Tesco is to offer a qualification in retail management, according to The Sunday Times.

The Tesco Foundation Degree (Arts) launches this month and will be offered to other retailers, which can adapt it.

The two-year qualification in retail management includes courses in display design, special offers and efficient shelf-stacking. It follows fast-food giant McDonald’s unveiling an A-level in January.

Derek Longhurst, director of Foundation Degree Forward, which is promoting the qualifications, said: “Retail has had an image of attracting people who are not much interested in going to university.”

“This is one way we can change that perception,” he added.

It is hoped that the two-year degree will eventually become the standard national qualification for supermarket managers.

The course will be taught mostly at work and online, with some days at university. It has been designed in conjunction with Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of the Arts, London and private sector consultancies.