Overview
Economics at Essex explores how economics relates to the real world and asks the difficult questions. How do people get in debt? Why do people choose to get a mortgage rather than rent? Why did the economic crisis affect the UK more than the US? Explore the driving forces behind human behaviour. Discover how human psychology can guide people to make economic decisions.
On BA Economics with Psychology you study the global economy, economic drivers behind human behaviour and the human mind; developing parallel methods of analysing decision making and cognition. The BA allows for further flexibility on optional modules, allowing you to tailor your degree to suit your interests. Through combining economics with psychology you gain a deepened knowledge as to why individuals are not always behaving in their own best interests. Understanding this and the frameworks of behavioural economics can help policymakers create environments that nudge people towards making wiser decisions and healthier lives.
Studying this course you will explore a wide variety of topics across economics and also have the opportunity to include some modules of psychology. Topics include:
- Macroeconomics
- Behavioural economics
- Market behaviour
- Personality and individual differences
- Social psychology
Your education is inspired and informed by leading economics research, so that you graduate with a strong training in economics. Our Department of Economics is ranked top 5 in the UK for research (REF 2014).
Our Department of Psychology provide one of the most immersive experiences of studying the human mind in the UK. You have the opportunity to work alongside researchers with our Research Experience Scheme (RES) and gain hands on experience in our dedicated psychology labs.
Study abroad
Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.
Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.
If you spend a full year abroad you’ll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won’t pay any tuition fees to your host university.
Placement year
You can also undertake a placement year in which you gain relevant work experience with a business, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. You will be responsible for finding your placement, but with support and guidance provided by both your department and our placements team.
If you complete a placement year you’ll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year.
Our expert staff
Our economics staff are at the forefront of their field and have even received MBEs. Our department is a richly diverse home to staff and students from all over the world who have a strong sense of belonging and want to think, learn and change the world together.
Our psychology lecturers include award-winning teachers and prize-winning researchers who are international experts in their own research areas. We have specialists within our three main research groups: the Cognitive and Developmental Psychology Group; the Social and Health Psychology Group; and the Cognitive and Sensory Neuroscience Group.
Specialist facilities
- Extensive software for quantitative analysis, available in all computer labs across the university
- Access to a variety of economics databases and multiple copies of textbooks and e-books in the Albert Sloman Library
- Dedicated laboratories including a virtual reality suite and an observation suite
- Specialist areas to study visual and auditory perception, developmental psychology and social psychology
- Study the development of perceptual and cognitive abilities in infants in our Babylab
- Our multimillion pound Centre for Brain Science (CBS) allows staff to investigate brain activity, and to measure eye movements and other physiological responses
Your future
Many employers want economists with critical thinking skills who can tackle large data sets and practical problems. Our course helps you to become more employable and takes you closer to that dream job or postgraduate course when you graduate.
Our students are in demand from a wide range of employers in a host of occupations, including financial analysis, management, public administration and accountancy.
Our recent graduates have gone on to work for a wide range of high-profile companies including:
- Bank of England
- Barclays Capital
- Accenture
- Deloitte
- Ernst and Young
- The Crown Prosecution Service
- Bank of New York
- Santander
We also work with the University’s Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.
Why we’re great
- You’re taught by world-leading academics who are experts in their field
- We give you diverse employment potential and the chance to meet future employers.
- Our Department of Psychology have exceptional specialist labs and research facilities for you to gain hands on experience
Structure
Course structure
We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists.
Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore all modules listed as subject to change. To view the compulsory modules and full list of optional modules currently on offer, please view the programme specification via the link below.
Teaching and learning disclaimer
Following the impact of the pandemic, we made changes to our teaching and assessment to ensure our current students could continue with their studies uninterrupted and safely. These changes included courses being taught through blended delivery, normally including some face-to-face teaching, online provision, or a combination of both across the year.
The teaching and assessment methods listed show what is currently approved for 2022 entry; changes may be necessary if, by the beginning of this course, we need to adapt the way we’re delivering them due to the external environment, and to allow you to continue to receive the best education possible safely and seamlessly.
Placement
On a placement year you gain relevant work experience within an external business or organisation, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.
Year abroad
On your year abroad, you have the opportunity to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.
Teaching
- Teaching is arranged to allow freedom in how you organise your learning experiences
- After receiving a general overview of a topic in your two-hour weekly lecture, you discuss and solve the issues it raises in a class with 15 to 20 fellow students
- Optional support classes
Assessment
- You are assessed each year through a mixture of coursework and end-of-year examinations
- The balance is set at 50% coursework and 50% exam
- For many of your second- and final-year modules, coursework takes the form of an extended essay
- Complete your final year project in consultation with a personal supervisor
