Degree Courses

BSc Economics
BSc Management
BSc Economics and Management
BSc Information Systems and Management
Access Route to the Degree
Entry Requirements for the Degree
Application and Registration for the Degree

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Introduction

The University of London's BSc (Economics) degree is of international standing and has a long and prestigious history. It has been successfully offered to External students of the University for more than 70 years and has always been recognised as a degree for students who wish to concentrate on certain subject areas, or 'specialisms', broadly within the social sciences.

Following development at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), some of these subject areas have been redesigned over the last few years and have evolved into separate degrees. There are currently nine of these degrees, which are jointly called 'degrees in the fields of Economics, Management, Finance and the Social Sciences'.

Each of these degrees is examined to the same standard as at LSE and the University of London as a whole. There is a certain amount of subject choice within each, but, as has always been the case, some subjects are compulsory to ensure that when you graduate you have covered the subject area indicated by the title of the degree. As well as these degrees, the University also offers an Access route for External Students.

Studying as an External Student

Upon successful completion, you are awarded a University of London degree. The certificate states that you have studied as an External Student and carries the following extract from the Statutes of the University of London: Statute 66(2) states, 'Candidates granted degrees and other awards shall have attained the same academic standard irrespective of mode or place of study or examination'. There is only one University of London degree and it is awarded to all students of University of London, including External Students.

Your work is assessed to exactly the same standard as that of a student who attends any of the Colleges in London. No concession in quality or academic rigour is

made for the more difficult circumstances of External students.

Colleges of the University and individual academic staff of the University are directly involved in the External Programme. They develop the syllabuses, write study materials, set examination papers and mark scripts. As a result, high academic standards are maintained.

Benefits of studying for a University of London Qualification

The University of London is recognised nationally and internationally as a centre of academic excellence.

In all parts of the world, graduates of the University have gone on to occupy influential positions in government, the professions, business and industry.

The University offers a wide variety of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications.

For a range of degrees, the University of London offers you a choice of where and how you study.

Your period of registration is flexible.
BSc: minimum three years, maximum eight. Access route: minimum one year, maximum three years.

As already stated, LCBCS provided tuition to students wishing to undertake the following degrees of University of London as External Students:

BSc Economics
BSc Management
BSc Economics and Management
BSc Information Systems and Management
Access route

Study Materials

Wherever you are, and however you study, as a registered External student of University of London, the University will provide you with the following materials, the cost of which is included in your initial and continuing registration fees.

• Studying for a Degree in the Humanities and Social Sciences by P. Dunleavy (Macmillan).
• A handbook containing academic advice on effective study techniques, planning your studies, using the materials provided and preparing for examinations.
• Subject guides for each unit studied. These guides introduce you to topics within the syllabus and should be used alongside the textbooks, which are recommended to you in the guides. The guides show you how to use the textbooks in an organised and productive manner. When you register, you will get a subject guide for each of your first year units and then, in subsequent years, a guide for each new unit plus any revised guides for units that you are continuing.
• Past examination papers and Examiners' reports. The Examiners' reports give an indication of how individual questions should have been approached. When you first register, you will be sent the last three years' papers and reports, if available, and then, at the end of each subsequent year, you will be sent the paper and report for that year's examinations.
• Regulations containing full details of important information, such as syllabuses, structures, fees, entering for examinations and degree classification criteria (as appropriate).
• A Resource guide including practical information on, for instance, bookshops, libraries and your contacts at the University, plus a list of institutions, which offer tuition.
• In addition to the foregoing, which are provided by the University of London, our College provides support with the following study helps and resource materials:
• Tuition at all levels of the degree courses offered in our Prospectus. Our College will endeavour to offer as many subjects as possible in the range of units under each degree course
• Qualified lecturers with wealth of experience in teaching degree courses (provision of lecture notes by lecturers in the form of handouts as a back-up for face to face tuition are encouraged)
• On-line electronic Library. All students are encouraged to make use of this facility, especially as the electronic library can be accessed from their computers in the computer laboratory, in addition to those in the Library
• Well stocked Library, with up-to-date text books and internet facilities. Students are allowed to borrow books from the library for up to two weeks at a time

Our College also provides Pastoral care for all our students on a range of matters, especially for students from overseas and those coming to the United Kingdom for the first time. These cover matters concerning accommodation, transportation, renewal of students visa etc.

Structure of the Degrees

Each degree consists of units (i.e. subjects), which are classified either as, Foundation, Intermediate or Advanced. The number of Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced units differs for each degree. For instance, all the degrees have four compulsory Foundation units, which must be taken (unless you are given some exemptions), but some have an optional fifth one; also not all degrees have advanced units.

The main difference between these types of units is in their prerequisites (i.e. units which must first have been passed) and the way they are taken into account in your final classification:

- Foundation units do not have prerequisites
- Some Intermediate units have Foundation units as prerequisites although others have no prerequisites at all
- All Advanced units have Intermediate units as prerequisites
- Foundation units are taken into account for classification purposes, but your results in Intermediate and Advanced units (which are given equal weighting) are more important.

In your first year, you can take a mixture of Foundation units and Intermediate units that do not have prerequisites. However, most students would normally take the Foundation units first because (as their name suggest), they are the ('building blocks') for the units that follow.

Some units are compulsory and must be taken; others are optional. Although you must take the required number of optional units, you can choose which to take from the list available on the structure of your choice. For some degrees, these optional units include 'Wider' options, which give you a choice from an even greater spread of subjects.

For each degree, you must take a total of 12 units and make a serious attempt in the examination for each.

You have control, within certain guidelines, over the number and choice of examinations you take each year. In any year that you enter an examination, you may:

Attempt a minimum of two new units and a maximum of four new units, or attempt any number of units that you have failed in a previous year (resits) plus a minimum of one new unit and a maximum of four new units, or attempt any number of resists only.

You may not attempt one new unit on its own, except to complete the requirements of the degree. You will be credited with every examination you pass.

Period of Study

You may complete your degree in a minimum of three years (or two years if you are given maximum exemption), but you have up to eight years to complete your degree.

Note that full details of the Structures can be found in the External Programme Regulations of University of London.