BSc (Hons) Economics and Finance (Industry)

How do stock markets work? What is the link between exchange rates and interest rates? How do betting markets operate? Finance and economics are intrinsic to how the modern world functions. Our joint honours degree provides an excellent foundation for a career in management and finance and you’ll gain valuable experience of economics and finance in action during your paid placement year in industry.

Your financial studies will cover areas such as capital markets, investment decision-making and financial statement analysis. You will look at economics from an individual and international level, and examine issues such as the crisis in banking, fairness in organisations and CEO salaries.

You don’t need an Economics A level as all first years study the Principles of Economics and Quantitative Methods. Our Introduction to Accounting and Finance gives you a strong foundation in concepts and techniques, using real-world financial data for actual companies. In the second year, you’ll learn about topics including capital management, matrix algebra and applying econometrics using the statistical package SPSS. You will also build on your knowledge of micro and macro-economics.

Your third year is spent in industry. You’ll be supported in securing a placement, with past students joining companies such as IBM, Lloyds Bank, Microsoft, PwC and the Bank of England. Roles on offer range from project management and logistics to investment, business development and risk. Most placements are in the UK but there are some options overseas.

When you return to Lancaster, your final year offers a wealth of options from International Trade to Game Theory. You can extract, analyse and interpret data using the Bloomberg Professional terminals in our Financial Markets Lab to solve real-life financial problems. There is also an option to prepare for your Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level 1 examination.

Our graduates’ analytical skills mean many secure places on training schemes with accounting firms, banks and other financial institutions.

The University will use all reasonable effort to support you to find a suitable placement for your studies. While a placement role may not be available in a field or organisation that is directly related to your academic studies or career aspirations, all placement roles offer valuable experience of working at a graduate level and gaining a range of professional skills.

If you are unsuccessful in securing a suitable placement for your third year, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent non-placement degree scheme and would continue with your studies at Lancaster, finishing your degree after your third year. The University offers a range of shorter placement and internship opportunities for which you would be welcome to apply.

Careers

The skills gained from the two areas of your degree are highly desirable to employers, both within the finance industry and elsewhere. Lancaster’s Finance and Economics graduates are able to capitalise on the analytical skills developed during their degree and many find themselves in a good position to win training contracts with major professional accounting firms; find employment within financial institutions and banks, or take up a variety of other posts within various industries.