Economics BSc Honours
DURATION
3 up to 4 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Request the earliest start date
TUITION FEES
GBP 15,400 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* international - UK/EU: £9,250/year
Introduction
What is the UK government doing to mitigate the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic? How is the global community tackling poverty? What will Brexit mean for trade? How can companies embrace the opportunities of a decarbonised world? In this degree, you’ll explore these and more questions, crises and controversies as we uncover the far-reaching impact of economics on our world.
Economists tackle anything from interpreting and forecasting market trends or individual business performance by country, region or market to advising businesses, governments and individuals on everyday and strategic decisions. These can encompass areas as diverse as international trade, profit maximisation, pricing decisions, forecasting revenues or consumer demand, managing the national health service, and tackling unemployment or inequality.
You’ll learn to analyse and predict the impact of economic, social and public policy issues on a variety of stakeholders, including consumers, investors, and businesses, and how to source and provide the most appropriate insight to inform future decision-making and strategy.
As the role of data in informing decision-making grows, this degree expands your crucial skills in data gathering, handling and interpretation, quantitative analysis and forecasting. You will use industry-standard software, including SPSS, Excel, Eviews, Minitab and other statistical packages, to analyse data, build models and produce forecasts. You will also develop key soft skills such as communicating complex economic ideas to a non-expert, a logical approach to formulating and solving problems, presentation skills and teamwork.
As our economics degrees share a common first year, you’ll gain a solid foundation in economic concepts, principles, analysis, techniques and knowledge and if you choose Introduction to Financial Economics as an option, you may be eligible to change to the Financial Economics course at the start of your second year. A variety of optional modules also enable you to tailor your studies to suit your interests, for example you can choose specialist economics modules in the digital economy, in international trade, money banking and finance. You can also choose optional modules in other areas of the business school such as entrepreneurship, human resource management, marketing or accounting. Our degree also offers the flexibility of studying one language module per year.
Our vibrant economics community has strong links to employers, including the Government Economic Service and the Society of Professional Economists, which offers monthly meetings, conferences and continuous professional development courses. There’s an opportunity to gain Bloomberg professional certification and attend a half-day certified training session with the London Stock Exchange Group.
You will also be encouraged to participate in an array of extracurricular activities. Previous activity includes the IBM University Business Challenge (2020 Winners, Finalists 2018 and 2017, Semi-finalists 2016) and Microsoft University App Challenge (Winners 2019, Runners-up 2019). EDI Microsoft BAME University Business Challenge (3rd place 2021)
Top reasons to study with us
- Study at one of London’s leading centres for business education based in the heart of London and its political, media and financial services scene
- Access to one of the largest financial databases in our state-of-the-art Bloomberg virtual trading room
- Outstanding facilities and access to the software widely used in the industry: Bloomberg, SAGE, FAME, NVivo and SPSS
- Option to undertake a paid placement year with previous economics students employed by organisations such as Goldman Sachs, Boxington Corporate Finance and Government Economic Service, to name just a few
- Free final-year membership of the Society of Professional Economists, the leading organisation serving professional economists in the UK and Europe, relaunched at Westminster Business School in 2018
- Opportunity to study a foreign language as an optional module in each year of study and spend one semester or one year overseas at one of our partner institutions
- Opportunity to apply for up to 4 exemptions entering into the CIMA operational level
Why study this course?
- Combine theory and practice
Link theory to global practice through real-life case studies, guest lectures, field trips and insight from one of the world’s largest financial databases. - Professional software
Enhance your digital literacy and computer skills with industry-standard software, including Excel, Tableau and FAME. - Build connections
Build connections with peers and future business leaders.
Professional recognition
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the world's largest professional body of management accountants offering the most relevant accounting qualification for a career in business. If you are considering a career in finance and business, the CIMA qualification will open doors with employers all over the world.
This course will give you the opportunity to apply for up to 4 exemptions entering into the CIMA operational level.
Gallery
Career Opportunities
This highly practical course aims to prepare you to use economic reasoning and mathematical and statistical analysis to analyse and evaluate financial performance and public policy issues. You’ll develop a range of transferrable skills useful in almost any career, including excellent communication and strategic and logical thinking.
On graduation, you can target a role as an economist, financial or commercial analyst, or choose to pursue a broader career in government departments, banking, risk and insurance, investment and broking firms, retail and manufacturing firms, the media, social work or the voluntary sector.
Past economics graduates have secured roles as economic consultants, management trainees, investment bankers, professional accountants and within the Government Economic Service. Increasing numbers of students progress to further study on graduation: either taking professional qualifications (in accountancy, finance, for example) or proceeding to a specialist Master’s degree in the economics or finance area.
The University's Careers and Employability Service has built up a network of over 3,000 employers around the world, helping all our students explore and connect with exciting opportunities and careers.
- Develop your innovation & entrepreneurial skills
Develop your innovation & entrepreneurial skills in The Big Idea competition, sponsored by Santander. - Kickstart your career
Learn how to use social media in your job hunt or LinkedIn to kickstart your career. - Develop your CQ
- Develop your cultural intelligence – or ‘CQ’ – by studying alongside students and staff representing more than 100 nationalities.
Industry links
Westminster Business School is one of London’s leading centres for business education based in the heart of London and its political, media and financial services scene. We have strong links with the Government Economic Service, and Dr Vincent Rich, Head of the School of Organisations, Economy and Society, regularly conducts interviews as part of their graduate recruitment procedure. Connected to a wide range of professional bodies, including the Society of Professional Economists, a growing alumni network and the employer representatives on the Employability Advisory Board, we have excellent links with the industry. Staff who currently teach on this course have extensive professional experience in a range of business sectors, with many staff maintaining links with industry through consultancy and training work.
