The Student Room Group

Which degree in business, finance and economics?

I take Economics, Maths and Geography A Level and I'm on track for A,B,A at least if I carry on as well as I am right now (i'm in year 12).
I don't know whether to apply for business management, economics, finance and accounting, or a business management with e.g finance/economics/marketing.
I want to do a sandwich course and hopefully do an internship in first or second year while studying.
I want to work in a big firm doing business and develop my career in that with a high salary.
Anyone been through the same decision? Any advice?
I kind of did similiar A Levels and more or less covered all 4 subjects at uni.

If I start, I'd probably end up writing a long essay, or even a book. Do you have anything specific you want to ask?
Original post by MindMax2000
I kind of did similiar A Levels and more or less covered all 4 subjects at uni.

If I start, I'd probably end up writing a long essay, or even a book. Do you have anything specific you want to ask?

What degree did you do at uni?
Original post by AzureWiggling
What degree did you do at uni?

1. Accounting with Management - I avoided the tax, audit, and law modules like the plague, and I wanted something more analytical
2. Economics - one year postgrad
3. Money, Banking, and Finance

So, questions?
would you recommend doing a business management with economics degree and getting a lot of work experience while I'm there?
Original post by AzureWiggling
would you recommend doing a business management with economics degree and getting a lot of work experience while I'm there?

What are you intending to do after your degree?

Relevant and appropriate work experience is valuable irrespective of the degree you do. Internships are ideal to secure some sort of graduate job in the field (and ideally company) you want after graduation.You should try to apply as early as you can since many places have early deadlines.
Working at a local chippy/factory, on the other hand, might not do more than give you a reasonable reference and some extra money.

Whether business management and economics as a degree is good or not will depend on your career aspirations. If you're going into a field that requires any bog standard degree, it's as good as any, provided you do well in it.
If you intend to start up your own business, I can see how business management could be useful, but I wouldn't rely on it alone to start a business - you'd ideally have the experience and mentorship. Arguably, I'd say A Level Business Studies is enough for you to get started.
If you intend to become an economist, then it shoud technically be sufficient for you to get into the field, but I don't know how HR would see it. Nevertheless, you should be able to do a master's in economics (or an economics based subject) should you need to.

If you do go into a job that requires any bog standard degree, it's likely the employer will train you from the ground up. Your knowledge and contribution from your management degree will often be overlooked, even if you do have ideas that would 2-3x company profits or make things a lot more efficient. There's usually too much office politics, bureaucracy, and adversity to change to raise any meaningful point to be looked into. You're more likely to be expected to act more like a very good cog in a wheel. At times that's appropriate because you don't have the full picture on the legal obligations, office politics, or the welfare of other workers. At other times, it's textbook adversity to change, oversized egos, and good ol' stubborness that serves no one, and is infact behaviour detrimental to the business/organisation. Nevertheless, your manager is the one who is accountable for your actions, so you don't really get a say in the matter.

If you're asking whether it's a degree you'd enjoy, that would depend more on you.
If I had the opportunity to do a bachelor's again, I'd change fields because of my personality and because I realise what I want to do. Having said that, if I had the choice of studying a social science related degree again, I'd avoid management because I'm not that good at waffling.
As I'm more analytical, I'd pick something more numbers based e.g. Accounting with Economics, Financial Economics, Business Economics.
If I'm looking to go for a degree where I'd get exemptions for professional qualifications, I'd choose Accounting with Economics or Marketing with Economics. Accounting with Marketing for some reason is not a degree I've seen come up.


Management is one of those broad subjects where there's little to no maths involved (we're talking GCSE level and basic arithmetic), unless you choose the stats modules (which you shouldn't need to because you should be doing econometrics). It's a lot of art, and very little science. In fact, there's quite a bit of psychology (which bores me if it's in organisational contexts), and a lot of waffling in strategy, ethics, governance (the sort of thing you get in law and politics). You do a mix of other modules though e.g. accounting, marketing (more so marketing analysis), economics, stats - these I'd argue are where you get the technical skills from that would materially help a career in a business oriented role.

If you're looking to use economics in a business related field, then I can't see how you will need anything more than the odd first year economics module for business. The value in learning economics for business related roles is not in the technical knowledge (most of it is theory), but the economic thinking and reasoning. I've seen a lot of people who have no business background and managed businesses badly partly because they don't have the economic mindset and reasoning to guide them. I argue that irrespective of whatever skills you have in marketing, accounting, sales, management, design, etc, if you don't have the economic underpinnings established within the organisation or business, the whole thing falls apart (so yeah, Kotler can preach how important marketing is all he likes, but there's no way he can argue against this). This also applies to investments as well.

When I was studying economics, I find it fun and enjoyed it. I can't say I made use of the degree that much after uni (partly because I did not go into economics related roles), but it was enjoyable when I was studying it.
If interested, you could look into joining the SPE (support resources for economists): https://spe.org.uk/membership/about/
RES (resources for learning about economics): https://www.res.org.uk/membership.html

Economics with management should allow you to get a job in teaching economics and business studies should you wish.

