Applicant Day Sept 2014

1. Applicant Day September
2014
Ray Barrell and Dilly Karim
Economics and Finance

2. Why Brunel?
• Brunel was in the top 300 in the 2013
world university rankings.
• Brunel was in the top 50 under 50 in the
world (we were founded in 1966).
• Brunel ranks above all new universities,
and also above Loughborough, Surrey,
Kent and many others.
• We have the highest student satisfaction
rating amongst London’s 35 Universities

3. Why study in Economics and Finance
• Teaches you problem-solving skills
• Focuses on very diverse real-world questions
• Student satisfaction is high with Economics
20th out of 71 and Finance 11th out of 65 in
the 2014 NSS
• Skills highly valued by employers
• We consider employability is important

4. Performance of final year students in E&F
2008/9 2009/0 2010/1 2011/2 2012/3
First 27 47 48 25 38
2:1 92 85 106 102 103
2:2 48 53 63 56 63
3rd 0 3 7 14 14
L3 Interim
Award 7 3 9 13 11
Total 174 191 233 210 229
1st% 15.5% 24.6% 20.6% 11.9% 16.6%
1st+2.1% 68.4% 69.1% 66.1% 60.5% 61.6%

5. Degree Programmes
• Degree programmes
– BSc Economics
– BSc Economics and Accounting
– BSc Economics and Business Finance
– BSc Economics and Management
– BSc Finance and Accounting
– BSc Politics and Economics
• Three years full time or Four years
sandwich or placement degree

6. The structure of the course
• Generally, common first year programme
content for all degrees.
• Transfer between degree programmes up to
the start of year 2 [except BSc Economics and
Management].
• Different core modules from Year 2 onwards.
• Year 3 can choose from a range of options.
• Each degree has a core set of modules that
make them distinctive.

7. Course Pattern
• LEVEL 1:
– Examinations in May (and September)
– Generally 25% coursework
– Does not count towards final degree
• LEVEL 2:
– 6 (core) modules contribute to final degree
– 30% coursework in each module
• LEVEL 3: (can also take a placement)
– Dissertation project (one-to-one supervision)
– Final Exams in 4 modules (25% coursework
component) each of which is taught over two terms

8. Contact Time and Teaching
On average 10 – 12 teaching contact hours per week
• Lectures
– Between 50 – 200 students – smaller groups as you progress
– Two lectures per module per week and one workshop or seminar
• Workshops/Seminars Between 20 – 30 students
– including computer skills training in Excel, Bloomberg
– Accounting software used in year 1
• Guest speakers / research seminars
Plus approx 25 hours of study time per week
– Supported with web-based material
– Well-stocked library open 24 hours
– Databases and software

9. Pastoral / Academic Support
• Departmental
Senior tutor, Personal Tutor, Dissertation
supervisor, Academic tutors, Work
Placement Tutor, Office hours.
• University
Accommodation, Academic skills (ASK),
Computing services, Disability and Dyslexia, Jobs
and Careers, Library facilities, Sport and fitness,
Union of Brunel Students (UBS), Chaplaincy,
Councelling, and the Advice & Representation
Centre (ARC).

10. The Work Placement
• Employability skills in year 1 and 2
– Full year accounting course that teaches software usage
– Skills workshops teaching Excel, Bloomberg and SAS
– Essays in year 1 and 2 as part of assessment
• The Work Placement Office (award winning!)
– Assist students in finding work placements
– Assist students with CV and letter writing skills, and
explain the basics of work ethics and what is expected of
them
– Offer lectures to Level 2 students on wider employability
skills

11. Placement Types
• The range of jobs that students undertake include:
Trainee Economist, Accounts Assistant, Finance
Assistant, Financial Analyst, Business Analyst,
Operations Analyst, Asset Management, Risk Analyst,
Audit Roles – real jobs not just making the tea and filing!
• The range of employers include
HM Treasury, The Foreign Office, Bank of
England, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, IBM,
OFGEM, NHS, GE, Microsoft, Grant Thornton, PwC,
Xerox, Warner Bros, Disney and Lloyds TSB.

12. When must I decide?
• It is flexible
• It is possible to switch in and out of
sandwich degree (but not placements)!
• You may register as a sandwich student
– Now when you apply
– When you enrol (can try this)
– During Level 1 (first year)
– During Level 2 (second year)

13. Professional Accreditation
• Our programmes are currently accredited from
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants).
– Level 1 foundations of accounting will get ACCA F3
exemption for all students
• Finance and Accounting graduates last year are
fully exempted from doing all Foundations in
Accountancy (FIA) papers .
• Under the new regulations students are
exempted from doing 4 (and hopefully 7) out of 9
ACCA fundamental papers.

