BSc (Hons) Software Development for Business

Accredited by: BCS Tech Gold Tech Partnership

GCU is the first university in Scotland to offer this innovative Tech Industry Gold Programme, which is accredited by the Tech Partnership.

The programme has been developed in co-operation with leading UK employers to provide you with the knowledge, skills, and understanding to become a professional software developer.

Studying on this programme you benefit from direct employer engagement in the form of Industry Insight Lectures, project case studies, participation in UK-wide competitions, attendance at employer-student events, work placements and networking opportunities with students from other universities. You will acquire the right balance of technical, interpersonal, project management and business skills needed as a software developer. In addition, you will have many opportunities to showcase your abilities to employers.

Students on this programme are encouraged to undertake an industrial placement, which may be undertaken on completion of Year 3. You can study abroad with the European Erasmus Exchange Programme and get training experience abroad through the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE).

Your career

This programme has been designed to prepare you for a career as a software developer; typical job roles include Software Developer, Web Developer, Software Engineer, Programmer, Mobile Applications Developer, Cloud Engineer, System Analyst, Database Developer, Software Tester, IT Consultant or UX Developer.

International student start dates

For new international students, orientation events start on 14 September 2018. This extra time is specifically designed to assist new international students in settling into the UK and GCU prior to the start of general student induction and teaching.

There will be a whole host of fun and informative activities taking place during this period, including campus and city tours, as well as welcome events where you can meet other international students.

Professional accreditation

Awarded Tech Industry Gold by Tech Partnership. Tech Industry Gold degrees are defined by employers to provide students with the technical, business and interpersonal skills that place them in high demand in the tech sector. techindustrygolddegrees.com. The degree is also accredited by BCS the Chartered Institute for IT.

Work placements

Students have the possibility to undertake an industrial placement on completion of Year 3. This can be a year-long placement or there is also an option of a 12-week placement in the second semester of Year 3. These placements are not compulsory or guaranteed.

Assessment methods

A range of methods will be used to assess learning outcomes; these include examinations, coursework, class tests, group projects, presentations and written reports. Group projects are assessed for the merits of the developed solution as well as innovation, communication of the solution and the ability to work as part of a team. Throughout their final year, students will undertake an individual project. This program will be endorsed by and is designed with input from, e-skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology. Students benefit from working through case studies as well as "guru" lectures provided by key employers, such as IBM, the NHS, and Capgemini. By working with e-skills UK this programme ensures that its graduates will be both employable and productive. GCU will be the first university in Scotland to have its programmes endorsed by e-skills UK. In addition, this program will be accredited by the British Computer Society.

Teaching methods

We aim to be flexible and to provide access to hardware and software outside lab hours. In our teaching, we use state of the art open source as well as professional software. Students benefit from free licenses to various professional software products. Student learning is supported through the use of Glasgow Caledonian University's Virtual Learning Environment, GCULearn. Learning materials are provided in digital format. By working closely with e-skills UK students studying on this programme benefit from direct employer involvement through guru lectures, networking opportunities and career mentoring support. The e-skills community online networking service is also available to allow interaction with industry experts and fellow students throughout the UK. A year-long optional placement opportunity exists between Years 3 & 4. Students will take part in group projects which go beyond the scope of individual modules. These group projects will address complex real-life tasks for external clients in order to improve students' academic, practical and employability skills. Opportunities exist through the European Erasmus Exchange Programme and the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience Programme (IAESTE) to complete part of the degree at a foreign university. Students will be supported by the GCU Exchange and Study Abroad Team. In addition, students can participate in the Multinational Undergraduate Teamwork Project (MUTW), where teams of students from different countries collaborate in the development of a software project. Students attend team meetings at the participating universities and jointly present the developed project at the end.