Business Economics and Finance (BSc Hons - Single)

Overview

This course gives you the opportunity to specialise in two disciplines, providing you with a broad career choice and a range of highly transferable skills. You will gain a solid grounding in both business economics and finance. You will develop a thorough understanding of the economic factors affecting the structure, strategic decisions and social and ethical dimensions of modern businesses and you will gain a good grasp of corporate financial analysis and decision-making by studying corporate finance, investment, and international finance.

The course looks at major current debates in business economics and finance including world growth, world trade flows, volatility in asset prices, financial stability, lending to business, pay differentials and anti-competitive business practices, as well as the everyday things of business life including profit determination, investment analysis, and pricing strategies. In a world where there is increasing debate about the relationship between business and society, including the scarcity of resources such as energy, raw materials and the environment, business economics and finance plays a key role in understanding these issues.

Our students come from all parts of the UK and from over 70 countries worldwide. They exchange ideas, build lasting friendships and develop global networks.

Our teaching is rated as 'Excellent' by the QAA, which is the highest possible rating available for a UK University department.

Course contents**

Our degrees are designed with flexibility so you have some options to change your course for your second and final year.

Level 1 topics include:

• Principles of Economics
• Globalisation and the Modern Corporation
• Quantitative Methods for Economics
• Accounting, Financial Markets and Institutions

Level 2 topics include:

• Business Economics
• Macroeconomics and the Global Economy
• Empirical Methods for Economics and Finance
• Corporate Finance and Investment

Level 3 topics include:

• International Business Strategy and the Global Economy Industrial Economics and Regulation International Finance

Option choices include:

• Development Economics and Emerging Markets
• Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance
• Economics of Multinational Business
• Financial Capability
• The World Economy: Growth and Crises since 1870
• Work Placement or Language

**Subject to validation

Teaching

At London met you learn from economists who are internationally recognised for their research and who use the latest thinking in their teaching. Many of our staff are expert advisers to organizations such as the World Bank, the European Commission, the Bank of England, UK Government, and industry trade bodies. They are also down-to-earth, practical, and friendly and teach in exciting and innovative ways.

In your learning we expect you to research, reason, question, debate, and to reach your own conclusions. Our courses are very student focused and, as a result, more fun. As well as mastering the subject, employers want you to have developed good transferable skills including networking, presentation, team-working, and time management skills. We focus on these progressively in our courses, adding professional relevance to your study. We ensure that you are well supported in your studies and offer our students high levels of class contact, especially in Year 1.

Assessment

Our students develop their learning through a variety of activities including interactive large group sessions, workshops, and assessments which involve industry projects, case studies, executive summary reports, computer-based projects, group presentations, scenario simulations, and seen/unseen exams. This variety enables our students to demonstrate all their strengths.

Careers

A degree in business economics and finance can give your career a major head-start. The skills acquired on our degrees are highly valued by organizations and economics graduates are among the highest paid among all graduates [Link]. A wide range of career opportunities are opened up by this course. Our graduates are able to pursue diverse career routes, including jobs in banking and finance, international corporations, management, government, consultancy and research. Others progress to postgraduate study at leading Universities around the world.

Developing your talent, preparing you for high-level employment and helping you build a successful career is at the very top of our agenda. This starts from day one of the course and continues long after graduation.

Our courses in economics help you to learn and develop a variety of key skills that are valued by employers. These include solving business problems, team-working, using IT to analyse, communicate, and present ideas, and managing and improving your own performance. On the practical side we advise and help you with career choices, and provide training in job search, application and interview techniques.

Work Placement is available as an accredited option on the course and students work with our business placement office to locate and seek posts in financial, commercial and non-profit organisations. To widen their experience our students also engage in extra-curricular activities: including volunteering, student societies, and national business competitions.

The Study Abroad Programme allows our students to gain international experience and study in leading European universities including in France, Sweden and the Netherlands, where teaching is in English.

Student profiles

'This degree gives the best of both worlds. Economics provides knowledge on how markets work in theory, while finance puts it all in numbers! The programme also offers a wide variety of options. I chose some law modules, which gave me the opportunity to interpret financial services from a different angle, and quantitative modules, which led onto an MSc in Economics at Warwick. My third year project was also a really beneficial challenge. I was given the freedom to choose a topic that I could research deeply for the whole of my final year. Overall, this degree helped me become a strong and confident individual who enjoys being challenged and strives to succeed. This will no doubt be a keystone in starting up my future career in finance.'
Daina Muceniece 2007-2010

Applying and entry

Sept full-time: apply through UCAS
Sept part-time, Feb 2013 full/part-time: apply direct to the University - contact Admissions for an application form.

Entry requirements

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have 240 or more UCAS points, including at least 180 from two or more A levels (or equivalent, eg BTEC National, OCR Diploma or Advanced Diploma) in academic or Business subjects. English Language and Mathematics GCSE at grade C or above (or equivalent) are also required. These requirements may be varied in individual cases.

Accelerated study

It may be possible to enter the course at levels 2/3 if you have a relevant Foundation Degree, HND or equivalent.

Further information

Please contact the Admissions Office:
Tel: 44(0)20 7133 4200
Fax: 44(0)20 7133 2677
Email: admissions@londonmet.ac.uk