Overview
Our BSc Accounting with Economics (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 improves 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. On this course, you learn how to be a more effective accountant, business consultant or manager by combining accounting knowledge with economic theories. By understanding key accounting principles, as well as how the economy functions, fluctuates and impacts organisations, you can make better informed recommendations that positively influence business strategy and performance, skills which will be in increasingly high demand from employers over the coming years.
You are encouraged to take on a paid industry placement in your third year to put your knowledge into practice and further develop your professional skills.
You acquire knowledge and practical skills by exploring a broad range of topics such as:
- financial and management accounting
- the preparation of financial statements
- costing, budgeting and performance evaluation
- micro and macroeconomics
- international trade
In your first year, we also introduce you to important aspects of marketing, management and finance. These core areas ensure you gain a fully-rounded business education, providing a solid foundation for your second and final years and future career.
In your final year, you have the opportunity to put your knowledge into practice by completing an in-depth, independent research project or dissertation (subject to approval). This will give you the chance to further develop vital employability skills in areas of research, time management and critical thinking.
This course combines expertise from two highly ranked departments, Essex Business School (EBS) and the Department of Economics.
EBS is a signatory of the UN Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) and champion business ethics and sustainability. We encourage students to make responsible decisions for the good of business and society. Consequently, your course will explore important issues of management accountability and explore the political, cultural and social implications of corporate actions.
Our expert staff
You are taught by a highly qualified, enthusiastic team of academics and practitioners with wide-ranging research interests. Their expertise ensures you learn about the issues facing today’s accountants and economists.
Essex Business School is an internationally diverse place to study. You’ll often see our academics talking to the media about contemporary business issues.
Our staff specialise in areas including:
- accounting and economic development in the public and third sectors
- regulation and corporate social responsibility
- finance and banking
- accounting and finance in developing economies
- contemporary financial markets and their participants
Lecturer in Accounting Dr Silvia Gaia’s, research covers the fields of corporate governance and financial and socio-environmental reporting. She embeds her learnings in the classes she delivers, particularly related to those covering financial reporting and capital markets so that you benefit from her cutting-edge research.
The Department of Economics is rated consistently highly for student satisfaction and is top five in the UK for research, with over 90% of research rated “world-leading” or “internationally excellent” (REF 2014).
Our economics researchers are at the forefront of their field and have even received MBEs. Many also provide consultancy services to businesses in London and other major financial centres, helping us develop research for today’s society as well as informing our teaching for the future.
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 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
On this course you benefit from the facilities in both Essex Business School and the Department of Economics:
Our BSc Accounting with Economics 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 virtual trading floor with Bloomberg Terminals offering direct use of Bloomberg data, information and analytics
- light and spacious lecture theatres with ‘listen again’ recording to aid your study
- study pods and innovation booths for group working
- a café with an adjacent sun terrace
- 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.
You also benefit from the learning resources available within our Department of Economics:
- extensive software for quantitative analysis, available in computer labs across the university
Your future
Boosting your accountancy degree with the study of economics can make you a unique prospect in the graduate job market. An understanding of macro and micro-economic functions means that you are able to apply your accountancy skills in a global context which will be a benefit to employers with an international outlook.
Many of our graduates go on to work as trainee accountants straight after graduation as Essex Business School prepares you for the world of work from day one.
The BSc Accounting with Economics 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:
- Associate at KPMG – the global professional services network
- Junior Tax Consultant at Deloitte – the multinational and financial services network
- Treasury Analyst at Hiscox, a multinational business insurance and home insurance provider
- Junior Consultant – Valuation & Advisory at Cushman & Wakefield – commercial property and real estate consultants
- Global Finance & Business Analyst at J.P. Morgan – global financial services provider
- Audit Associate at EY – a multinational professional services firm
- 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 with Economics 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.
- We teach you to be accountable, act ethically and make financial decisions that positively impact both organisations and society.
- Small class sizes allow you to work closely with your teachers and classmates.
Structure
Course structure
The course structure is designed to provide you with access to the expertise of both Essex Business School and the Department of Economics.
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 the first year our current students cover wider business topics that every manager needs to know. 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 study compulsory accounting modules with Essex Business School, with a focus both on the numbers and on how managers use accounting information to make decisions, and a small number of compulsory economics modules in the Department of Economics. The rest is up to you as your optional modules can be spread across both departments, and by picking certain modules you’ll be able to maximise the number of exemptions available to you from bodies such as ACCA, helping you on the way to achieving chartered status.
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
