BSc Banking and Finance

Our BSc Banking 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 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.

How does financial theory aid corporate decision making? How do banks manage risk across global markets?

The past 20 years have seen banks and financial markets become increasingly globalised. Deregulation and advances in technology have empowered banks to expand their offerings, making them an integral component of all financial sectors.

BSc Banking and Finance combines academic rigour with practical financial skills to meet the needs of demanding careers in banking and finance. You have access to real-world Bloomberg Market Data Feed (B-PIPE), information and analytics in our virtual trading floor, where you can practise trading and analysing financial data.

You explore topics including:

• why banks exist and how they operate in the modern economy
• current issues in modern banking
• banking sector regulation
• the global financial system
• the role of the investor, analyst, academic and policy maker

The first year focuses on the finance and banking area of your degree and introduces you to the main functional areas of business, including accounting, finance, management and marketing. This gives you flexibility to work in any area of finance and banking or business after graduation.

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 will give you the chance to further develop vital employability skills in areas of research, time management and critical thinking.

Essex is one of just three UK universities to have received Q-Step Affiliate status, including for our BSc Banking and Finance, to support the way we develop the quantitative skills of our graduates.

This means we can provide work placement bursaries to develop your skills in evaluating numerical evidence, analysing data and designing research. We also offer the opportunity to follow a specialised degree path, where you graduate with enhanced quantitative skills. These are evidenced on your degree transcript to help give you the competitive edge in the graduate job market.

BSc Banking and Finance is taught at Essex Business School. Our finance group is one of the largest in the UK and our focus on ethical management means you graduate with the ability to make sound, responsible financial decisions.

Our students and staff join us from all over the world, so you join an international business community.

Essex Business School is an Investment Management Certificate (IMC) Advantage Partner and this course is aligned to the IMC syllabus, the industry’s benchmark entry-level qualification.

The University of Essex is also a member of the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program, enabling us to award up to six exceptional students each year with a scholarship that goes towards the fees for the CFA Program Level One exam, so you can start your journey to becoming a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Achieving this accolade is one way to enhance your CV if you're interested in pursuing a career in investment management.

This course can also be taken with an optional study abroad or placement year.

Study abroad

The study abroad version of this course enables you to study overseas during your penultimate year. In all other areas, this version of the course remains identical to the standard 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 choose to take on a placement year to gain relevant work experience within an external business.

The Essex Business School Placements Manager 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

You’re taught by a group of highly qualified and enthusiastic academics and practitioners with diverse research interests. Their work has been discussed in the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve.

Our staff specialise in areas including:

• bank risk and regulation
• foreign bank ownership
• finance of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
• bank mergers
• acquisitions and financial econometrics

Professor of Banking and Finance, Claudia Girardone, leads the way in finance research as Director of the Essex Finance Centre (EFiC), our long-established and world-renowned teaching excellence and research centre in finance and banking.

Professor Girardone is also Director of Research for Essex Business School and leads on embedding EFiC group research in the curriculum. You will benefit from her application of banking sector performance indicators and corporate governance in our finance programmes.

Our staff embed the latest research into your course, so you learn about real-world issues affecting business right now.

Specialist facilities

Our BSc Banking and Finance is based at our Colchester Campus.

In our landmark Essex Business School building - the first zero carbon business school in the UK - you’ll see our sustainable approach to business first-hand. Set around a lush winter garden, are a wealth of inspiring teaching and study zones.

Our unique building provides you with superb facilities:

• a virtual trading floor with Bloomberg Terminals offering direct use of Bloomberg data, information and analytics
• light and spacious lecture theatres with ‘listen again’ recording to aid your study
• study pods and innovation booths for group working
• a café and adjacent foyer to enjoy on-site fresh food and drink
• study skills workshops and advice

Discover our trading floor:

Our business school is located on the University’s Knowledge Gateway, where you may be able to take advantage of networking and work experience opportunities with businesses located on site.

Your future

The dual disciplines of banking and finance mean that you will be well suited to sector specific roles in trading, analyst or wealth management as well as more generalist financial roles such as management consultancy or financial management.

We embed a series of core and specific skills into our undergraduate curriculum for BSc Banking and Finance to ensure that our graduates are suited to careers in finance, banking and management roles.

All of our taught modules embed elements of our skills map which emulate the skills which are required by employers of finance graduates, these generally include:

• Academic and cognitive skills
• Research skills
• Technology skills
• Communication skills
• Data analysis skills
• Soft skills

We embed a structured approach to student development and skills support throughout the curriculum and through additional support from the Essex Business School Learning Team.

