Economics

Economics with a Year in Industry - BSc (Hons)

This is an archived course for 2020 entry
Join our world

Studying Economics gives you the opportunity to analyse some of today's profound problems, such as poverty and economic growth, developing economies, environmental protection, and financial and monetary crises. You also consider the dilemmas facing households, firms and governments, such as the provision of education, roles of labour markets and regulation of markets.

Overview

As a Kent Economics student, you develop the skills to analyse and discuss these crucial areas and are challenged to contribute and defend your own theories and solutions.

The School of Economics is ranked highly among UK universities for graduate prospects. Our economists are internationally recognised for their research and are also exciting and innovative teachers who place a particular emphasis on making economics relevant to the real world.

The School provides outstanding academic support. Each student has a dedicated academic adviser and we also run a peer mentoring scheme where experienced final-year students offer advice and support to new students.

We are an international community with academic staff and students from many countries so you develop a global perspective on your subject.

Our degree programme

In your first year, you learn how economists think and become familiar with the tools they use for analysing real economic problems. You can also study modules in professional economics, as well as strategy and games.

In your second and final years, you study macroeconomics, microeconomics and quantitative economics. Optional modules cover areas such as international finance, industrial and monetary economics, and the economics of money and banking. Our wide range of modules means you can tailor your degree to support your particular career ambitions; for example, you can choose modules that prepare you for life as a professional economist.

Year in Industry

This programme includes an opportunity to spend a year working in industry between Stages 2 and 3. This greatly enhances your CV and gives you the opportunity to apply your academic skills in a practical context. In previous years students have worked at:

  • Bank of England
  • Government Economic Service (GES)
  • Deloitte
  • Ernst & Young
  • PwC
  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Year abroad

We also offer a four-year Economics with a Year Abroad programme, where you spend a year at one of our partner universities in France, Germany, Greece, Japan or Spain. For more details, see Economics with a Year Abroad.

Extra activities

You may wish to join the following student-run societies:

  • the Economics Society, which organises lecturers and conferences, as well as social events
  • Kent Investment Society, which focuses on the financial markets. It is made up of analysts, head analysts and committee members, who each cover a particular financial market. In previous years, the Society has organised an annual virtual trading competition.

The School of Economics also hosts events that you are welcome to attend. These include:

  • public lectures and seminars
  • employability workshops
  • networking events.

Professional network

Many of our staff advise UK, European and international organisations. These include:

  • HM Treasury
  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
  • Department for International Development (DFID)
  • Bank of England
  • European Commission
  • European Central Bank
  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
  • European Central Bank (ECB)
  • United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

These links mean we can bring real-life examples and scenarios into our teaching, ensuring it is up to date and relevant.

Entry requirements

The University will consider applications from students offering a wide range of qualifications. Typical requirements are listed below. Students offering alternative qualifications should contact us for further advice. 

Please note that meeting this typical offer/minimum requirement does not guarantee an offer being made.Please also see our general entry requirements.

New GCSE grades

If you’ve taken exams under the new GCSE grading system, please see our conversion table to convert your GCSE grades.

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    A level

    BBB from three full A levels excluding General Studies and Critical Thinking

  • medal-empty GCSE

    Mathematics grade B / 6. However, those who hold GCSE Mathematics at grade 5 will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

  • medal-empty Access to HE Diploma

    The University will not necessarily make conditional offers to all Access candidates but will continue to assess them on an individual basis. 

    If we make you an offer, you will need to obtain/pass the overall Access to Higher Education Diploma and may also be required to obtain a proportion of the total level 3 credits and/or credits in particular subjects at merit grade or above.

  • medal-empty BTEC Nationals

    The University will consider applicants holding BTEC National Diploma and National Extended Diploma qualifications (QCF; NQF; OCR) on a case by case basis. Applicants must also have one or more accompanying A levels.

  • medal-empty International Baccalaureate

    34 points overall or 15 points at HL, including Mathematics 4 at SL or HL, or Mathematical Studies 5

The University welcomes applications from international students. Our international recruitment team can guide you on entry requirements. See our International Student website for further information about entry requirements for your country. 

However, please note that international fee-paying students cannot undertake a part-time programme due to visa restrictions.

If you need to increase your level of qualification ready for undergraduate study, we offer a number of International Foundation Programmes.

Meet our staff in your country

For more advice about applying to Kent, you can meet our staff at a range of international events.

English Language Requirements

Please see our English language entry requirements web page.

Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of 'pre-sessional' courses in English for Academic Purposes. You attend these courses before starting your degree programme. 

Course structure

Duration: 4 years full-time

The course structure below gives a flavour of the modules that will be available to you and provides details of the content of this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.

Year in industry

All our single honours degree programmes, with the exception of Economics with a Year Abroad, offer a Year in Industry. Our joint honours programmes with Management and Politics also offer this option. 

The year in industry is taken between the second (Stage 2) and third years (Stage 3) of the degree and contributes towards your final degree classification. The placement must be with a suitable employer, but the reference to 'in industry' is intended to cover employers in any service sector as well as in manufacturing.

Students are responsible for finding their placements, but the School offers structured support for the application process in the form of a non-contributory module, 'Preparing for a Placement'.

Students must have passed Stage 2 of their degree before they can embark on the year in industry.

Fees

The 2020/21 annual tuition fees for this programme are:

  • Home/EU full-time TBC
  • International full-time TBC

For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.

Full-time tuition fees for Home and EU undergraduates are £9,250.

For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* 

Your fee status

The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.

Fees for Year in Industry

Full-time tuition fees for Home and EU undergraduates are £1,385.

