Economics with Placement Year

Key highlights

• This course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
• CIMA accreditation means the course gives you additional awards and/or exemptions towards professional body memberships
• Live consultancy projects with employers are your chance to solve real problems for real businesses
• Our Financial Markets Lab allows you to experience the pace and excitement of the trading floor
• Boost your employability with a placement year
• Opportunities to go on international study trips add an extra dimension to your studies.

We develop forward-thinking economists renowned for their strategic vision and analytical thinking. You'll gain a solid grounding in economic theory. You'll become skilled in handling economic data and completing research and analysis. You'll learn how to meet the high standards of professional practice you need to shape an organisation’s success.

We'll give you plenty of opportunities to strengthen your skills. You could be:

• undertaking consultancy projects
• creating an investment portfolio
• taking part in business panel debates
• conducting broadcast interviews
• presenting your economic analysis at conferences 

Boost your employability with a placement year

You’ll have the opportunity to take a placement year to put the skills you’ve learned into practice in a real-world environment. We'll support you to find your placement and throughout your year in industry. Placements allow you to gain valuable experience to add to your CV, make industry contacts and help you to narrow down what kind of role you may be interested in after graduation. 

Hands-on learning

You will engage with employers throughout your studies. This will help you develop the full toolkit of skills the applied economist needs. You’ll solve real problems for real organisations. Our hands-on approach will deepen your understanding of the wider business world.

We encourage and support you to take an optional year-long work placement or summer internship. This will give you a better understanding of how economic analysis can improve organisational performance and practice. And it will raise your professional profile. Our students have secured placements in roles such as data analyst.

And, in your second year, you could take part in our Undergraduate Research Scholarship Scheme. Successful project proposals receive bursary support.

Economics and Finance – your questions answered

Senior Lecturer Dr Weiwei Yang answers your frequently asked questions about Economics and Finance. 

Expert teaching

We have an enthusiastic and experienced teaching team. You'll learn within a friendly, supportive learning community. Small class sizes allow scope for one-to-one advice so that you are motivated to achieve at a high level.

Our lecturers are conducting influential research into pressing economic issues facing society:

• behavioural economics
• public policy
• the green economy
• the economics of innovation and technological change

They publish widely, including one of the main economics textbooks used in universities. Their findings will enrich your learning to keep it up to date.

You’ll also meet and interact with industry experts. For instance, you’ll hear about latest developments in the City from visiting professor Trevor Williams. And you'll have networking opportunities such as:

• our Economics, Trading and Investment Society
• our Network of Entrepreneurs

An extra qualification: the Futures Award

We have developed our Futures Award specifically for our Economics students. This additional qualification showcases your versatility and professionalism to potential employers. It recognises any extra-curricular activities you undertake to improve your employability and career development, such as:

• attending workshops on CV design and improvement
• developing techniques for interviews, assessment centres or psychometric tests
• taking part in networking events
• leading a small project within a student society or voluntary role

Professionally accredited 

On graduating, you will also gain exemptions towards the CIMA qualifications. This means you can achieve membership of this professional body quicker. This, in turn, will speed up your career progression.

Study trips

You could also take part in optional overseas study trips. Recent trips for students include:

• Dublin - to look at the work of IDA Ireland, the agency responsible for inward investment
• Copenhagen - to explore issues surrounding international art fraud and money laundering
• Vienna - featuring a tour of the UN office to observe a live conference and attend talks by specialists as well as learning about internship opportunities from representatives of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

Real world learning is at the heart of this programme, with the focus on solving genuine business problems as well as engaging with external experts to discuss economic concepts. You’ll learn through a compelling combination of:

• interactive lectures
• expert speakers
• problem-solving seminars
• group work
• group discussion
• workshops
• case study analysis
• computer lab work
• practical analysis

At the start of the course, you will benefit from substantial direction from our teaching team. As your studies progress, you are expected to work more independently, taking greater responsibility for your own learning – but always with the support and advice of your tutors.

Examples of projects

As the culmination of the course, the Applied Economics Project module enables you to apply your research and statistical skills to a theme of your choice. Recent projects have seen our students exploring the role of sanctions in the economic performance of Russia; examining the potential economic impact of large sporting events; looking into contemporary issues relating to migration; and investigating the UK's housing market, international trade and productivity. 

Showcasing your skills

You could showcase your know-how and raise your professional profile in prestigious competitions. Our students have scooped major awards at the University Trading Challenge, pitting their wits against fellow undergraduate and postgraduate students from leading institutions countrywide. The competition comprises a simulated trading market which tests students’ abilities to strategise, analyse and present their ideas to a panel of traders and bankers in the City of London. There are opportunities to enter other competitions such as the IBM University Business Challenge and the CIMA Global Business Challenge too.

