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The University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NZ, T +44 (0)1227 764000
Undergraduate studies
Why choose Kent?
Economics covers global issues as well as aspects of everyday life: economic growth, unemployment, inflation, environmental degradation, poverty, economic and monetary union in Europe, transition in eastern Europe, corporate and industrial performance, aid to poor countries, currencies and the balance of payments, the impact of minimum wages and the problems of global economic change.
At Kent you can learn about these issues from economists who are internationally recognised for their research but who also take a practical approach to the subject. Many of our staff are expert advisers to organisations such as the European Commission, the Bank of England, the Central Bank of Europe and the OECD.
Studying economics at Kent can give your career a head start with a degree that combines modern theoretical and applied economics, taught in exciting and innovative ways.
For more good reasons to study Economics at Kent, see Seven reasons to choose us.
High national rankings
The School of Economics has consistently high rankings in all national student satisfaction surveys:
- Joint 2nd for student satisfaction in the Complete University Guide 2012
- 3rd for overall satisfaction, for two years running, 2009 and 2010, in the UK National Student Survey
- 3rd for overall satisfaction in The Times' Good University Guide 2012
- 7th for student satisfaction with the course in the Guardian University Guide 2012
In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise 75% of the School’s research was rated as either world leading or internationally excellent, which placed us 16th in the UK.
Degree flexibility
We offer a variety of single and joint honours degree programmes that provide a solid core of training in economics combined with the opportunity to specialise in areas such as finance or econometrics, or to combine economics with a European language or with another subject such as Law, Business or Accounting.
We realise that sometimes it is not always the case that the degree pathway you decide to take when you arrive is the one which is really for you. Our degrees have a common first year that gives you, wherever possible, the flexibility to reorganise or change your degree for your second and final year.
Teaching
We are committed to the provision of high-quality teaching and research. All of our modules are taught by a combination of lectures and small group sessions which include seminars, computing practicals, problem classes, group work and presentations. On average you have ten to twelve hours of teaching (lectures and classes) per week across all modules. All modules require a substantial amount of individual study in addition to class contact hours.
Employability and skills
Taking a course in economics requires you to learn and develop a variety of different skills and the School is committed to making sure that you leave Kent with much more than just a degree in economics. During your degree you will acquire a range of transferable skills to prepare you for employment or continued academic study. These include:
- communicating well in speech and writing
- numeracy
- thinking through and presenting logical arguments
- problem solving
- making decisions
- using IT well
- working with others
- time management
- managing and improving your own learning and performance.
We recognise the need for our students to develop these key skills through the teaching and learning of our degree programmes, and we put considerable emphasis on achieving them.
The majority of our graduates go on to jobs or further study, see the Careers opportunities pages for further information.
Assessment
Most modules have an end-of-year examination, which counts for 80% of your final module grade. The other 20% for each module comes from continuous assessment of coursework throughout the year, or class-based exercises. A few modules are assessed completely by coursework, where the coursework could include long essays, reports or projects; short summaries; group work and presentations. Your final degree class is determined by the combined performance in your second and final years.