BSc Food Business and Marketing with Placement Year

What makes this course stand out is how practical it is. You won’t just be learning theories from a textbook — you’ll be testing ideas in real business settings, hearing from professionals in the industry, and even spending an entire year working inside a food company. By the time you graduate, you’ll have the kind of experience most students only get after they’ve started their career.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• Placement year: A full year working in the food industry with companies like Unilever, Warburtons, or Waitrose. You’ll take on real projects in marketing, product development, sales or brand management.

• Group projects: Team up with classmates to tackle challenges such as designing a new marketing campaign or developing a business strategy, often with direct feedback from industry experts.

• Industry speakers: Professionals from leading food and retail companies regularly visit to share insights, giving you the chance to learn and network at the same time.

• Digital and research tools: You’ll get hands-on with consumer research methods and marketing analytics software, learning to work with the same kind of data businesses use to make decisions.

• Field visits: Trips to food manufacturers, suppliers, or retailers let you see how the whole food chain operates in real life.

• Campus resources: You’ll have access to the University’s specialist Business and Food Sciences libraries, along with support and industry links through the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development.

Graduates from this course step straight into careers that make an impact on what people eat, how products are marketed, and how businesses grow. Thanks to the mix of business knowledge, marketing skills, and real-world placement experience, you’ll be ready for roles across the food and retail sector. Typical career paths include brand manager, category manager, marketing strategist, sales executive, and product development specialist.

And here’s what supports your career journey while you’re at Reading:

• Careers support: You’ll benefit from the University’s Careers Service, which offers one-to-one advice, CV workshops, employer networking events, and access to placement opportunities with top food companies.

• Placement advantage: Your placement year gives you 12 months of hands-on experience — many students receive graduate job offers from their placement company before final year.

• Industry connections: The programme has strong partnerships with household-name employers like Unilever, Warburtons and Waitrose, making it easier to secure placements and graduate roles.

• Professional recognition: The course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), giving you exemptions from CIM professional qualifications and helping you fast-track your marketing career.

• Graduate outcomes: Reading is ranked among the UK’s top universities for graduate earnings in Agriculture, Food & Related Studies (average salary £36,500 after five years), showing the strong career prospects this degree brings.

Further Academic Progression:
If you’d like to keep studying, you could progress to postgraduate options such as a MSc in Marketing, Food Economics, or International Business, or even move into research through Reading’s Henley Business School or the Graduate Institute of International Development, Agriculture and Economics (GIIDAE).