Overview
Our BA Economics and Mathematics (including foundation year) 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 in order to support your academic performance.
This four-year course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three years of study. During your Year Zero, you study three academic subjects relevant to your chosen course as well as a compulsory academic skills module, with additional English language for non-English speakers.
You are an Essex student from day one, a member of our global community based at the most internationally diverse campus in the UK.
After successful completion of Year Zero in our Essex Pathways Department, you progress to complete your course with our Department of Mathematical Sciences. On our BSc Economics and Mathematics course, you investigate topics in mathematics, and mathematical applications in economics. Mathematics develops strong problem solving skills that will complement the economics side of your course and allow you to understand the more complex elements of the subject, so that you can examine the decisions of individuals, the strategies of firms and the policies of individuals.
Our Department of Mathematical Sciences is genuinely innovative and student-focused. Our research groups are working on a broad range of collaborative areas tackling real-world issues. Here are a few examples:
- Our data scientists carefully consider how not to lie, and how not to get lied to with data. Interpreting data correctly is especially important because much of our data science research is applied directly or indirectly to social policies, including health, care and education.
- We do practical research with financial data (for example, assessing the risk of collapse of the UK’s banking system) as well as theoretical research in financial instruments such as insurance policies or asset portfolios.
- We also research how physical processes develop in time and space. Applications of this range from modelling epilepsy to modelling electronic cables.
- Our optimisation experts work out how to do the same job with less resource, or how to do more with the same resource.
- Our pure maths group are currently working on two new funded projects entitled ‘Machine learning for recognising tangled 3D objects’ and ‘Searching for gems in the landscape of cyclically presented groups’.
- We also do research into mathematical education and use exciting technologies such as electroencephalography or eye tracking to measure exactly what a learner is feeling. Our research aims to encourage the implementation of ‘the four Cs’ of modern education, which are critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.
Meanwhile our Department of Economics is Top 5 in the UK for research, with over 90% of their research rated as “world leading” or “internationally excellent” (REF 2014).
Our expert staff
We have some of the best teachers across the University in our Essex Pathways Department, all of whom have strong subject backgrounds and are highly skilled in their areas.
As well as being world-class academics, our mathematics staff are award-winning teachers. Many of our staff have won national or regional awards for lecturing, and many of them are qualified and accredited teachers – something which is very rare at a university.
The Department of Mathematical Sciences is a small but but influential department, so our students and staff know each other personally. You never need an appointment to see your lecturers and professors, just knock on our office doors – we are one of the few places to have an open-door policy, and no issue is too big or small.
You also have the opportunity to study and work alongside some of the most prominent economists.
Our researchers are at the forefront of their field and have even received MBEs. Many of our academic staff also provide consultancy services to businesses in London and other major financial centres, helping us to 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 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.
Take advantage of our extensive learning resources in the Department of Mathematical Sciences to assist you in your studies:
Take advantage of our extensive learning resources to assist you in your studies:
- Extensive software for quantitative analysis is available in all computer labs across the university
- Join our lively Economics Society, an active and social group where you can explore your interest in your subject with other students
- In addition to teaching, we have a Maths Support Centre, which offers help to students on a range of mathematical problems. Throughout term-time, we can chat through mathematical problems either on a one-to-one or small group basis
- We have a dedicated social and study space for Maths students in the department, which is situated in the new £18m STEM Centre
Your future
Clear thinkers are required in every profession, so the successful mathematician has an extensive choice of potential careers.
Our graduates are highly employable in a wide range of places, working in business, pharmaceutical industries, banking and computing among others. The Council for Mathematical Sciences offers further information on careers in mathematics.
Our recent graduates from our BSc Economics and Mathematics have found employment as:
- Chartered accountants
- Investment consultants
- Accounts technicians
- Stock lending analysts
We also work with our University’s Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.
Why we’re great
- As well as being world-class academics and researchers, we are award-winning lecturers.
- We are ranked top 15 in the UK for economics (Guardian University Guide 2020).
- We go the extra mile to make sure you succeed both during and after your time with us.
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. 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.
Your course structure could differ based on the modules you choose.
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.
