Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics

at University of Buckingham United Kingdom

You will encounter the canon of great authors, from Shakespeare onwards, but you also study themes like Film, Gender, and Empire. In other words, the degree combines traditional and contemporary aspects of the subject. Buckingham’s unique tutorial system makes for highly personalized teaching. If you’d like to try out a tutorial, come along to one of our free taster sessions.

What is Buckingham English?

• It is an encounter with the complexity and beauty of great literature
• It aids you on your journey to becoming a professional-level writer, able to write fluently and well in any context
• Like philosophy, it teaches you to argue and debate your ideas
• As a central liberal arts subject, it is a clear space to address the big questions of meaning and existence

We don’t think that formal essays are always the best way of assessing how students understand a subject, so you will find that you have opportunities to write a book review, reportage, poems and short stories, even part of a screenplay. You will learn a number of skills, not least how to write fluently and persuasively. As a result, our graduates go on into a range of careers in media, teaching, publishing, academia, business, and marketing.

Single or Flexible Honours
Make your degree as unique as you! If you choose English Literature (Single or Flexible Honours) you’ll have the freedom to tailor your English Literature degree to reflect your interests and passions by combining it with a wide range of other subjects taught here at the University. This means that when you graduate you will have a highly personalised degree that will suit you and your aspirations perfectly.

If you choose Flexible Honours you have the freedom to select up to a third of your modules from the whole range of what is taught at the University. This means you can mix and match lots of different subjects ?with English Literature or focus solely on English Literature. At every stage, your Personal Tutor will be on hand to advise and guide your choices.

Recent corporate scandals across the world have drawn attention to the importance of accountancy and finance. BSc Accounting and Finance 2-year degree programmes are designed to meet the demands of the 21st Century, but which still teach the underlying skills, make it an exciting time to be studying accounting and finance at Buckingham.

The flagship BSc Accounting and Finance degree programme (previously known as BSc Accounting and Financial Management) provides an academically rigorous study of the principal accounting and finance disciplines. It also has a strong vocational orientation, providing significant exemptions from the examinations of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). The combination of a fast-track two-year programme and the number of exemptions attained makes Buckingham Business School a very attractive option to the Accounting and Finance student.

The BSc Psychology with Spanish first-year covers two Psychology modules per term and the third module from another department (for breadth). In the second year, it concentrates on Psychology alone, studying the same modules as the Psychology major students, together with several new more specialised modules.

This popular and exciting degree programme offers an excellent basis for anyone wishing to go into a psychology-related career.

A foreign language is always an excellent skill to have, and the BSc Psychology with Spanish is great study option for anyone interested in psychology who wants the opportunity of learning another language to a high level.

The programme explores how sport developed into the third biggest industry in the world, driven by paternalist institutions as well as market forces. The MA interrogates how technology has influenced spectator sport, and how sport became an agent as well as beneficiary of globalization. Students will study the biases that can work against good decision-making, and how effective leaders build consensus and effect change. The programme explores the relationship between data analytics and human judgment.

The MA examines the challenge of sustaining fair competition (cheating, doping, match-fixing) and best practice on how to retain and improve public trust. The programme explores the social function and value of the sporting event. Students will be introduced to sport’s reach and impact, its influence on local identity, as well sport’s role as an agent of cosmopolitanism. The sports event is always in flux: from the fan in the stadium, to the fan listening on the radio or watching on television, to the fan hooked into the digital world of social media. Students will study the power of sport as a projection of nationhood, and the wider issue of “sports diplomacy.” Students will be introduced to the influence of sport on race, gender and homophobia.

Well-functioning legal institutions are crucial to economic growth, development and more equitable distribution of resources. The connection between the legal system and the success of business has been shown repeatedly in the 20th Century.

The 2-year fast track programme offers a unique blend of business, economics and law covering micro and macro-economics, labour market economics, human rights law, corporate and business law, business management and business strategy.

We regularly host events and seminars where we discuss the latest research from our academics and invite speakers from the world of business and entrepreneurship.

Our academics offer a supportive, diverse and creative environment for you to explore your interests and ensure a successful educational experience. You will join an international community of students, staff and alumni.

A dedicated professional development course runs through the degree covering academic and job market skills. You will also benefit from internships and research opportunities in the Vinson Centre for Economics and Entrepreneurship.

Students taking this programme might be aiming to enter the legal profession by going on to take the Common Professional Examination and later specialise in areas of law such as anti-trust, securities regulation or taxation. Graduates can also move onto several master’s level programmes and is well suited to students who intend to take an MBA degree before entering business.

We are the beneficiaries of a substantial endowment from Nobel prize-winning economist Ronald Coase, who had a major specialism in the interface between Law and Economics and won the Nobel prize for that research. We offer several generous scholarships for students with a passion for Economics and Law. We especially encourage women and ethnic minorities to apply. Coase Scholarship details and eligibility criteria.

The three-year BA International Studies degree with integrated foundation is designed for students who need additional preparation prior to undergraduate level study. The first year of the programme is intended to provide a foundation in both knowledge and academic skills for the more specialist subjects in years two and three. Students’ progression onto the BA International programme is subject to regulations for the Foundation Stage of three year degree programmes.

An important feature of the modern world, which is widely recognised and commented upon by businesses, journalists, politicians and teachers alike, is its increasing interdependence and internationalisation. Your ability to read this message on the World Wide Web is itself a manifestation of the power of ideas to transcend national boundaries with great rapidity and at low cost. Technology has proved to be an agent which encourages co-operation across national boundaries. Technological developments in transport, telecommunications and computing have encouraged economic changes such as the decline in barriers to trade, the internationalisation of financial markets, the rise of global companies, and a massive increase in the volume of international trade in goods and services.

