Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Economics

at University of Westminster - Marylebone Campus United Kingdom

Modern organisations increasingly rely on digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things, Big Data, blockchain, cryptocurrencies and data analytics, to improve their business processes and provide increased value to customers. However, integrating these new technologies into existing operations can prove complex and costly – it requires a unique skillset that combines business acumen and digital competence.

Open to graduates from any subject area, this course is ideal for aspiring digital business professionals who want to enhance their skills and career prospects by becoming business oriented, but with sufficient understanding of the latest technology to envisage, plan and manage digital initiatives successfully. It will prepare you to manage digital business challenges and lead at the forefront of digital transformation. 

Incorporating the latest digital and analytic marketing practices, the broad curriculum of our Master’s degree reflects the rapidly changing global marketing environment. Whilst at Westminster, you can also secure two internationally-recognised professional qualifications – the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) Certificate in Digital Marketing and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Global Foundation Certificate, as well as joining the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).

Here at Westminster, we’ve been teaching postgraduate degrees in marketing communications for over 20 years. Our goal is to prepare you for professional life in the increasingly complex and dynamic marketing communications industry, incorporating the growing content of digital marketing and new innovations.

With momentum around the United Nation’s (UN) sustainable development goals and the rise of a collaborative effort to reduce or eliminate poverty in developing countries, never has there been a more exciting time to get involved with international development.

Whether your future lies in practical aid, emergency response, fundraising, research, education or policy development, this Master’s degree will build your knowledge and expertise in a range of development disciplines. It will give you a firm understanding of development theory in an international context, with a particular focus on how to bring theory into practice deriving solutions to issues or problems for developing nations. That’s one of many reasons why we attract students from countries around the world including Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Brazil, Columbia and the Philippines.

Experienced field practitioners working in international development organisations and NGOs contribute regularly to course content. You will learn from examples across the globe, studying real-life case studies, using official project materials and survey data from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other development agencies. You also have a unique opportunity to participate in a study visit to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, where you will hear from experts and discuss topics, such as international trade policy, migration and poverty reduction.

Interior architecture is a distinct and separate discipline to architecture. Its specific focus is the creation of innovative and exciting interior spaces, primarily through the adaptation and spatial manipulation of existing buildings.

The course is concerned not just with physical intervention but also with how space is understood and occupied. The course implicitly embeds issues of sustainability, through its concern with reuse, and refurbishment, as well as the critical ability to respond appropriately to a given context.

It is interdisciplinary in its outlook and acknowledges the importance of other closely related areas, including interior design, exhibition design, set and lighting design, retail and product design, interior conservation as well as multidisciplinary and traditional design practice.

The Interior Architecture BA course is designed to equip you with the practical skills and theoretical knowledge required to pursue a career in interior architecture and design-related fields and/or go on to further awards in tertiary education, most typically a Master's qualification.

The design modules promote creativity, aesthetic sensibility and intellectual enquiry, together with the skills needed to work individually and in groups in developing design proposals.

The work produced in the design studios forms the basis of your design portfolio through which you will prepare for practice/employment, or in support of your application for postgraduate study. Technical skills, cultural context, design management and economics, and the commercial aspect of interiors necessary for practice are integrated with design projects.

Top reasons to study with us

• State-of-the-art facilities, including designated studio spaces open 7 days a week at our Marylebone Campus, creating a vibrant academic and creative studio culture. Our fully staffed workshops are equipped with CNC, laser-cutting and rapid prototyping equipment.
• Extracurricular projects – you'll have opportunities to work on live projects with real clients, live competitions and exhibitions beyond the classroom. Recent collaborators have included the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Freud Museum London and Battersea Arts Centre.
• Extracurricular workshops – previous workshops have included a steam-bending workshop with Samuli Naamanka Design Finland, a papercrete workshop with Aberrant Architecture, an art depot workshop and a workshop with local schoolchildren working with Disabled Artists Making Dis/Ordinary Space.
• Expert speakers and workshop leaders to help you develop niche, in-demand skills. Previous workshop leaders have included a lighting designer, a production designer, a motion graphics designer and a filmmaker.
• An International outlook – previous opportunities have included a five-day field trip to a European destination for all third years, a semester-long exchange to Australia, China and Oslo for second years, and one-off travel opportunities such as visiting the VOLA factory in Denmark or a design workshop run with students from the Pratt Institute in New York.

The MArch is a long-established and well-respected course that is prescribed by the ARB and validated by the RIBA to give exemption from the second stage of professional education. The emphasis of the course is on innovative design work, and on developing a caring and critical approach to the study and practice of architecture.

The course fosters diversity of choice, interpretation and approach, whether in design projects or more academic research. The former focuses on sophisticated design programmes (in formal, technical, professional or urban terms) that demand rigour and self-criticism. The latter focuses on your major dissertation, an extended piece of specialised research into architecture and its historical or theoretical contexts.

The course has three main objectives: to develop your design ability through project-based experimentation; to present an evaluation and critique of your coursework within a broad cultural context, and in light of technical, economic and legal constraints; and to promote the articulate explanation and representation of quality and value in design projects.

Construction management is integral to the success and smooth running of a construction project, from effectively tracking development and staying on budget, to improving communication across all levels of the project. Fully accredited by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE), our degree incorporates real-life professional practice from the outset with the opportunity to learn direct from industry professionals and experience projects first-hand.

You will learn about the technologies of domestic, industrial and commercial building, construction processes, planning and programming, construction health and safety, and project life cycle assessment. Our rounded curriculum means that you will also gain the knowledge of people management, leadership and the business management of construction that organisations need to succeed in this dynamic profession.