So yeah, if you can be a bit more specific with your questions, it'd help me be a bit more specific with my answers.
I take Economics and Maths A Level, and I'm good at economics, my teacher has predicted me an A and I enjoy it but I'm worried about doing a finance or accounting degree in case I find it too hard and boring, but I do enjoy analysing and quick information rather than writing waffling essays. I definitely want to go into business, probably working in a big office in Marketing, HR, corporate and I would like to consult and advise businesses but that involves doing a finance degree I think. I want to do a degree with an industrial placement and do internships as I'm at uni as I enjoy learning practically in real life situations more than lectures and textbooks.
I'm now thinking BSc business management and economics with industrial placement
Or BSc Economics Management with industrial placement
And I'm doing courses in accounting, finance, digital solutions and marketing atm at home just to get more insight.
What's the difference between a 4SW and a 3SW? Why is one sandwich option longer than the other for one course?
I wouldn't say finance is particularly hard compared to economics. In my books if you can do economics, you can more or less do finance. There is the Black-Scholes model and real options that you need to learn about, but you're more or less parroting and paraphrasing the models as opposed to deriving or doing complicated calculations. Any calculations you do tend to involve plugging in numbers.
Yeah, the level of complexity in accounting is incredibly low. However, they do expect you to have the same opinion as the lecturer and being able to identify issues in financial accounting. Double entry is difficult to get your head around if you're used to mathematical calculations, but once you get it and see the big picture, it's pretty straight forward.

Consulting generally doesn't really involve finance, unless you're opting to be a specialist. Consulting for most parts is about selling and being able to communicate really well. The amount of economics you will be using is next to none, which is why pretty much anyone can get into the field with a degree. It's something similar with HR - less about theory, and more about people skills. In terms of marketing, it depends on which aspect of marketing. Marketing research/analysis will probably involve a lot of stats, whereas jobs like copywriting and advertising involve more people and creative skills than anything you pick up in economics.

Employers tend to value people with experience over qualifications i.e. theory. So, I think you will find the workplace easy to settle into. However, as you can understand, economics is mostly theoretical, so I don't know how you will feel after your second year on the degree.

I have recently come to understand the difference of economics with/and management degrees and economics management degrees. The former involves an even split of economics and management modules, whereas the latter is either a management degree with a focus on economics topics or an economics degree focusing on management topics (i.e. it's essentially a management or economics degree disguised as both economics and management). In the sense, they're not the same thing. I had classmates who were doing a Master's in International Business (Econ), but they ended up finding out that it was essentially an economics degree based in a business setting.
You might want to check the course content to be sure you know what you're applying for.

Any practical course you can get your hands on will probably give you more insight than what course providers/directors can sell you. However, you might want to understand that it's not the same thing as in the workplace. In the workplace, what you learn from books and courses don't apply as well - you may know the theory, but you will get people in your department who will disagree, or you may end up using 5% of what you actually learn i.e. cog in the wheel and repetitive work.

If you decide to go into the careers you have mentioned above, you might want to consider the following professional qualifications after uni (check with the employer before applying, since most should not be necessary):

General Business Consulting - CIMA (it's an accounting qualification, but I'd say the information in this qualification will bring about the most benefit to any said company). It's not necessary to have a qualification to consult, but it helps.

General Marketing - CIM (I'm a little biased here, but I see CIM being more attractive and recognised than most other marketing bodies out there e.g. IDM, IPA)

Marketing Analysis/Research - MRS

Digital Marketing - there are no real central professional bodies out there, especially for things like SEO. Each major company has their own qualification, and no one has the right answer. I do recommend you getting the Google qualifications for this though, since they're free. Facebook Blueprint is available, but you have to take the exams in the US, which is a bit far to go for one degree. CIM do offer qualifications specialising in digital marketing.

HR - CIPD (the most widely quoted qualification out there for HR)

Some of the degrees you come across may have association with the above professional bodies or allow you to have exemptions for some of their levels or modules. You might want to check with the degree and the professional body first.

Beware that certain advisory roles can contain certain risks to the professional i.e. you can be sued. It depends on the particular role and industry concerned, but generally if you legally need to be part of a professional body to do the job, it's highly regulated and you can be sued for giving the wrong or bad advice e.g. doctors, solicitors, financial advisors, accountants all work in highly regulated industries where they give advice. You can see the sense of it because the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis came about partly because the people selling mortgages weren't regulated and gave advice to people who shouldn't receive certain advice.
I don't think there are heavy regulations in any of your chosen professions, and I don't think consulting generally is liable to such professional standards, but I'd check beforehand. It's particularly telling if the first module you do with the professional body is in regards to ethics, professionalism, and standards. Chances are, it's a highly regulated area of work.


