Overview
Our BSc Accounting and Management (including foundation year) is open to Home and EU students. It will be suitable for you if your academic qualifications do not yet meet our entrance requirements for the three-year version of this course and you want a programme that increases your subject knowledge as well as improving your academic skills.
This four-year course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three years of study. During your Year Zero, you study four academic subjects relevant to your chosen course, preparing you for a further three years of undergraduate study, as well as a compulsory English language and academic skills module.
You are an Essex student from day one, a member of our global community based at the most internationally diverse campus university in the UK.
After successful completion of Year Zero in our Essex Pathways Department, you progress to complete your course with Essex Business School.
Combine your interests in both accounting and management to gain a unique skills set and career advantage.
Accountants and managers must work closely to interpret financial data and influence business performance. By understanding how both commercial functions operate, their priorities and unique vocabulary, you can work more effectively as a team to deliver organisational success.
Through BSc Accounting and Management you gain a foundation in financial accounting, management accounting, financial management, management and organisation studies, with an opportunity to develop expertise in a chosen specialism.
You’ll gain a broad understanding of accounting and management through studying a range of topics including
- accounting and financial reporting
- prepare financial statements in accordance with UK GAAP
- quantitative and qualitative management accounting systems
- auditing
- management theory and practice
- organisational behaviour
- business strategy leadership
- human resource management
Our accounting and management degree will give you a strong grounding in financial and management accounting, with case studies applying accounting theory to practice. You learn how to manage people and organisations in complex global environments and develop the highly sought-after quantitative skills needed for strategic decision making.
In your first year, you are also introduced to topics such as marketing, finance and economics. This ensures you gain a broad knowledge of core business areas and concepts which you can use throughout your degree and future career. As your course develops, you can choose from selected optional modules to tailor the programme to your career aspirations.
In your final year, you have the opportunity to put your knowledge into practice by completing an in-depth, independent research project or dissertation. This will give you the chance to further develop vital employability skills in areas of research, time management and critical thinking.
BSc Accounting and Management is taught at Essex Business School. We are an internationally diverse school, committed to sustainable and ethical business practices.
Our expert staff
You are taught by a highly qualified, enthusiastic team of academics and experienced, relevant practitioners with wide-ranging research interests. Their research is used in your lectures and seminars so you learn about the latest issues impacting business today.
Our staff specialise in areas including:
- accounting and economic development in the public and third sectors
- regulation, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility
- human resource management
- supply chain management
- accounting and finance in developing economies
- finance and banking
- contemporary financial markets and their participants
- Corporate governance in developing countries
Lecturer in Accounting, Dr Danson Kimani is an active researcher and whose work centres on accounting and corporate governance in developing and emerging economies.
Danson in an experienced accountancy practitioner and his work in his home nation of Kenya has provided him with immense exposure to various aspects of private and public sector accounting. Danson has a pro bono advisory role in a small African third sector organisation – The Grow Movement – on entrepreneurial finance for small business owners in Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda.
Specialist facilities
By studying within our Essex Pathways Department for your foundation year, you will have access to all of the facilities that the University of Essex has to offer, as well as those provided by our department to support you:
- We provide computer labs for internet research; classrooms with access to PowerPoint facilities for student presentations; AV facilities for teaching and access to web-based learning materials
- Our new Student Services Hub will support you and provide information for all your needs as a student
- Our social space is stocked with hot magazines and newspapers, and provides an informal setting to meet with your lecturers, tutors and friends
Our BSc Accounting and Management is based at our Colchester Campus.
In our landmark Essex Business School building – the first zero carbon business school in the UK – you’ll see our sustainable approach to business first-hand. Set around a lush winter garden, are a wealth of inspiring teaching and study zones..
Our custom designed building provides you with superb facilities:
- a state-of-the-art trading floor with Bloomberg Financial Market Labs, where you’ll gain hands-on experience and learn how to utilise live business data
- modern lecture theatres with ‘listen again’ recording to aid your study
- study pods and innovation booths for group working
- a café with and adjacent foyer to enjoy on-site fresh food and drink
- study skills workshops and advice
Our business school is located on the University’s Knowledge Gateway, where you may be able to take advantage of networking and work experience opportunities with businesses located on site.
Your future
The dual disciplines of accounting and management will make you an attractive prospect for many graduate employers and will prepare you for a variety of careers, including: HR, management accounting, accountancy, management and consultancy.
Many of our graduates go on to graduate management training schemes or management accounting roles straight after graduation as Essex Business School prepares you for the world of work from day one.
The BSc Accounting and Management curriculum taught here embeds transferable employability skills in analysis, critical thinking, presentation and communication across all modules.
The Study Skills module in year one will develop your academic skills, while the Student Success modules in year two will build on what you learned in year one and so that you can easily step up to meet the growing academic demands of your second and final years. The Successful Futures module in year two will foster your professionalism and introduce you to the graduate recruitment process, including practical advice to excel at interviews and assessment centres.
Recent graduate destinations include:
- Media and Marketing Strategist at Generation of Disciples – a young adults fellowship
- Audit Associate at EY – a multinational professional services firm
- Stewardship and Communications Officer at a secondary academy group
- Executive at PwC – a multinational professional services network
The School will support you with a range of skills and careers opportunities, including: skills development workshops; employer talks; skills events and careers conferences.
BSc Accounting and Management students can also take advantage of the services offered by the Student Development Team, including: careers advice; work experience; internships; placements; and voluntary opportunities.
Why we’re great
- We equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed at Essex and beyond.
- Guarantee your place on your chosen course if you successfully complete your foundation year at Essex.
- Small class sizes allow you to work closely with your teachers and classmates.
Structure
Course structure
The course structure is designed to allow you to explore two contrasting sides of business.
Year zero provides with you the necessary skills and knowledge in order for you to progress onto your chosen area of study. Successful completion of year zero guarantees you entry to the first year of your undergraduate degree course.
In your first year our current students cover a variety of business essentials, designed to help you in a wide variety of potential careers. However, we are planning some changes to our first year and we’ll be tailoring it more closely to your chosen course. After that you’ll have accounting and financial management modules, which will focus mainly on the numbers, and management modules which will focus on people, organisations and strategy. You’ll also have some optional modules available to tailor your course to your own interests.
We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists. ?Please be aware that we are planning changes to our first year to make it more relevant to your chosen course.
Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The course content is therefore reviewed on an annual basis to ensure our courses remain up-to-date so modules listed are subject to change.
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.
Teaching
- Your teaching mainly takes the form of lectures and classes, the latter involving about 20 students
- You can contribute and interact in lectures through the use of smart technology
- A typical timetable includes a one-hour lecture and a one-hour class for each of your four modules every week
- Any language classes involve language laboratory sessions
- Our classes are run in small groups, so you receive a lot of individual attention
Assessment
- Your assessed coursework will generally consist of essays, reports, in-class tests, individual or group oral presentations, and small scale research projects
