Using a mixture of psychology, sociology, and business knowledge, studying marketing means you’ll be creative, anticipate customers’ needs, and get ahead of the game.
Marketing involves great ideas and robust research. You’ll learn how to predict what customers want, create a brand, design catchy campaigns, set budgets, and decipher data. You’ll put your digital skills to good use across social media, streaming services, connected TV, and new technologies. Fundamentally it’s about tapping into who your ideal customer is, and what will make them buy a product and understand a brand. There were over 200,000 jobs in the marketing industry last year. Careers for marketing graduates include working for an agency or in-house at a company. You could go on to become a marketing manager, specialise in digital marketing, or branch out into sales, public relations, and communications.
The impact you could make
- Plan a digital marketing campaign for a sustainable clothing brand
- Analyse the success of a TV ad in targeting Gen-Z consumers
- Write and edit the content for an online campaign marketing reusable printer inks
What you could study
- Market research
- Advertising
- Consumer behaviour
- Public relations
- Quantitative methods
- Budgeting
- Digital marketing
- Marketing ethics
- Decision science
Chat to a current marketing student
Chat to a current marketing student using UniBuddy.
Some conversation starters for you:
- Ask which modules they really enjoyed.
- Find out how easy it was for them to make friends on their course.
- Do they have any tips on your personal statement?
- Did they do anything to prep for uni before they went?
- Are there books, podcasts or YouTube channels they would recommend?
Chat to students
powered by 
UCAS Media Service
Example assignment
“I have enjoyed creating vlogs for my advertising assignment, as well as TikTok and Instagram posts – all very relevant with the current digital age.”
Third year digital marketing management student at Cardiff Metropolitan University
Example module
“I really enjoyed consumer behaviour. It’s a subject that entangles business and the psychology of the clients, which is really interesting and allows you to target the right consumers when setting up a business.”
Second year digital marketing student at University of Westminster
Hard skills you'll develop
- Digital marketing
- Social media
- Search engine optimisation (SEO)
- Content creation
Soft skills you'll develop
- Communication
- Sales
- Customer relations
- Planning
Available jobs
237,984 vacancies in the past year
4.99% job growth in next eight years
Average salary
£28,035
Up to £56,873
“I like how varied marketing is, with elements of psychology, creativity and data analysis, with the latter being the thing I love the most. I find it fascinating to analyse data and then make key decisions from it.”
What is a...media planner?
You may never have heard of a media planner, but they still work within marketing, using their skills to work out which digital and other platforms will work best for a company’s advertising campaigns. As well as understanding the creative and psychological aspects of advertising, media planners are good at data analysis and presentations, and they often love a spreadsheet!
Getting in: Entry requirements
Find out more about what you'll need to study marketing at university or as an apprenticeship.
Average requirements for undergraduate degrees
Entry requirements differ between university and course, but this should give you a guide to what is usually expected from marketing applicants.
A Levels
BCC
Scottish Highers
BBBBB
Vocational
BTEC DDM
Other Level 3/Level 6 qualifications (e.g. Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma or an SQCF Level 6) may be accepted as an alternative to A Levels/Highers.
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Find out more
Read our guide to sales, marketing, and procurement apprenticeships.
69% of students
are highly likely to recommend marketing to others
(UCAS subject survey 2023)
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Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
Check out the CIM’s content hub, for articles on things like marketing trends and sustainable marketing, and access to their fortnightly podcast. -
Marketing Week
Read this magazine to keep up-to-speed with industry news, gain an understanding of the different areas of marketing, and get tips on career development. -
Neuromarketing: The new science of consumer decisions
If you want to explore the psychology of marketing further, check out this TEDx talk by neuroscientist Terry Wu about how consumers make buying choices.
Skills, experiences, and interests to mention
- Show you’ve done your own market research and know what you’re applying for. Mention books or content you’ve read, companies or agencies you follow, and what you’ve gleaned about the industry.
- How could your part-time jobs apply to marketing? If you’ve worked in a shoe shop or supermarket, explain what you learned from how they market and place products.
- Try and get some relevant work experience too, whether that’s shadowing at an agency, doing digital marketing for a smaller firm oryou could volunteer to run a local charity’s social media.
- How are you creative – do you enjoy English at school, or like filming and editing videos? And how are you analytical? Maybe you’ve done a data or business project at school.
- Give examples of when you’ve worked well with others, whether at school or during extracurricular activities, and when you’ve held a position of responsibility, like being team captain or even babysitting.