Our students have gone on to become financial analysts, risk analysts, hedge fund managers and insurance trainees, with recent graduate destinations including:

• Associate - Capital Management at Santander UK - the UK arm of the global retail and commercial bank
• Associate at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – the financial markets regulator
• Wealth Manager at Globaleye - a leading wealth management firm
• Investment Banking Analyst at Credit Suisse - a leading financial services company
• Audit Associate at EY - a multinational professional services firm
• Executive at PwC - a multinational professional services network
• Treasury Analyst at Hiscox, a multinational business insurance and home insurance provider

Our banking and finance graduates enjoy successful careers in their fields.

Additional to the skills development offered by Essex Business School, BSc Banking and Finance students can also take advantage of the University of Essex Careers Service which focuses in particular on supporting the development of undergraduate employability, including: careers fairs, career mentoring, skills development, careers advice and guidance, placement year support, job opportunities, start-up support and more.

My favourite aspect of my course is that it taught me how banks operate in the financial system and it provided me with the ability to study risks and different ways to manage them. The course has a practical side to it that enables me to understand how the different financial institutions work and operate and how their interrelation is crucial to the stability of the financial system.

Soukayna Hachimi, BSc Banking and Finance with Placement Year, 2019

UK entry requirements

UK and EU applicants:

All applications for degree courses with a foundation year (Year Zero) will be considered individually, whether you

• think you might not have the grades to enter the first year of a degree course;
• have non-traditional qualifications or experience (e.g. you haven’t studied A-levels or a BTEC);
• are returning to university after some time away from education; or
• are looking for more support during the transition into university study.

Standard offer:

Our standard offer is 72 UCAS tariff points from at least two full A-levels, or equivalent.

Examples of the above tariff may include:

• A-levels: DDD
• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma: MMP
• T-levels: Pass with E in core

For this course all applicants must also hold GCSE Maths at grade C/4 or above (or equivalent). We may be able to consider a pass in Level 2 Functional Skills Maths where you cannot meet the requirements for Maths at GCSE level. However, you are advised to try to retake GCSE Mathematics if possible as this will better prepare you for university study and future employment.

If you are unsure whether you meet the entry criteria, please get in touch for advice.

Mature applicants and non-traditional academic backgrounds:

We welcome applications from mature students (over 21) and students with non-traditional academic backgrounds (might not have gone on from school to take level 3 qualifications). We will consider your educational and employment history, along with your personal statement and reference, to gain a rounded view of your suitability for the course.

You will still need to meet our GCSE requirements.

International applicants:

Essex Pathways Department is unable to accept applications from international students. Foundation pathways for international students are available at the University of Essex International College and are delivered and awarded by Kaplan, in partnership with the University of Essex. Successful completion will enable you to progress to the relevant degree course at the University of Essex.

English language requirements

English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English: IELTS 5.5 overall, or specified score in another equivalent test that we accept.

Details of English language requirements, including UK Visas and Immigration minimum component scores, and the tests we accept for applicants who require a Student visa (excluding Nationals of Majority English Speaking Countries) can be found here

If we accept the English component of an international qualification then it will be included in the information given about the academic levels listed above for the relevant countries.

Please note that date restrictions may apply to some English language qualifications.

If you are an international student requiring a Student visa to study in the UK please see our immigration webpages for the latest Home Office guidance on English language qualifications.

What if my IELTS does not meet your requirements?

If you do not meet our IELTS requirements then you may be able to complete a pre-sessional English pathway that enables you to start your course without retaking IELTS.

Do I need to have achieved an acceptable English language qualification before I apply?

You don’t need to achieve the required level before making your application, but it will be one of the conditions of your offer.

What if the English language qualification I hold, or am taking, is not listed?

If you cannot find the qualification that you have achieved or are pending, then please contact Admissions on ugquery@essex.ac.uk for advice.

Additional Notes

Our Year 0 courses are only open to UK and EU applicants. If you’re an international student, but do not meet the English language or academic requirements for direct admission to your chosen degree, you could prepare and gain entry through a pathway course. Find out more about opportunities available to you at the University of Essex International College.

Course structure

The course structure is designed to cover everything a future leader in the banking and financial industries may need to know.

In year one our current students cover a more broad range of business topics, as well as being introduced to accounting and finance. However, we are planning some changes to our first year and we’ll be tailoring it more closely to your chosen course. After that your compulsory modules will cover topics such as corporate finance, portfolio analysis, international banking, financial markets and policy. You’ll also be able to pick from a variety of optional modules to further your understanding of your favourite banking and finance topics or to explore other areas of the business world.

We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists. Please be aware that we are planning changes to our first year to make it more relevant to your chosen course.

Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The following modules are based on the current course structure and may change in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.

We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We’ll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, or in response to COVID-19, we’ll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.

Placement

On a placement year you gain relevant work experience within an external business or organisation, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. The rest of your course remains identical to the standard degree.

Year abroad

On your year abroad, you have the opportunity to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. The rest of your course remains identical to the standard degree.

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