Program Overview

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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 rigor 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 of 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.

Professional accreditation

Accredited by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for the purpose of exemptions from some professional examinations. Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) for the purpose of exemption from some professional examinations through the Accredited degree accelerated route. Completion of this course gives you accreditation exemptions from up to nine professional examination papers with The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) . This means that you are able to gain a professional qualification more quickly by taking fewer exams when you graduate, giving your career a head start. Why we're great.

• Essex Business School's Finance Group is one of the largest and most respected in the UK.
• Q-Step Affiliate Status gives you the chance to follow a pathway in Applied Quantitative Methods.
• Ranked in the top 200 for Accounting and Finance in the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2022).

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Study abroad

The four-year version of this course enables you to study abroad during your third year. In all other areas, this version of the course remains identical to the standard three-year 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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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 it. 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