These trends have been accompanied by political developments such as the rise of regional trading groupings of countries, international efforts to agree about common legal and technical rules to govern business dealings, arguments about tax competition between countries, as well as increasing concern about the environmental consequences associated with world economic development. Enormous social tensions arise as these international forces come into conflict with long established ways of doing things in every country. Political and social systems are in a continuous process of adjustment to an increasingly open world.

Th eBA International Studies degree programme at Buckingham gives you an opportunity to learn about these fundamental problems. With students coming to Buckingham from over 80 countries, it is an ideal environment to learn about matters of international concern and to discuss them with people from differing cultural backgrounds. The programme is inter-disciplinary and covers economic, political, legal, historical and cultural dimensions. Graduates from the BA International Studies degree will have acquired a knowledge of economics sufficient to analyse and understand the global marketplace; a familiarity with political systems in a range of different countries; and a good historical understanding of how the international framework has evolved over time.

Students wishing to pursue careers in the media, journalism, international business, politics, diplomacy or education will find the programme particularly attractive.

The MSc programme in Money, Banking and Central Banking focuses on the changes in the banking and financial markets during and since the Global Financial Crisis, as well as the changes made by major central banks in the running of their monetary policies since then. The programme will pay particular attention to the assessment of the policy responses given by world leading central banks to the Covid-19 crisis and their effects on prices and output over the medium and long term.

Banks and central banks play a pivotal role in the sound functioning of modern monetary economies. The 2008-09 Global Financial Crisis was a powerful reminder of how important it is to understand their functioning and operations, and the relationship between the quantity of money and the overall economy.

Unlike any other programme in the UK, ours emphasises the importance of high quality monetary and banking analysis, allowing our students to assess which policies are compatible with stable economic growth and long term financial stability.

Our students will leave with expert knowledge of monetary economics, monetary policy, risk assessment and how financial institutions operate. They will be equipped with the specialised knowledge and skills required for a career in central banking, as well as monetary analysis suitable to pursue a career in consultancy businesses, research departments and specialised media.

BA Modern Languages  will develop your linguistic competence in both French and Spanish and gain an in-depth knowledge and understanding of their cultures, communities and societies.

Languages are taught at Intermediate Level (stages 3-6) and Advanced Level (stages 5–8). Students will also have the opportunity to undertake a dissertation project and/or, subject to availability, an external work placement in France and/or Spain.

Upon completion students will have a range of transferable skills directly relating to employability, as well as developing their communication, critical and analytical skills. It is designed for students who wish to work in a range of careers or pursue further studies within an international context or related to international institutions.

 Modern Languages ( BA) Flexible Honours
Make your degree as unique as you! If you choose BA Modern Languages (Flexible Honours) you’ll have the freedom to tailor your Modern Languages degree to reflect your interests and passions by combining it with a wide range of other subjects taught here at the University. This means that when you graduate you will have a highly personalised degree that will suit you and your aspirations perfectly.

If you choose Flexible Honours you have the freedom to select up to a third of your modules from the whole range of what is taught at the University. This means you can mix and match lots of different subjects ?with Modern Languages. At every stage, your Personal Tutor will be on hand to advise and guide your choices.

The MA in Security, Intelligence and Diplomacy degree combines elements from our existing Security and Intelligence MA and our Diplomacy programmes. Like all of our MA programmes, a diplomacy degree aims to help to prepare graduates for careers in foreign and other ministries, international organisations, international journalism and global civil society organisations or for further research. Areas of study include intelligence and international security since 1939; intelligence, tradecraft and machinery; case studies in intelligence success and failure; international law and diplomacy; foreign policy analysis; global diplomacy; security challenges and other global issues. The modules are taught intensively in lectures, seminars and small group tutorials; they assume little prior knowledge but rapidly bring students to an advanced level of understanding. Buckingham is a small academic community and students have personal and frequent access to their instructors. The programme is also suitable for those without a specific career aim in mind but who wish to acquire an advanced understanding of these subjects.

Well-functioning legal institutions are crucial to economic growth, development and more equitable distribution of resources. The connection between the legal system and the success of business has been shown repeatedly in the 20th Century.

The 2-year fast track programme offers a unique blend of business, economics and law covering micro and macro-economics, labour market economics, human rights law, corporate and business law, business management and business strategy.

We regularly host events and seminars where we discuss the latest research from our academics and invite speakers from the world of business and entrepreneurship.

Our academics offer a supportive, diverse and creative environment for you to explore your interests and ensure a successful educational experience. You will join an international community of students, staff and alumni.

A dedicated professional development course runs through the degree covering academic and job market skills. You will also benefit from internships and research opportunities in the Vinson Centre for Economics and Entrepreneurship.

Students taking this programme might be aiming to enter the legal profession by going on to take the Common Professional Examination and later specialise in areas of law such as anti-trust, securities regulation or taxation. Graduates can also move onto several master’s level programmes and is well suited to students who intend to take an MBA degree before entering business.

We are the beneficiaries of a substantial endowment from Nobel prize-winning economist Ronald Coase, who had a major specialism in the interface between Law and Economics and won the Nobel prize for that research. We offer several generous scholarships for students with a passion for Economics and Law. We especially encourage women and ethnic minorities to apply. Coase Scholarship details and eligibility criteria.