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University of Aberdeen

UCAS Code: NL41 | Master of Arts (with Honours) - MA (Hons)

Entry requirements

A level

B,B,C

For First Year Entry a minimum of 3 A Levels at BBC. For Second Year Entry a minimum of an A in the subject selected for Single Honours plus BB, or AB in the subjects selected for Joint Honours plus a further B. In addition GCSE Maths is required, as well as GCSE in English or English Language.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H2,H2,H2,H3,H3

A minimum of 5H with 3 at H2 AND 2 at H3, or AAABB obtained at a single sitting. The grading within band B must be at B2 or above. O in English or in English Language AND Mathematics also required for entry.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM

Minimum entry requirement: DDM in related subjects.

For Entry to Year 2 of this Degree: Satisfactory completion of HNC Accounting (120 SCQF credit points). A in all Graded Units.

For Entry to Year 3 of this Degree: Satisfactory completion of HND Accounting (240 SCQF credit points). A in all Graded Units. Curriculum to include: Research Skills (F60A34) and Company Law (DE5H35) or equivalent.

Scottish Higher

B,B,B,B

Applicants who have achieved BBBB (or better), are encouraged to apply and will be considered. Good performance in additional Highers/ Advanced Highers may be required. Note: we do not double count a Higher and Advanced Higher in the same subject, but we do consider that a B at Adv Higher is equivalent to an A grade at Higher. National 5 English at minimum grade C and National 5 Mathematics or Applications of Mathematics also required for entry.

UCAS Tariff

108-112

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course

Course option

4years

Full-time | 2025

Subjects

Accounting

Economics

Studying Accountancy and Economics at Aberdeen is a great way to prepare for a sparkling career in international finance, business, politics, media and a variety of other sectors. You will gain a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of accountancy, set within the wider perspective of the global economy. You will be taught by leading international economists whose work influences government policy.

You will develop a solid understanding of accountancy and develop the analytical and evaluation skills required to process accounting information in a modern economy. You will study the microeconomics of business and society, the macroeconomics of the world economy and will learn about economic challenges in a variety of political, social and historical contexts.

You will have access to professional training facilities, such as our Bloomberg finance lab, which is used by major financial service companies across the world. This technology integrates real activity in financial markets directly into our students’ courses. Your skills will develop in a dynamic learning and research environment, inspired by staff with a wide range of professional backgrounds, both in accountancy and finance. You will be taught by leading international economists, such as Professor Alex Kemp, who is a world authority on oil and gas markets and an adviser to the Scottish Government and health economists, whose work influences Scottish and UK policy decisions on public health issues.

You will thrive in the international, dynamic environment of our Business School with classmates from over 40 nationalities creating a truly global experience. You will be supported by teaching staff and dedicated careers advisers, who will help you develop as an individual with the skills and attributes sought by employers in business, government, education and private consulting.

Accountancy and Economics are two diverse subjects that will provide you with a solid understanding of how the world's largest organisations process financial information. You'll learn about the factors that influence wealth and will study topics such as academic writing, risk, and investment, microeconomics, statistics, and entrepreneurship.

Modules

We employ a range of teaching methods, emphasising transferable skills such as group work, presentation techniques and IT skills, in order to produce highly skilled graduates for the accountancy and related professions. Teaching methods include lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and student presentations.

Assessment methods

The use of various forms of assessment and learning environments facilitates the development of generic transferable skills enhancing student employability.

Students are assessed by any combination of three assessment methods: coursework such as essays and reports completed throughout the course; practical assessments of the skills and competencies they learn on the course; and written examinations at the end of each course. The exact mix of these methods differs between subject areas, years of study and individual courses.

Honours projects are typically assessed on the basis of a written dissertation.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,535
per year
England
£9,535
per year
EU
£20,800
per year
International
£20,800
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,535
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,535
per year
Scotland
£1,820
per year
Wales
£9,535
per year

Extra funding

Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, who pay tuition fees may be eligible for specific scholarships allowing them to receive additional funding. These are designed to provide assistance to help students support themselves during their time at Aberdeen.

International Students: The University of Aberdeen is delighted to offer self-funded international on-campus undergraduate students a £6,000 scholarship for every year of their programme. This scholarship is in the form of a tuition fee waiver. To be eligible students must be registering for a full-time, on-campus programme and cannot be in receipt of external scholarships or other University of Aberdeen scholarships, except for awards granted by the University of Aberdeen Development Trust. Please note that the scholarship does not apply to the DPLP or Medicine.

View the University of Aberdeen Online Prospectus programme page to find out about any scholarships and funding you may be eligible to apply for.

The Uni

Course location:

University of Aberdeen

Department:

Business School

Read full university profile

What students say

We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

85%
Accounting
82%
Economics

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.

Accounting

Teaching and learning

72%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
86%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
68%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

74%
Library resources
80%
IT resources
88%
Course specific equipment and facilities
72%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

89%
UK students
11%
International students
50%
Male students
50%
Female students
81%
2:1 or above
1%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
C

Economics

Teaching and learning

78%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
70%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
67%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

83%
Library resources
94%
IT resources
84%
Course specific equipment and facilities
80%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

70%
UK students
30%
International students
71%
Male students
29%
Female students
91%
2:1 or above
5%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
B

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.

Accounting

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.

£24,000
low
Average annual salary
95%
high
Employed or in further education
65%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

41%
Business, research and administrative professionals
16%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
7%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

You don't have to be an accountant if you take this degree, but over half of graduates take a look at the rewards on offer for accountancy trainees and go into the job. Many others go into other parts of the finance industry as advisors or book-keepers, and some go into management or marketing. London is very popular for accountancy graduates going into their first job, but it's also quite common to work in Scotland, with Glasgow a perennial hotbed of Scottish accountancy recruitment. If you want to find a job in finance as an accountancy graduates, recruitment agencies were particularly important last year, so try to get in touch with one as soon as you can to improve your chances.

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.

£27,000
med
Average annual salary
85%
med
Employed or in further education
70%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

29%
Business, research and administrative professionals
29%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
13%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

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.

Accounting

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

£22k

£30k

£30k

£36k

£36k

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.

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.

£20k

£20k

£33k

£33k

£36k

£36k

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...

Lower entry requirements
place
Heriot-Watt University | Edinburgh
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UCAS Points: 96-128
Higher entry requirements
place
The University of Edinburgh | Edinburgh
Economics and Accounting
MA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time 2025
UCAS Points: 152-165
Same University
place
University of Aberdeen | Aberdeen
Economics and Finance
MA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time 2025
UCAS Points: 108-112

This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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), for undergraduate students only.

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