About the course

Our BA Accounting with Economics (including Year Abroad) provides a firm grounding in accounting and helps you apply the concepts and theories of economics to the world of business, and gives you an opportunity to spend your third year abroad. Your study of accounting includes modules in financial and management accounting.

Financial accounting modules not only focus on the preparation of financial statements, but also on theoretical aspects of accounting such as the need for accounting standards and conceptual frameworks. Management accounting is concerned with supplying information to internal users and topics include costing, budgeting and performance evaluation. You study microeconomics in your second year but can tailor the study of economics in your third year depending on your preferences. Options include Macroeconomics, International Trade and Environmental Economics.

Why study BA Accounting with Economics (Including Year Abroad) at Essex?

Our Essex Business School has an international reputation for cutting-edge research in accounting, finance, management and entrepreneurship. This was confirmed when we were ranked second in the UK for accounting and finance research, with 95 percent of our research graded as of international quality. Our work is informed by a broad range of social science theories and concepts, much of it addressing the important issues currently being faced by commercial businesses, public sector bodies and not-for-profit organisations.

We are recognised for being at the forefront of research in: business ethics and corporate social responsibility; organisation studies; leadership and strategy; finance and banking; risk management; and international management. Many of our academic staff have world class research reputations and have written about, or worked in, a wide range of organisations and this experience is incorporated into your learning experience within our School.

Why study this subject?

Financial information plays an important role in society because of its centrality in decision-making within a variety of organisations. For example, financial information is vital in decisions such as: What effect will an increase have on a company’s profitability? Will it be beneficial for a company to change its method of production? What will be the effect of a reduction in the funding of local government on the level of services that can be provided? How much additional funding does a hospital need to substantially decrease its waiting lists?

Our courses include a range of modules that provide you with the tools to begin to answer some of these questions. As well as familiarising you with the techniques used in accounting, our teaching also focuses on the critique and evaluation of current accounting practices and techniques, such as the appropriateness of information disclosed to shareholders, the effectiveness of regulation and auditing. Depending on the course you study, you will also have the opportunity to study finance, management, law and economics.

Our facilities

As well as access to all University of Essex facilities, including the Library and computing laboratories at our Colchester and Southend Campuses, our Essex Business School students benefit from our strong industry links across the public and private sectors and our international focus in teaching and research.

Study abroad/placement opportunities

Within our Essex Business School, we offer an international exchange variant for this course. This enables you to broaden your understanding of the subject by studying at a partner institution in the EU or in the rest of the world, as the third year of this four-year course. Apart from your year abroad, our international exchange variant of this course is identical to our corresponding three-year course.

Introduction

As a new undergraduate, you may find university-level learning, assessment and studying differs to school or college. Here at Essex, we understand and recognise this by having support in place, particularly during your first year when you may notice the change more.

If you are studying a non-science subject, then your teaching mainly takes the form of lectures and classes, the latter involving about 20 students. A typical timetable includes a one-hour lecture and a one-hour class for each of your four modules every week. Any language classes involve language laboratory sessions.

First-year assessment is a combination of written coursework, end-of-term tests, practical and laboratory work (where appropriate) and end-of-year exams.

Teaching methods and styles

Within our Essex Business School our teaching methods include a combination of: lectures from our academic staff; guest speaker sessions; tutorials; class exercises, including discussion of case studies and journal articles; computer-based lab sessions; and online resources.

One of the distinguishing features of our courses is that they all share a common first year of taught modules. Therefore, before you enter your second year, you can opt for any of the accounting, finance, and banking courses offered by Essex Business School, whether or not you were originally registered for that course.

Methods of assessment

Within our Essex Business School, assessment includes a wide range of methods. There are mid-term class tests, individual essays and reports, group reports, individual and group presentations, and written examinations. A combination of assessments is used for all our courses. These assessments test your understanding of theoretical concepts, application in business practice and an ability to analyse and evaluate the same. Your final degree class is based on your results in the second and third years.

Career destinations

A ‘relevant’ accounting degree will assist you in studying for professional accounting examinations. In particular, you should be able to obtain some accreditation exemptions from the relevant professional accountancy bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Recent Essex graduates have become chartered accountant trainees with Ernst and Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and KPMG.

Many of our students secure employment before they graduate. Although a good number are recruited by international, national and regional firms in the accounting profession, others choose careers in the financial services sector, working for banks, insurance companies or stockbrokers. Some find employment in industry, working in manufacturing, retail or leisure, while others follow careers in the public sector. Our courses also provide an excellent grounding for further study, such as Masters degrees and MBAs.

Your employability and Essex

At Essex we take your employability seriously, helping you become a rounded individual with the ability to succeed, whatever your plans. You’ll find your department works with our Employability and Careers Centre to inform you about options to study or work overseas, your Faculty Employability Coordinator finds degree-related work placements, and our Students’ Unions ensures that, annually, over 700 students volunteer and more than 4,000 get involved in sports, clubs and societies.

At Essex you can gain new skills that look good on your CV, like paid placements through our frontrunners scheme, graduate-level paid internships, and opportunities to develop discipline-specific skills as part of your studies.

We help you understand your skills, and how to demonstrate these to an employer. You can get our extra-curricular employability award – the Big Essex Award – recorded on your transcript, receive one-to-one advice on careers, use our Essex CV guides on applying for work, learn from famous entrepreneurs and take part in workshops, and meet employers through on-campus events.

We develop your employability through fantastic opportunities, and give you the tools to explore the meaning of your unique experiences, so you are ready for your future.

Global employability

Here at Essex, our students can undertake period of study or work abroad specifically tailored to his/her academic interests and future career plans. You are taught and assessed by your host university, so assessment may be in the form of written papers, oral or written exams, lab or project work, research, or work-based learning. All successfully completed pre-approved modules will be credited towards your Essex degree.

Study abroad is an excellent opportunity for personal development. It affords you the chance to become immersed in another culture over a sustained period, coming to know a country and its people in a way that you could not hope to as a tourist. It is also an opportunity to experience a different educational system and develop different skills. You learn to view the world (and your academic discipline) from another perspective, becoming more independent and confident.

Study abroad also enhances your employability. It helps your CV stand out from other candidates and signals to an employer that you have maturity, adaptability and organisational skills. As the world of business is becoming increasingly international, the experience of living abroad is, in itself, attractive to many employers. Depending upon your study abroad destination, you may also gain fluency in another language, which is a highly attractive skill to have as you enter the employment market.

If you are interested in learning another language then our Languages for All programme enables you to study a language, alongside your course, at no extra cost. You can take one of 50 taught language modules on a part-time day-time basis, or undertake flexible web-based learning, or opt for a language module taught in the evening. As employers can struggle to find graduates able to speak more than one language, Languages for All places Essex graduates in a very advantageous position.

Postgraduate opportunities

Within our Essex Business School, we offer taught Masters courses and research supervision for PhD, MPhil and Masters by dissertation. Our taught courses are aimed at you if you are seeking employment in industry, commerce, the public and voluntary sectors, and the financial services industries, as well as if you are interested in pursuing an interest in research or an academic career. We include both compulsory and optional modules, so you can tailor the content of your course to more closely fit your interests and aspirations.

Both theoretical and applied research can be found within our School, with much of it addressing the important issues currently being faced by commercial businesses, public sector bodies and not-for-profit organisations. We are recognised for being at the forefront of research in: business ethics and corporate social responsibility; organisation studies; leadership and strategy; finance and banking; risk management; and international management.