Economics and Finance with Foundation Year

BSc (Honours)

UndergraduateAccounting banking and finance

Develop technical and analytical economics skills while applying your knowledge to the financial services industry, preparing you to navigate through global economic challenges.

Everything you need to know…
  • What is the fee?

    International/EU: £16,655 per year (£1,200 for placement year)

  • How long will I study?

    4/5 Years

  • What are the admission requirements?

    64 UCAS Points

  • When do I start?

    2024.September

  • Placement year available?

    Placement Available

Course summary
Develop technical and analytical economics skills while applying your knowledge to the financial services industry, preparing you to navigate through global economic challenges.
Gain a solid foundation in economic theory.
Apply this vital knowledge to diverse challenges in financial services.
Learn skills in financial risk management, investment analysis and financial regulation.
Develop analytical, critical thinking and problem-solving skills in financial decision-making.
Gain work-ready experience with real-life projects and placements every year.

You’ll explore microeconomics, macroeconomics and behavioural economics in state-of-the-art facilities. The turbulent economic landscape has introduced new challenges worldwide. We’ll equip you with the vital knowledge, skills and mindset to navigate diverse scenarios – preparing you for a career in the financial services sector, including, banking, insurance, investment analysis and financial management.

If you don't meet the entry requirements for our BSc (Hons) course, or you’d like extra preparation before starting degree-level study, we recommend you join the foundation course – which has been designed to encourage exploration and experimentation.
How you learn

Work placements

You will have the opportunity to undertake a year-long paid work placement in your third year. This gives you real-world experience to prepare you for your future career. This should provide you with the ability to improve your employability and nurture your career prospects.

To help you secure a placement, the University has specialist staff to support your application process. Furthermore, the University benefits from strong regional, national and international employers’ relationships. Placements could take place anywhere from government agency as an economic adviser, to a wealth management firm to a finance department of a multi-national corporation. Recent placement providers have included NHS, Weetabix and United Utilities to list a few.

Live projects

The course also puts your learning into practice through its final year consultancy projects. These projects put your acquired skills to the test of solving real world business problems. Being part of a team, these projects sharpen your analytical and team working skills. 

You will work in a team on a 'live' consultancy project in conjunction with a client sourced by specialist teams at Sheffield Hallam University who work alongside private, public and third sector organisations. Your group will be expected to present its findings to the client and offer suggestions on how to solve the particular issue that the client raised with you at the beginning of the module.

Networking opportunities

With frequent guest lecturers from the likes of industry leaders, practitioners and academics from other institutions, and a valuable placement year, there is ample opportunity to make lasting contacts within the economics and finance industry.

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

Our teaching staff are longstanding academics with many years of professional/industry experience. Their experiences and expertise feed into their teaching and your learning. With expert lecturers and industry guests, this engaging course tackles theoretical concepts and practical challenges.

You apply theories to practice and use practical examples to question and challenge the relevance and/or validity of traditional assumptions and practice. Learning takes place through timetabled contact sessions on campus and online, screencasts and guided/independent study, supported by superb facilities/learning materials.

You learn through

  • lectures/seminars
  • optional placement year
  • yearly employability module
  • guest lecturers and employability workshops
  • interactive sessions
  • live market scenarios
  • real-life corporate projects/activities
  • case studies and coursework
  • student-centred learning
  • collaborative group work
  • reflective writing
  • presentations
Future career

This course prepares you for a career in

  • Economic research and planning
  • Economic Analysing
  • Financial planning
  • Financial Risk Analysis
  • Financial Consultancy
  • Public sector roles
  • Economics research
  • Insurance
  • Financial Analysis
  • Data Analysis

Previous graduates of similar courses have gone on to work for:

  • NHS
  • Lifetime Financial Management
  • Weetabix
  • Harris & Co
  • United Utilities
  • HSBC
  • ACCA
Equipment and facilities

Construction of the new Sheffield Business School is underway – providing state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities and social space to students. 

On this course, you’ll have access to: 

  • Our virtual learning environment – Blackboard sites 
  • Updated office software 
  • Accounting software  
  • Bloomberg terminals 
  • Our financial trading floor  
  • A physical and online library with databases and digital books, journals, newspapers, and magazines 

 

Entry requirements

UCAS points

  • 64

This must include at least 32 points from one A level or equivalent BTEC National qualifications exluding general studies For example:

  • CC at A Level
  • MPP in BTEC Extended Diploma.
  • A combination of qualifications, which may include AS levels and EPQ.

You can find information on making sense of UCAS tariff points here and use the UCAS tariff calculator to work out your points.

GCSE

  • English Language at grade C or 4 or equivalent
  • Maths at grade C or 4 or equivalent
  • Science at grade C or 4

Pre-sessional English course which will enable you to achieve an equivalent English score.

We strongly recommend that you tell us about any long term health conditions or disabilities you may have. This is so we can assess whether we can deliver the course in such a way that you can meet the course requirements and take part without disadvantage. You can contact our University student support staff on 0114 225 3964 (voice and Minicom) and explore any issues you may have.

Please note the University will only admit students who are aged 18 or over at the point of enrolment.

Modules

Important notice:

The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.

You will be able to complete a placement year as part of this course. See the modules table below for further information.

Year 1
Compulsory modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Accounting In Context

40

Coursework

Practical

Economics, Finance And Investments

40

Coursework

Going Global

20

Coursework

Preparing For Success

20

Coursework

 

Year 2
Compulsory modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Introduction To Trading Algorithms

20

Coursework

Investment Risk And Taxation

40

Coursework

Practical

Maths For Economics

20

Coursework

Principles Of Micro And Macro Economics

40

Coursework

 

 

Year 3
Compulsory modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Economic Analysis And Policy

40

Coursework

Exam

Economics Of Risk And Return

40

Coursework

Exam

Introduction To Econometrics

20

Coursework

 

Elective modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Alternative Perspectives In Economics

20

Coursework

Banking And Fintech

20

Coursework

Cash Management And Treasury

20

Coursework

 

Year 4
Optional modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Placement Year

 

 

 

Final Year
Compulsory modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Applied Econometrics

20

Coursework

Consultancy Project

40

Coursework

Contemporary Issues In Finance

20

Coursework

Investment Management And Derivatives

40

Coursework

Exam