Job roles
This course will prepare you for roles such as:
- Account manager
- Actuarial analyst
- Assistant economist
- Business analyst
- Commercial project manager
- Commodities analyst
- Data analyst
- Economist
- Financial advisor
- Journalist
- Investment analyst
- Market research analyst
- Management trainee
- Sponsorships executive
- Statistician
- Teacher
- Technology risk analyst
Graduate employers
Graduates from the Business School have found employment at organisations including:
- Boxington Corporate Finance
- Goldman Sachs
- Government Economic Service
- Hamton Environmental Services
Admissions
Curriculum
This degree aims to provide you with a solid understanding of economic theories, economic policy making, econometric techniques, quantitative analysis and analytical reasoning. You’ll learn to appreciate the decision-making process and develop your critical thinking, graduating with a unique skillset sought-after by future employers.
In each year of study, you will be offered a choice of applied economic modules, as well as specialist economics or more general business modules. You also have the opportunity to study a foreign language, including Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese or Spanish. This is an excellent idea if you want to broaden your horizons and experience another culture, particularly if you see yourself working abroad or for an international company in the future. Recent students have visited partner institutions, including Copenhagen Business School in Denmark and the University of Technology Sydney in Australia.
The following subjects are indicative of what you will study in this course.
Year 1
The course begins with a thorough grounding in economics and an appreciation of the part economic history has played in shaping the evolution of economic thought. Areas explored include devising strategies for high street opticians to combat competition from online suppliers and evaluating the impact of interrelated markets on customer demand.
Subjects of study include:
- Crises and Controversies in Economics
- Global Business Environment
- Macroeconomics 1
- Mathematics for Economists
- Microeconomics 1
- Introduction to Financial Economics
You will also have the opportunity to take an optional module that broadens your skills or helps you to gain more in-depth knowledge of your specialist area; your option module may be a foreign language.
Credit Level 4
Year 2
You will undertake a more advanced study of macroeconomics and microeconomics and the application of economic analysis, research and appraisal tools. We cover managerial economics, market structures, competition, government objectives and macroeconomic management and develop technical data analysis skills through the use of forecasting and modelling packages, such as SPSS. You will also develop research skills and project appraisals strategies, such as decision trees, which you will apply to a recent UK public policy initiative, such as the Night Tube or Cycle Superhighway (CS3).
Optional modules allow you to choose subjects of particular interest. For example, the Money, Banking and Financial Markets module explores world financial markets, regulators and financial instruments. We always keep course content and analysis current and relevant; in the optional module Digital Economy, for instance, we unravel the uniqueness of specific digital products and consider the power of networks such as internet dating and social media platforms. Global Economic Issues examines topical issues such as migration, Brexit and climate change.
Subjects of study include:
- Applied Economic Research and Appraisal
- Macroeconomics 2
- Microeconomics 2
- Statistics for Economists
Plus, two options from Global Economic Issues, Digital Economy, Money Banking and Financial Markets, The Economics and Finance of Sport, or other areas of business, including languages.
Credit Level 5
Placement Year
Between Years 2 and 3, you may choose to study English-taught courses for a year at one of our overseas partner institutions. Currently, you can take a Year Abroad studying (or combining work and study) in Germany, Denmark, Spain, France and other locations, including Australia, Japan, Canada and the USA. There are also many opportunities for those with appropriate language skills to study the local language in France, Germany and Spain, among others. You can also choose to split your year abroad into a first semester studying and a second-semester work placement, both conducted overseas, or undertake a placement year overseas.
Alternatively, between Years 2 and 3, you can undertake a one-year, full-time business placement as a Professional Experience Year within the UK. Past students have completed placements in a variety of prestigious organisations, including AMEC, Barclays Bank, Commerzbank, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, GE Capital, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, IBM and the NHS, as well as in smaller businesses.
Year 3
You will explore contemporary economic policy debates and develop your econometric analysis and forecasting skills. You will learn advanced technical forecasting techniques in Applied Econometrics, equipping you to perform business and government forecasts as well as preparing you for postgraduate study. You have the opportunity to undertake a dissertation where you will research a topic of your choice. Previous students have analysed how supply and demand affect oil prices and explored how game theory can be utilised to analyse the probability of a player missing a penalty in football matches.
You will delve into current research on contemporary issues and develop advanced methods of business and economic analysis, including forecasting techniques gaining a high degree of digital literacy, numeracy and confidence in data handling. This will prepare you to inform business and organisational decision-making and the design and implementation of economic policy by government agencies.
Subjects of study may include:
- Advanced Economics
- Applied Econometrics
Plus, two options from Applied Financial Economics, Development Economics, Forecasting for Managers, International Trade, Dissertation, Labour Markets and Global Migration, or other general business modules, including languages.
Credit Level 6
International Opportunities
Many of our courses offer international study and work experiences, and the University provides other global opportunities that all students can apply for - so whatever you're studying, you'll have the chance to go abroad.
Opportunities could include:
- Taking part in a semester or year-long exchanges at institutions around the world
- Attending an international summer school or field trip
- Developing your CV through volunteering or work placements abroad
International experience broadens horizons, boosts self-confidence, and improves global understanding, alongside being fantastic for your career.
Program Tuition Fee
Scholarships and Funding
The University is dedicated to supporting ambitious and outstanding students and we offer a variety of scholarships to eligible undergraduate students, which cover all or part of your tuition fees.