Study abroad

The four-year version of BSc International Business and Finance enables you to study abroad during your third year. In all other areas, this version of the course remains identical to the standard three-year variant.

You can study abroad with one of our exchange partners in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, the Middle East, Hong Kong and Japan. In doing so, you experience other cultures and languages, meet new people, and gain intercultural skills that are sought-after by employers.

Placement year

Alternatively, you may decide to enhance your career opportunities by opting for a placement year. This four-year course enables you to gain valuable work experience for one year with a business, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry.

Your degree content will remain the same as our three-year course.

The Student Development Team can offer bespoke support throughout the process of researching, applying and interviewing for placements. However, it is your responsibility to apply, prepare for and secure your own role. In recent years, our students have gained placements with organisations such as BMW, Samsung and Cummins.

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 Management Science 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 taught at our Southend Campus, just 40 minutes from the City of London, the financial district of the capitol, where you are on the doorstep of the global finance industry.

London is, and always has been, a bastion of business, innovation and finance and 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 and our campus sits right at the centre. With seven miles of coastline, a world-famous mile-long pier and a wide variety of restaurants and nightlight all on your doorstep, it is the perfect place to live and study. Our town centre location has excellent transport links and London Southend Airport is just five minutes away by train, offering flights to over 50 destinations across Europe.

When you choose our Southend Campus for your studies, you’ll have access to excellent, dedicated facilities, including:

• 24-hour Learning Hub with computer suites and study pods
• extensive public and academic library
• student services desk
• modern lecture theatres and seminar rooms
• study skills advice
• in-house dentist and Faith Centre
• our cosy SU Lounge, with pool tables and large-screen TV for socialising and relaxation!

A short walk from campus is The Hive Enterprise Centre – a dedicated business hub that hosts networking events and provides finance and marketing support to start ups and growing businesses.

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.

Course structure

The course structure is designed to enable you to study a wide range of modules in all areas of international business and finance. 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.