How you are assessed

You’ll be assessed in a number of ways, including:

• computer-based assessments
• business reports
• applied economics projects to showcase your analytical and quantitative skills
• data retrieval and quantitative analytics using Bloomberg
• computer-based analysis harnessing Excel and SPSS
• poster presentations and reports to assess your research and consultancy skills

Who you will meet

At Derby you’ll discover a friendly and supportive learning community, with small classes where you will receive plenty of one-to-one advice.

You will be taught by an enthusiastic team who are experienced in all aspects of economics and whose research will enrich your learning. They are supported by industry experts, including our Visiting Professor of Banking, Professor Trevor Williams who is Chief Economist at Lloyds Bank PLC.

The teaching team includes:

Dr Sayantan Ghosh Dastidar - Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Economics, Sayantan conducts research into areas such as international trade, economic development and public policy. He has published on various aspects of trade, economic growth and public expenditure in India.

Melanie Powell - As well as teaching on this course, Melanie leads our MSc International Business and Finance and our MSc International Business and HRM. She is widely published and the joint author of a leading Economics textbook, published by Pearson Education and used extensively in universities. Her research focuses on applied economics, behavioural economics and financial market behaviour. As a teacher, she is committed to giving students a new way of looking at the world which nurtures their confidence, decision-making skills and a lifelong fascination with economics. She is the co-author of the University’s monthly Economic Bulletin.

Dr Eugene Michaels - Eugene leads our suite of International Business programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His focus is on encouraging students to apply economic reasoning and critical thinking. His academic interests are centred on behavioural economics and their implications for personal financial wellbeing (particularly pensions) and the application of behavioural insights to macroeconomic and business policymaking. He is the co-author of the University’s monthly Economic Bulletin.

Dr Weiwei Yang - Senior Lecturer inEconomics and Finance, Weiwei teaches various modules on the course. Her research interests lie in areas such as banking efficiency, market competition, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. Her teaching philosophy is to inspire students to move from passive to active learning.

Dr Daphne Athanasouli - Senior Lecturer in Economics and Business, Daphne has research interests which span applied economics, public economics, corruption, business performance, management practices and e-government. She gained valuable consulting and research experience at the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Dr Doyin Babajide – Lecturer in Economics, currently lead the Introductory Microeconomics module and Current Debates in Applied Economic Theory.

Dr Mehdi Hasan – Lecturer in Economics and Programme Leader for International Business and International Business and Finance.

Dr Ghulam Mustafa – Lecturer in Economics. He leads and teaches a module in Econometrics, which is about understanding empirical research and how we can use applied econometric techniques to understand economic issues. 

Dr Sharanya Basu Roy - Lecturer in Economics

Dr Yiling Zha – Lecturer in Economics

An Economics degree adds prestige to your CV and could be your stepping stone to a lucrative graduate training scheme or a well-rewarded financial consultancy role. Economics is among the top three subjects to take for delivering a ‘professional premium’ – the difference in salaries between graduates and non-graduates – of almost £10,000 (Complete University Guide statistics for 2017 graduates).

Economics graduates with an understanding of business and leadership are in great demand across the public, private and voluntary sectors worldwide. As well as roles in international business, consultancy and finance, you could pursue opportunities in government departments, development agencies, charities and not-for-profit organisations.

Our focus on problem-solving and practical economic analysis extends your career scope further still, opening doors to a much broader range of opportunities than with a more conventional Economics qualification. Some graduates go on to follow careers in areas such as HR, marketing, PR and sales.

Our Careers and Employment Service will provide you with support from day one of your course to ensure you leave Derby as a ‘work-ready’ graduate – industry aware, motivated and enterprising. Throughout your studies, you’ll also benefit from our Personal Development Planning (PDP) scheme which enables you to reflect on your learning and develop your career ambitions. In addition, the BA (Hons) Economics features specialist career sessions for economists to help you build your CV and social media profile and to assist in your applications for placements, internships and jobs. 

The support continues once you’ve completed your course too: you are entitled to further help and guidance from the Careers and Employment Service for up to three years after leaving the University.

Further study

Many of our Economics graduates decide to take their studies to the next level with us. You can consider progressing to exciting masters programmes such as the MSc International Business and Finance or MBA Global Finance. You may be entitled to an alumni discount if you decide to extend your time studying with us.

Contextual offers may apply to students who meet certain criteria.

Further information about our fees and support you may be entitled to

Additional costs and optional extras

Additional information about your studies

Teaching hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.

Course updates

The information provided on this page is correct at the time of publication but course content, costs and other individual course details do change from time to time and are updated as often as possible, so please do check these pages again when making your final decision to apply for a course. Any updated course details will also be confirmed to you at application, enrolment and in your offer letter.

If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.