Program Overview

Business, Economics and Social Studies (BESS)

The Business, Economics and Social Studies (BESS) program is a uniquely flexible degree program that offers students different degree options across the disciplines of Business, Economics, Political Science, and Sociology. This program provides students with a broad education, allowing them to specialize and graduate with a Single Honours or Joint Honours degree with another subject, or a Major with a Minor.

Overview of the Program

• The BESS program is jointly delivered by the Trinity Business School and the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy.
• The program allows students to choose the specific degree they wish to take from the second year onwards.
• Students can also choose individual modules within their chosen degree path, providing a high level of flexibility.

Disciplines

• Business: Top international professors and leading business people engage with students, challenge them, and guide them into top roles within the business world.
• Economics: Many of the economic problems that dominate the headlines are explored within this discipline, blending together theory, data, and statistical techniques to help understand economic problems and make policy recommendations.
• Political Science: Politics affects us all in our daily lives, and this discipline analyzes political systems and how democracy works, exploring questions such as taxation for greater equality and the role of the EU in agriculture.
• Sociology: Sociology is the study of social change and the consequences of human behavior, analyzing people and societies, and exploring areas as diverse as migration, race, gender, conflict studies, digitalization, identities, and employment studies.

Graduate Skills and Career Opportunities

• Graduates are highly sought after by employers in a range of fields, such as finance and banking, politics, research, management consulting, teaching, public service, and journalism.
• Graduates have gone on to successful and rewarding careers in varied roles around the globe, with organizations such as Accenture, Alcatel, Cisco, Barclay’s Bank, Commission for Energy Regulation, Enterprise Ireland, Google, KPMG, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Tesco, Topshop, Channel 4, and Atlantic Philanthropies.

Course Details

• Awards: B.A. Honours Bachelor Degree in Economics and Social Studies (B.E.S.S.) (NFQ Level 8) or B.B.S. Honours Bachelor Degree in Business Studies (NFQ Level 8)
• CAO Information: CAO Points 555 (2024), CAO Code TR081
• Number of Places: 236 Places

Admission Requirements

• Leaving Certificate: O4/H6 Mathematics
• GCSE: Grade B/6 Mathematics
• International Baccalaureate: SL Grade 5 Mathematics
• English Language Requirements: All applicants are required to provide official evidence of proficiency in the English language, with Band B (Standard Entry) English language requirements.

Course Fees

• For a full list of undergraduate fees, please refer to the relevant section.

Study Abroad and Language Options

• First and second-year BESS students have the option to study Irish, French, German, Spanish, Russian, or Polish.
• Students also have the opportunity to study abroad in their third year at leading universities in countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, or Spain, as well as English-speaking international exchange programs to prestigious universities in Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia (China, Hong Kong, and Japan).

Your Degree and What You’ll Study

• First and Second Years: In the first year, students take all four subjects: Business, Economics, Political Science, and Sociology. In the second year, students can choose to continue with one, two, or three subjects.
• Third and Fourth Years: In the third year, students choose their degree pathway and pursue either two or one of the four subjects. In the fourth year, students may choose to take one or two subjects and can exit with a Single Honours, Major with Minor, or Joint Honours award. All students will complete a Capstone project in their final year.

Choosing Modules

• Single Honours Degree Option: Students take modules from their preferred discipline, as well as select modules from one or more of the other three disciplines.
• Joint Honours Degree Options: Students take approximately half of their modules from each of the two disciplines. Major with Minor students have more modules in their major discipline throughout the third and fourth years.

Assessment

• Most BESS modules involve a system of continuous assessment, with essays, projects, and/or presentations contributing between 30% to 50% of the overall grade per module. The remainder is based on the results of a written end-of-semester examination.