Fees for Year Abroad

Full-time tuition fees for Home and EU undergraduates are £1,385.

Students studying abroad for less than one academic year will pay full fees according to their fee status. 

Additional costs

General additional costs

Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.

Teaching and assessment

All of our modules are taught by a combination of lectures and small group sessions, which include seminars, computing practicals, problem sets, debates and role-play games. On average, you have a total of 12-14 hours of lecture, seminar and other formal contact time per week.

The School of Economics is committed to making sure that you leave Kent with much more than just a degree in Economics. We put great emphasis on the development of transferable skills, including numeracy, analytical problem solving, data analysis, and written and oral communication, as well as subject-specific skills for further study at postgraduate level.

Some modules are assessed by continuous assessment of coursework throughout the year and an end-of-year exam in the final term. A number of modules at each stage are assessed solely through coursework.

Contact hours

For a student studying full time, each academic year of the programme will comprise 1200 learning hours which include both direct contact hours and private study hours.  The precise breakdown of hours will be subject dependent and will vary according to modules.  Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.

Methods of assessment will vary according to subject specialism and individual modules.  Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.

Programme aims

The programme aims to:

  • Provide structured developmental work experience in the industry
  • Provide experience on working on a specified project in the industry
  • Enable you to learn how to apply economic and business principles and analysis to a range of issues, problems and policies (this will not necessarily apply to all placement students)
  • Develop appropriate skills relevant to the specific industry of the placement
  • Develop management, communication, decision-making, creative, team working and reliability skills
  • Develop skills of reflecting and evaluating your own work, and being able to communicate this reflection and evaluation
  • Provide a well-developed structure to support your year in the industry
  • Develop a range of skills that will be of value in employment and self-employment.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

You gain a knowledge and understanding of:

  • The working of a successful enterprise or organization.
  • Practical experience of business, management and financial aspects of an industry (not necessarily all) and/or local, regional or national government.
  • Applied aspects of economic analysis.
  • The main concepts, principles, theories, models and methods of modern economic analysis and their application in different areas of economics
  • The analytical skills that allow students to formulate and consider a range of economic problems and issues
  • The mathematical, statistical and computing methods used in economics
  • Economic data and methods used to analyse such data
  • Economic analysis of policy.
  • Specific problems, issues and policies in a range of areas in economics
  • Key concepts affecting decision-making
  • Critical discussion of economic problems, issues and policies in politics and media
  • An economic topic chosen by the student and submitted as a supervised final year project
  • The study of other social science subjects in the first year.

Intellectual skills

You gain the following intellectual skills:

  • Abstract the essential features of a complex system
  • Think about what are the important variables and fixed parameters in solving a problem
  • Analyse complex issues using deductive and inductive reasoning
  • Organise and use information to analyse complex issues
  • Review critically alternative explanations and analyses of a problem.

Subject-specific skills

You gain the following subject-specific skills:

  • Analytical skills in economics that can be applied to business and organisational problems
  • Ability to apply economic principles and analysis to a range of issues, problems and policies
  • Ability to abstract the essential features of an economic issue, problem or system
  • Ability to use and present numerical information
  • Ability to carry out economic/econometric analysis of business/economic data.

Transferable skills

You gain the following transferable skills:

  • Effective communication of analysis and ideas both orally, aurally and in written form
  • Ability to assemble, analyse, use and present data
  • Understanding of and ability to use economic, mathematical and quantitative methods to analyse business issues and problems
  • Ability to analyse and make decisions using economic concepts, eg opportunity cost and strategic behaviour
  • Skills associated with the chosen/specific industry
  • Independence in initiating and executing work
  • Ability to think critically about proposed analyses and solutions to a problem or issue
  • Responsibility for managing your own performance.

Independent rankings

In The Guardian University Guide 2020, over 88% of final-year Economics students were satisfied with the overall quality of their course.

Of Economics graduates who responded to the most recent national survey of graduate destinations, over 92% were in work or further study within six months (DLHE, 2017).

Careers

Graduate destinations

Our Economics graduates have developed careers in accountancy, banking and finance, journalism, management consultancy and business. Recent graduates have gone on to work for:

  • Deloitte
  • Government Economic Service
  • HMRC
  • Citibank
  • KPMG
  • PwC
  • Bank of America
  • Schroders
  • Goldman Sachs
  • Barclays.

Help finding a job

Employers are always keen to employ graduates with knowledge of the work environment and some students receive job offers from the company where they spent their year in industry.

The School of Economics supports and advises you in deciding what to do after your Economics degree. We offer:

  • one-to-one advice from a member of our employability team
  • employability workshops
  • talks from alumni and outside employers.

The University also has a friendly Careers and Employability Service which can give you advice on how to:

  • apply for jobs
  • write a good CV
  • perform well in interviews.

Career-enhancing skills

Alongside a thorough understanding of economic issues, you develop key transferable skills that will appeal to employers. These include the ability to:

  • think critically
  • communicate your ideas and opinions succintly
  • work independently
  • use your initiative and be proactive
  • work as part of a team and independently
  • manage your time and plan effectively
  • problem solve.

You can also gain extra skills by signing up for one of our Kent Extra activities, such as learning a language or volunteering.

Apply for Economics with a Year in Industry - BSc (Hons)

This course page is for the 2020/21 academic year. Please visit the current online prospectus for a list of undergraduate courses we offer.

Contact us

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United Kingdom/EU enquiries

Enquire online for full-time study

T: +44 (0)1227 768896

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International student enquiries

Enquire online

T: +44 (0)1227 823254
E: internationalstudent@kent.ac.uk

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School website

School of Economics

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