I'd also strongly recommend you get your skills in Microsoft Office up to date before going into the workplace, considering how much your chosen careers will be using Office on a regular basis. With consulting in particular, you can end up doing a lot of Excel VBA stuff just to handle a lot of the data. I'd recommend looking into the Microsoft Office Specialist qualification, and you'd ideally the get MOS Master but Excel Expert should be good for most jobs.

I'm not familiar with the term 4SW and 3SW. A quick google search showed the following: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6174690. From this, all I can gather is that one is either an integrated master's or an integrated foundation degree, and the other is a standard bachelor's. I'd check with the individual university and department.
Original post by MindMax2000
I wouldn't say finance is particularly hard compared to economics. In my books if you can do economics, you can more or less do finance. There is the Black-Scholes model and real options that you need to learn about, but you're more or less parroting and paraphrasing the models as opposed to deriving or doing complicated calculations. Any calculations you do tend to involve plugging in numbers.
Yeah, the level of complexity in accounting is incredibly low. However, they do expect you to have the same opinion as the lecturer and being able to identify issues in financial accounting. Double entry is difficult to get your head around if you're used to mathematical calculations, but once you get it and see the big picture, it's pretty straight forward.

Consulting generally doesn't really involve finance, unless you're opting to be a specialist. Consulting for most parts is about selling and being able to communicate really well. The amount of economics you will be using is next to none, which is why pretty much anyone can get into the field with a degree. It's something similar with HR - less about theory, and more about people skills. In terms of marketing, it depends on which aspect of marketing. Marketing research/analysis will probably involve a lot of stats, whereas jobs like copywriting and advertising involve more people and creative skills than anything you pick up in economics.

Employers tend to value people with experience over qualifications i.e. theory. So, I think you will find the workplace easy to settle into. However, as you can understand, economics is mostly theoretical, so I don't know how you will feel after your second year on the degree.

I have recently come to understand the difference of economics with/and management degrees and economics management degrees. The former involves an even split of economics and management modules, whereas the latter is either a management degree with a focus on economics topics or an economics degree focusing on management topics (i.e. it's essentially a management or economics degree disguised as both economics and management). In the sense, they're not the same thing. I had classmates who were doing a Master's in International Business (Econ), but they ended up finding out that it was essentially an economics degree based in a business setting.
You might want to check the course content to be sure you know what you're applying for.

Any practical course you can get your hands on will probably give you more insight than what course providers/directors can sell you. However, you might want to understand that it's not the same thing as in the workplace. In the workplace, what you learn from books and courses don't apply as well - you may know the theory, but you will get people in your department who will disagree, or you may end up using 5% of what you actually learn i.e. cog in the wheel and repetitive work.

If you decide to go into the careers you have mentioned above, you might want to consider the following professional qualifications after uni (check with the employer before applying, since most should not be necessary):

General Business Consulting - CIMA (it's an accounting qualification, but I'd say the information in this qualification will bring about the most benefit to any said company). It's not necessary to have a qualification to consult, but it helps.

General Marketing - CIM (I'm a little biased here, but I see CIM being more attractive and recognised than most other marketing bodies out there e.g. IDM, IPA)

Marketing Analysis/Research - MRS

Digital Marketing - there are no real central professional bodies out there, especially for things like SEO. Each major company has their own qualification, and no one has the right answer. I do recommend you getting the Google qualifications for this though, since they're free. Facebook Blueprint is available, but you have to take the exams in the US, which is a bit far to go for one degree. CIM do offer qualifications specialising in digital marketing.

HR - CIPD (the most widely quoted qualification out there for HR)

Some of the degrees you come across may have association with the above professional bodies or allow you to have exemptions for some of their levels or modules. You might want to check with the degree and the professional body first.

Beware that certain advisory roles can contain certain risks to the professional i.e. you can be sued. It depends on the particular role and industry concerned, but generally if you legally need to be part of a professional body to do the job, it's highly regulated and you can be sued for giving the wrong or bad advice e.g. doctors, solicitors, financial advisors, accountants all work in highly regulated industries where they give advice. You can see the sense of it because the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis came about partly because the people selling mortgages weren't regulated and gave advice to people who shouldn't receive certain advice.
I don't think there are heavy regulations in any of your chosen professions, and I don't think consulting generally is liable to such professional standards, but I'd check beforehand. It's particularly telling if the first module you do with the professional body is in regards to ethics, professionalism, and standards. Chances are, it's a highly regulated area of work.


I'd also strongly recommend you get your skills in Microsoft Office up to date before going into the workplace, considering how much your chosen careers will be using Office on a regular basis. With consulting in particular, you can end up doing a lot of Excel VBA stuff just to handle a lot of the data. I'd recommend looking into the Microsoft Office Specialist qualification, and you'd ideally the get MOS Master but Excel Expert should be good for most jobs.

I'm not familiar with the term 4SW and 3SW. A quick google search showed the following: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6174690. From this, all I can gather is that one is either an integrated master's or an integrated foundation degree, and the other is a standard bachelor's. I'd check with the individual university and department.

thanks, you've been very helpful :smile:

Quick Reply

Latest