14. Employability
• The range of jobs that have been taken by a sample of our
graduates include:
Accounts Assistant, Accounts manager, Auditor, Financial
Analyst, Business Analyst, Credit Analyst, Rating analyst
Portfolio Manager, Economist, Government Researcher,
Insurance and Investment Consultant, Project Manager
• The range of employers include
European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, Ernst &
Young, KPMG, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Deloitte & Touche,
Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings, Royal Bank of Scotland, JP
Morgan, Shell, Immigration Research & Statistical
Services,Dept. of Energy & Climate Change, HMTreasury

15. Ready for Work
About the Programme
 Brunel’s professional development programme is available to
Brunel students starting in September 2014.
 This exciting initiative will focus on building a range of attributes
and skills sought by employers including:
- Communication
- Financial and other Data Analysis
- Personal Resilience
- Teamwork
- Commercial Awareness
- Organisation and Planning
- Problem Solving
- Time Management

16. A Real Life Approach
• Project driven, the Ready for Work programme will
include workshops, seminars, discussions, debates
and lectures from industry professionals. With
Brunel’s tradition of building confident, talented and
versatile graduates, we provide our students with
best the possible chance of securing jobs in their
desired industries.
• How to Sign Up
You can register for the programme once you have
enrolled on onto your Brunel undergraduate degree.
Enquiries to ready@brunel.ac.uk

17. Putting us as Firm Choice
• We will ask for AAB or ABB with A level
maths for most degrees (except Business
Finance)
• We get your results on Sunday, you get
them on Thursday.
– We spend four busy days deciding which of
our students who did not make their grades
should get a place.
– Around 75% of our students get their grades
or get an offer from us before Clearing starts.
• We care if you put us first.

18. WEBSITE
• www.brunel.ac.uk
– Course search
– Undergraduate courses (alphabetical)
– Click on course of choice for information
• UCAS IMPORTANT DATES
http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/importantd
ates

19. Andy Baker
Morgan Stanley Graduate
Economics & Management BSc
4 Year Thick Sandwich Course
“The Truth About Brunel”

20. Why Brunel?
• Brunel has a great reputation
• Campus Environment
– Safe, Community feel
• Rich diversity
• Strong Placement links
• Numerous Course Options (Joint
Honours)
• Endless opportunities to develop skills
• Very high student satisfaction within
the Student Union

21. The Course
• Don’t panic if you have not studied
economics before
• Maths = just the basics
• Real world application
• Qualification opportunities “BAT”
• Ability to choose modules

22. Get Involvement
• Brunel excels in this area
• A degree is not enough!
• Get involved with as much as possible
• Build your CV from day 1
• Support functions at every turn
– PCC / ARC / Enterprise Hub / Volunteering

23. Your Union
• Societies - Enterprise Society
/ Economics / Investment
• Sports - Football / MMA /
Squash / Cheerleading
• Nightlife
• Volunteering - Union Contact
• Student Assembly
• You WILL have fun!

24. Employability
• Uxbridge College Young Dragons
Society
• Play sport
• Placement at Morgan Stanley
• Charity work
• Ran my own business prior to
university
• Vintage Car Racing Driver
• Google Most Employable Person
2011
• NACUE Student Advisory Board

25. Placement
• PCC offers everything you need to
secure a placement
• My placement year – Morgan Stanley
– Derivative Trade Support
– The process, 4 stages – Not once asked
for my Course / University
– Responsibility - $bn portfolios and
markets
• 80-95% of Grad Jobs are secured by
interns or placement Jobs
• 13,000 initial applicants for ~ 80 places
• I would not have achieved all of this
without the support as well as the range
of activities to get involved in

26. Young Dragons Uxbridge College
• Ran and created Young Dragons
• Easy to get involved and get ahead
• Run, volunteer or just help out
• Builds skills and will help you at Uni
• You have a year to develop
– Run events
– Go to events
– Get involved as much as possible
– Focus on your studies

27. Why Is this Important?
• Brunel is the university that encompasses
EVERYTHING that will make you successful,
every university will offer you a degree
course and you WILL gain a 2:1 or a 1st…
• Brunel invests in you and provides you with
so many opportunities and extra activities to
get involved in, it allows you to gain the
experience, the skill development and the
employability, not to mention the fun and
enjoyment that will allow you to achieve your
long term goals…

28. Tips
• Time - You have lots of it now
• Get involved with what you love
• Focus
• Study hard
• No one will do it for you
• Plan
• Be proactive
• Get advice from everywhere

29. Questions