Overview
BSc International Business and Finance (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 as well as a compulsory English language and academic skills module.You will spend Year Zero of your four year degree studying at our Colchester Campus. For your second, third and fourth year of study, you will be based at our Southend Campus.
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.
By studying international business and finance, you will be able to consider how these disciplines are affected by globalisation and how businesses, markets, people and information interconnect across borders.
You will explore topics high on the agenda of international businesses and financial managers, such as:
- the international business environment
- international business strategy
- international trade
- international human resource management
- the pricing of securities in financial markets
- corporate finance and financial decision making
- business economics
- quantitative methods
- financial modelling
- portfolio analysis
We use real-world case studies to apply theory to business practice and develop your capacity to analyse statistics and make sound business decisions. Ethical business underpins all of our teaching, so you will graduate with an understanding of your responsibility to your investors, your staff and the wider world.
Your first year ensures you develop a solid foundation in accounting and finance for business, the business life-cycle and how multi-nationals manage their core business functions, such as marketing and HR. You’ll also benefit from additional training in numerical skills, to build your confidence in handling financial data sets.
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 gives you the chance to further develop vital employability skills in areas of research, project management and critical thinking.
This course is taught at Essex Business School in Southend. We champion responsible management and ethical business practices whilst giving you the tools for a successful career in business.
Our expert staff
Our academics have a global understanding of business and finance, specialising in both established and developing markets. They are at the forefront of financial and business research and use this knowledge in their teaching to ensure your education is at the cutting-edge of real-world business issues.
Our staff specialise in areas including:
- internationalisation
- innovation
- corporate finance
- human resource management
- microfinance
- ethics
- social responsibility
- sustainability
- data analytics
At Essex Business School we are home to academic staff who are on the cutting edge of their research areas. Dr Debashree De, one of our undergraduate tutors, is a Lecturer in Supply Chain Management and is passionate about solving sustainability related issues. Her research encompasses green supply chain management, sustainability, low carbon strategies and operations management, meaning that she is able to stimulate our students with relevant and topical debate.
Essex Business School is home to a number of research groups. Our Strategy, Operations and Entrepreneurship Group, based at our Southend Campus, are a group of international researchers with an entrepreneurial focus. This means that your teaching in international business and finance will cover the latest insights from research conducted in partnership with businesses from all over the world.
Specialist facilities
Our BSc International Business and Finance is based at our Southend Campus. At just a 40 minute train journey to London, which is, and always has been, a bastion of business, innovation and finance you are close to the heart of the City of London, the financial district of the capitol, where you are on the doorstep of the global finance industry. Essex has the highest number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, meaning you are ideally located for launching a business or gaining inspiration to take back home.
Southend-on-Sea combines the charms of a traditional seaside resort with the attractions of a vibrant, modern town. The town centre location gives you easy access to transport links, a host of restaurants, bars and shops, and is just a few minutes’ walk from the beach and world-famous mile-long pier. London Southend Airport is 15 minutes by taxi, but you can also reach it in just 5 minutes by train.
When you choose our Southend Campus for your studies, you’ll have access to excellent, dedicated facilities, including:
- 24-hour computer suites and study pods
- extensive library
- employability support, events and initiatives
- study skills advice
- dental practice
- faith centre
- our cosy SU Lounge, with pool tables and large-screen TV for socialising and relaxation!
The Hive Enterprise Centre is located close to Campus, providing access to networking events and business meetups that offer finance and marketing support for start-ups.
Your future
A degree in international business and finance will ensure you have a clear grasp of international business practices and can open the door to global opportunities.
Our curriculum embeds transferable employment 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.
Many of our graduates go on to set up their own businesses or consult on business practice straight after graduation as Essex Business School prepares you for the world of work from day one. Recent graduate destinations include:
- Entrepreneur in Residence at Founders Factory – a tech startup business partnering company
- Consultant at TEKsystems – a data insights and business systems provider
- Associate Professional Business Analyst at DXC Technology – an end-to-end IT services company
- Delivery Consultant at RED – The Global SAP Solutions Provider – a specialist recruitment firm
Our University Student Development Careers Services are on hand to help you make the most of your Essex experience and can support you with a range of skills and careers opportunities, including: skills development workshops and events, careers advice and conferences, employer talks, work experience, internships, placements and voluntary opportunities.
Why we’re great
- Study a range of business and finance subjects and develop the skills required for a variety of roles
- You’re taught by industry renowned academics and practitioners in the fields of accounting and finance
- 93% of our Essex Business School students are in employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2020)
Structure
Course structure
The course structure is designed to reflect the broad nature of a degree in international business and the wide variety of business types falling under entrepreneurship, meaning you study a wide range of modules in all areas of international business and management.
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 you will cover the fundamentals that every business manager needs to know including topics such as entrepreneurship, economics, accounting, finance, management and marketing. Then in second and final year you will have a mixture of compulsory and optional modules to make the degree your own.
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.
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 planned 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
- Teaching includes a combination of lectures, seminars and computer-based lab sessions
- Modules delivered by experts in the field as well as guest speakers
- Contribute and interact in lectures through the use of smart technology
- Lecture presentations and notes are uploaded online beforehand to help you prepare in advance
- Complete your final-year project in consultation with a personal supervisor
Assessment
- Assessed through traditional methods of end-of-year exams and multiple-choice questions in class tests and essays
- Plus more innovative and creative assessments include laboratory work, poster presentations, real-business case problems and group presentations
- Your first year marks do not count towards your final degree
