MSc in Finance and Economics
Southampton, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2027
TUITION FEES
GBP 35,000 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* EU and international students | £11,700 - UK students
Key Summary
About: MSc in Finance and Economics covers economic analysis, quantitative techniques, corporate finance, asset pricing and econometric methods, leading to an independent dissertation. You’ll use real-time data in the Financial Laboratory with 21 Bloomberg terminals and receive ESRC-recognised training. Based at The University of Southampton, a Russell Group, global top 100 university, the course is 1 year, full-time and offers merit and competitive scholarships.
Career Outcomes: You’ll build research, critical thinking, commercial awareness, communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills. Graduates move into roles such as Actuary, Data analyst, Investment analyst, economist, chartered accountant, compliance officer, financial risk analyst or policy officer.
Learn in-depth how financial markets work and how money is organised on our Economics and Finance master’s degree. You’ll study economic analysis and quantitative techniques and learn about global capital markets.
This 1 year, full-time MSc prepares you for high-level finance roles across the world, and is an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) recognised training programme.
On this master’s course you’ll learn about corporate finance, economic analysis, financial economics and asset pricing. You’ll develop the skills to carry out independent research in finance and economics. Subject areas you’ll study include:
- the foundations of economic and financial analysis
- analysis of economic models
- applying analysis to financial markets
- economic ideas and research findings
- test and evaluate the economic models functionality of financial markets
- design, implement and manage independent research in finance and economics
- presentation of ideas, arguments and research findings
You’ll have access to our Financial Laboratory (FinLab), which hosts 21 Bloomberg trading terminals, where you can work with real-time data, breaking news and powerful analytics.
You’ll look at economic theory and econometric methods across a range of topics. You’ll also gain in-depth knowledge of specific areas of economics necessary to undertake independent research. This will lead to a dissertation on a subject within an area you choose.
On this full-time UK master’s, you'll study over a 12 month period.
The taught part of the degree takes place between October and June. It consists of 30 study weeks divided into 2 semesters.
You’ll study a number of modules each semester. When you successfully complete them, you’ll carry out 3 months of supervised research for your dissertation. This takes place during the summer months.
Modules
The modules outlined provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our courses to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.
You must study the following modules:
- Dissertation
- Economic Analysis
- Financial Econometrics
- Preliminary Mathematics and Statistics
- Quantitative Economics
You must also choose from the following modules:
- Corporate Finance
- Experimental Economics
- Financial Derivatives
- Health Policy and Economics
- Household Finance
- Industrial Economics
- Resource and Energy Economics
- Time Series Econometrics
Dissertation
The final 3 months of the course are spent preparing your dissertation, to be completed by the end of September.
You’ll carry out this research with supervision from a member of staff who has related research interests.
Southampton Economic, Social and Political Sciences Postgraduate International Scholarship
A scholarship of £3,000 is available to international students studying for a postgraduate master’s in Economic, Social and Political Sciences.
Find out more about the Southampton Economic, Social and Political Sciences International Scholarship, including eligibility and conditions, on our website.
Employability Skills
This degree will allow you to develop and evidence subject-specific and targeted employability skills. This includes the required skill set for a range of future careers, further study, or starting your own business.
The skills you can expect to focus on and gain from this course include:
- Research
- Critical thinking
- Commercial awareness
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Creativity
- Problem solving
- Resilience
The employability and enterprise skills you'll gain from this course are reflected in the Southampton skills model. When you join us, you'll be able to use our skills model to track, plan, and benefit from your career development and progress.
Career Pathways
Graduates commonly work in a range of organisations or sectors, including: accountancy firms, banks (high street and city), charitable and not-for-profit organisations, Consultancies, insurance companies, Government departments, Think Tanks, non-government organisations (NGOs).
Careers directly related to this course:
- Actuary
- Chartered accountant
- Compliance officer
- Data analyst
- Economist
- Financial manager
- Financial risk analyst
- Investment analyst
- Political risk analyst
- Statistician
Wider career opportunities:
- Business development manager
- Data scientist
- Diplomatic service officer
- Local government officer
- Management consultant
- Policy officer
- Political assistant
- Procurement manager
- Quantity surveyor
- Risk manager
Example job titles of Southampton MSc Finance and Economics graduates*:
- Trainee accountant
- Analyst
- Assistant economist
- Senior audit associate
- Business analyst
- Business development manager
- Data analyst
- Surveyor
- IT resourcer
- Research Advisor
Learning
Before the start of this MSc Economics and Finance degree, you'll attend a 2-week intensive course. It's designed to make sure you have key skills in mathematics and statistics, to support you throughout your studies.
Most of your learning takes place in small-group teaching. You’ll also learn through a range of teaching and learning methods, including:
- lectures
- seminars
- problem classes
- independent research
You’ll take part in research workshops to develop skills in designing, carrying out and managing independent economics research. We’ll assess what you cover in these workshops through your dissertation.
We also run more general social sciences research skills workshops you can attend, covering:
- bibliographic skills
- ethical issues in social research
- writing and dissemination skills
- personal and career development
Assessment
We’ll assess you using:
- exams
- problem sets
- project-based coursework
- dissertation
Exams are held at the end of each semester.