilland    

You’ll share this campus with students from business, law, sport, education, and humanities subjects. The student housing is close to our Sports Village which includes a gym, swimming pool and climbing wall. You can get breakfast, lunch, or dinner in our on-campus restaurant or bar (in the newly built Enterprise Hub) on days you don’t feel like cooking. You can also use the common room to play pool, video games or just to hang out with friends.  Our Learning Resources Centres are open 24/7, which means you can study whenever suits you best. Want to pop over to the other campus? You can take the free shuttle bus or walk there in just 15 minutes.  

What will I study?

You'll normally study four 15 credit modules in each semester and your contact time varies between modules. Usually, you’ll have two sessions per week for each module, a one-hour lecture following by a one-hour seminar/tutorial. Typically, a new topic or theory will be introduced in each lecture and will be followed up with class discussion and feedback in the subsequent seminar. In addition, as part of your study time, you will be collaborating with your peers on tasks and group assignments. Module leaders also offer weekly drop-in and feedback sessions, usually 2 x 1 hours per module as well as revision sessions. 

The University’s online learning environment means you can access all your course resources, literature and timetables from anywhere in the world. 

Usually, assessment is split between coursework and examinations. The style of coursework can vary from presentations to business reports or essays depending on the taught topics. 

Degree programmes are structured into levels, 4, 5 and 6.  These correspond to your first, second and fourth which is your final year. In addition, you will have access to a zero-credit module in the first year, which focusses on developing your academic skills. 

Check out our student blogs

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Student Blogs

Sarah - Business

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Alumni Stories

Tom de Prez

Meet Tom. Tom credits his successful career, which has seen him work with global brands including Google and Salesforce, with his time at Herts.

Read more stories BA (Hons) International Business with French
Current job roleSenior Paid Search Manager at Jellyfish
Year of graduation2019
Course of studyBA (Hons) International Business with French
Tom de Prez

Studying in Canada and France

What drew Tom to Herts was the chance to study abroad during the BA (Hons) International Business programme, an experience which took him to Canada and France. Tom says, ‘I spent my third year at a digital media agency in Lille. It was here where I learnt my trade. I got experience creating content for search engine optimisation (SEO) and managing organic and paid social media campaigns.’

‘I’m often asked about my time abroad by employers, colleagues, and clients. I believe the experience improved my employability in a highly competitive job market.’

The foundations for success

Tom believes his passion for marketing was driven by the enthusiasm and expertise of his lecturers at Herts. He says, ‘I always found lectures and seminars engaging, which made learning easy. I felt like I was given the foundations to succeed early.’

Tom credits his time at Herts with his career success. After graduating in 2019, he joined the global digital marketing agency Jellyfish where he has worked with some of the world’s largest brands, including Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce. Impressively, Tom has received three promotions in the short time he has been working there.

Alongside his professional life, Tom is a semi-professional football referee in the 8th tier of English football.

Alumni headshot

Alumni Stories

Tom Smith

Meet Tom. Tom's time at Herts has propelled him into a career that has taken him across the globe.

Read more stories BA (Hons) International Business with French
Current job roleSenior Partner for PageGroup/Michael Page
Year of graduation2007
Course of studyBA (Hons) International Business with French
A picture of Tom Smith

An international experience

When contemplating his academic options before university, Tom knew he wanted to learn more about the business world whilst travelling. Herts afforded him this and set him firmly on the path to an international career.

He chose to study at Herts, specifically BA (Hons) International Business, because of the overarching international theme of the course. It also allowed him to study and work for two years overseas. After his first year on the De Havilland campus, he spent his second and third years in Montreal, Canada and Lyon, France respectively, before rounding out his final year back in Hatfield and graduating in 2007.

Joining PageGroup

After his studies, he worked in travel before joining PageGroup in 2010. Established in 1976, PageGroup is listed on the London Stock Exchange and employs over 8,000 people in 37 countries. They are the world’s leading professional recruitment consultancy and are a FTSE 250 company.

Following a couple of years in the group’s UK business, he transferred out to Johannesburg, South Africa. He then transferred to the US in 2015, where he’s since lived in New York and Boston. Throughout this time, he’s specialised in Executive Search across the United States and has risen to become highly reputable in his field and a Senior Partner. International movements are actively encouraged at PageGroup and they value graduates who can demonstrate international experience on their CV.

Tom says, 'When I think back to my time at Hertfordshire Business School, I was introduced to international cultures and global perspectives that undoubtedly prepared me for the life of an expatriate. I firmly believe that the BA (Hons) International Business course equipped me with a competitive edge in the graduate employment market, and set me up for a long-term successful international career.'

Future ambitions and advice

Tom plans to continue to build upon his successes in the Executive Search field and consolidate his career in the US. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the BA (Hons) International Business programme. He enjoys supporting the degree course in addition to offering valuable employment advice to the course’s final-year students and fellow alumni alike.

His advice to those following in his footsteps would be to value people and relationships. Even in the international field when people may seem far away, the benefits of a strong and well-nurtured network are critical.