Business Economics
UCAS Code: L112
Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
Sorry, no information to show
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
The study of economics is central to understanding many aspects of commercial and organisational activity. BSc (Hons) Business Economics will provide you with a firm grounding in the underlying theories and analysis of micro and macro behaviour, empowering you with the knowledge and skills to apply this to real-world policy. You’ll learn to understand the decision making process within organisations and develop your critical thinking ready for the business economist environment.
The combination of academic excellence and practical knowledge we encourage on this course will help you stand out when it comes to entering the world of work. The course opens doors to a wide range of career roles including industry economist, financial risk analyst, credit analyst and chartered accountant. Our accomplished and analytically-adept graduates are snapped up for high-flying and varied careers with KPMG, HM Treasury, Ernst and Young, and other organisations.
* Choose an Economics course to suit you from the wide range of single, major and minor undergraduate degree courses available. All named awards share a common core syllabus, which stresses the integration of theory and evidence in economic analysis and research.
* Feel confident and be inspired by a course rated 16th out of 70 in the Guardian League Tables 2013. Our Plymouth Business School was shortlisted for Business School of the Year 2012 in the annual Times Higher Education Awards.
* Tailor your degree to match your interests and your career goals, by studying economics alongside other subjects including business, social sciences and languages.
* Acquire key analytical and numerical skills, and develop your capacity for independent research.
* Apply your skills in a work environment by taking our optional four year degree course, which contains an industrial placement, working full-time for a public or private sector organisation.
* Engage with current and past economic students with our Economics Society. Hear talks from visiting academics and professional economists and find out what our graduates are up to now. The Economics Society also awards a graduation prize for best academic paper in the final year.
* Open doors to a wide range of career roles including industry economist, financial risk analyst, credit analyst and chartered accountant. Our accomplished and analytically-adept graduates are snapped up for high-flying and varied careers with KPMG, HM Treasury, Ernst and Young, and other private and public sector organisations. Our postgraduate programmes draw many students back to continue their learning.
Modules
In your first year, you’ll explore the world of economics and learn how to interpret economic data. You’ll build up a range of principles and theories and develop quantitative methods and study skills that will provide a firm foundation for further studies. You’ll combine your economics study with organisational behaviour and accounting and have the opportunity to add another subject to your studies - a European language or a business and social science subject.
In your second year, you’ll build on the core syllabus of the first year, and develop your knowledge of theories and methods that are central to modern economic analysis. You’ll study micro and macro economics in depth and improve your quantitative skills with econometrics which, will help enhance your career prospects. You’ll also the opportunity to learn about the economics of business organisations and have a choice of taking further economic or business options.
Get paid for hands-on work experience and develop your economic flair during our optional industrial placement. We'll support you to find the most suitable private or public sector placement.
In your final year, you’ll learn more about the global economy and specialise in business topics of your choice, including economic modelling and game theory. Choose to study from a number of topics including environmental and resource economics, economics of renewable energies in the UK and issues relating to environmental and economic sustainability. You’ll also research a dedicated honours project on a subject of your choice.
The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry.
Assessment methods
27% of assessment is by exam, 73% by coursework
The Uni
University of Plymouth
Plymouth Business School
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Economics
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Economics
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
This is a degree in demand, as business increasingly needs workers who can examine and explain complex data. And yet the number of economics graduates fell by nearly 10% last year, which means demand is even greater. As so many economic grads go into banking and finance, it's not surprising that over half of all 2015's economics graduates who did go into work were working in London. And don't think it's just the finance industry that's interested in these graduates - there's a significant number who enter the IT industry to work with data as analysts and consultants. It's quite common for economics graduates to go into jobs such as accountancy and management consultancy which may require you to take more training and gain professional qualifications - so don’t assume you won’t have to take any more exams once you leave uni. And the incentive to take them, of course, is better pay, which will be on top of an already healthy average starting salary of over £30,000 for graduates working in the capital.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Economics
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£22k
£27k
£37k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Explore these similar courses...
Same University
Nearby University
Lower entry requirements
Lower entry requirements
Higher entry requirements
Higher entry requirementsThis is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