Top reasons to study with us

• Courses are professionally oriented, producing graduates capable of dealing with the technological and managerial processes associated with the production and post-construction life of buildings
• Programmes are delivered by a multicultural and international teaching body, who come from professional practice and/or regularly publish in top international journals
• Opportunities for internships and/or a placement year. For example, one student recently worked at Barratt Homes

Marketing lies at the heart of every successful business. By engaging with and understanding the customer’s needs, marketing managers influence the development of products and services, providing advice on the best point of sale and recommending the most competitive price. They identify and make sure the target market knows what’s on offer – in increasingly more creative and dynamic ways.

You can also boost your employability by gaining additional qualifications with the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) and/or the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) – our status as a CIM Graduate Gateway institution entitles you apply for exemptions from modules on its professional qualifications, while you can gain IDM’s Award in Digital Marketing during the Digital Marketing Essentials module.

Top reasons to study with us

• Professionally focused course with chance to gain additional professional qualifications from the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
• Digital Marketing Essentials module incorporates a professional Award in Digital Marketing from the IDM
• Marketing degrees share a common first year, giving greater flexibility when choosing your specialism
• Option to spend one semester or one year studying abroad at one of our partner institutions, gain valuable work experience, or a combination of both. For example, one previous student worked as a marketing executive for ICG Medical
• Opportunity to study a foreign language as an optional module in each year of study: one of our students chose to learn Japanese and spent a year studying at Waseda University and working as an intern at SMEJapan in Tokyo
• Hear from experts and mingle with marketing students by joining the student-run Westminster Marketing Society or gain professional experience working for Westminster Business Consultants
• Guest lectures from industry practitioners have previously included speakers on the use of Google Analytics, and speakers from IBM, Tableau, Coca Cola and LinkedIn
• Programmes are delivered by a multicultural and international teaching body, who come from professional practice and/or regularly publish in top international journals

This degree is designed to equip you with a unique set of accounting and managerial skills to analyse and evaluate company and industry trends. You’ll learn how to receive, interpret and communicate financial and other information in a globalised profession. Gaining a deeper understanding of how finances affect company performance, you’ll be better placed to help firms make effective business decisions. Upon completion of the degree, students will be eligible to apply for eight CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) exemptions and up to six ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). 

In this fast-changing business world, there is a shortage of graduate talent with both accounting and business management education and skills. Our course covers management accounting, business and management education, and financial strategy. Generating value for the organisations you work in, you’ll look to the future, analysing the performance of business, advising or creating strategies to solve problems, adapt to changing circumstances and market conditions. 

Taught by academics with professional experience as accountants and managers, there is an emphasis on learning through practice, so you graduate with the breadth of knowledge and capabilities to respond proactively and creatively to contemporary business issues and challenges. Throughout the course, you’ll also develop a range of transferrable skills highly prized by employers, such as critical evaluation, self-direction and problem-solving, as well as a sound grasp of analysis, presentations and negotiation techniques.

Optional work placement/study abroad year

Between Years 2 and 3, you can take an optional work placement or study year abroad. The work placement year is a one-year full-time business work placement.

Past students have completed placements in a variety of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and prestigious organisations, including Barclays Bank, British Airways, Disney UK, IBM and the National Health Service (NHS).

The study abroad year allows you to follow a programme of study at one of our partner institutions, giving you an opportunity to experience life in another country and learn Business from a different cultural viewpoint.

You can also choose to split your year abroad into a first semester exchange and a second semester work placement, both conducted overseas.

Responsive to trends and issues in global financial services industries, our MSc Finance (Banking pathway) degree aims to equip you with the advanced skills to pursue careers in retail, commercial and private banking as a loan officer, private banker, private wealth consultant or to work within the back and middle offices of an investment bank, in risk management, administrative or support services. It combines a broad range of topics, including finance, economics, quantitative methods and big data analysis.

Study with us and, on successful completion, Finance (Banking) MSc students will receive Associate Chartered Banker status with the Chartered Banker Institute. This is the first step on the ladder for professional recognition as Chartered Banker, the gold standard for professionals working in the banking sector.

You'll study a common first semester providing a solid introduction to financial markets, institutions and intermediaries, and the function of banks in relation to these. This allows you to make a more informed choice about your specialist pathway (in Banking or International Finance) for the second semester, where you delve more into retail and investment banking, choosing options according to your interests, for example, in banking technology, compliance or behavioural finance.

Buying and renting property for professional or personal purposes is one of the most important – and expensive – decisions for a business or individual to make. Real estate offers a dynamic and exciting career requiring a skillset combining economic, interpersonal, management, planning, public policy and sales expertise.

Accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), our degree covers all aspects of real estate, including buying and selling, valuing, developing, planning, managing and investing in various property markets – commercial, industrial and residential.

Our professionally oriented course has been designed with input from major employers, capitalising on our excellent industry contacts, which include Barrett Homes, Savills and British Land. With the headquarters of many major property firms close by, our central London location enables us to invite a wide range of professionals to give guest lectures and regularly contribute to the course. They provide work placements, content for coursework and help with assessment, providing a valuable practitioner perspective.

We arrange various site visits, so you can experience real-life estate strategies and see developments from construction through to completion. In the past, for example, students visited Lendlease’s nearby Elephant Park development, part of a £2.3 billion regeneration programme on 28 acres of land in the centre of Elephant and Castle. There are also optional international field trips, which have previously included visits to Brookfield Properties and Cushman and Wakefield in New York, as well as Savills in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

The course will allow you to complete the academic requirements of membership status of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. There are opportunities to enhance your CV by attending our Employer evenings and you can choose to undertake a year’s placement after your second year.

Recent graduates have found work within large and small property companies, local authorities, developers, health trusts, investment firms, landed estates and many other property-related areas.