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1. Admissions/ Management Information
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Title of the programme – including any lower awards
Please provide the titles used for all awards relating to this programme. Note: all programmes are required to have at least a Postgraduate Certificate exit award.

See guidance on programme titles in:
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https://www.york.ac.uk/media/staffhome/learningandteaching/documents/programmedevelopment/Framework%20for%20Programme%20Design%20-%20PG.pdf
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Masters MSc Economics and Finance
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Postgraduate Diploma N/APlease indicate if the Postgraduate Diploma is available as an entry point, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.N/A
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Postgraduate Certificate PGCert Economics and FinancePlease indicate if the Postgraduate Certificate is available as an entry points, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.Exit
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Level of qualificationLevel 7
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This document applies to students who commenced the programme(s) in:January 2021
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Awarding institutionTeaching institution
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University of York University of York
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Department(s):
Where more than one department is involved, indicate the lead department		Board of Studies
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Lead Department Economics and Related StudiesEconomics and Related Studies
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Other contributing Departments:
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Route code
(existing programmes only)		PMECOSFIN1
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Admissions criteria
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Minimum entry criterion is the equivalent of an upper-second class degree primarily in Economics from a UK university.
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Length and status of the programme(s) and mode(s) of study
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ProgrammeLength (years/ months) Status (full-time/ part-time)
Please select		Start dates/months
(if applicable – for programmes that have multiple intakes or start dates that differ from the usual academic year)		Mode
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Face-to-face, campus-basedDistance learningOther
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MSc Economics and Finance1 yearFull-timeJanuary 2021Please select Y/NYesPlease select Y/NNo
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Language(s) of study
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English
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Language(s) of assessment
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English
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2. Programme accreditation by Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Bodies (PSRB)
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2.a. Is the programme recognised or accredited by a PSRB
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Please Select Y/N: Noif No move to section 3
if Yes complete the following questions
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3. Additional Professional or Vocational Standards
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Are there any additional requirements of accrediting bodies or PSRB or pre-requisite professional experience needed to study this programme?
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Please Select Y/N: Noif Yes, provide details
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4. Programme leadership and programme team
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4.a. Please name the programme leader for the year to which the programme design applies and any key members of staff responsible for designing, maintaining and overseeing the programme.
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Prof Peter N Smith
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5. Purpose and learning outcomes of the programme
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5.a. Statement of purpose for applicants to the Masters programme
Please express succinctly the overall aims of the programme as an applicant facing statement for a prospectus or website. This should clarify to a prospective masters student why they should choose this programme, what it will provide to them and what benefits they will gain from completing it.
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Economics is a discipline which is growing rapidly and transforming to meet an ever expanding range of challenges. The field of Finance has developed to address an important range of these problems. The aim of the MSc Economics and Finance is to give you access to a set of analytical and digital skills to address economic and financial problems in the real world. It will expand your prior knowledge and skills in economics and give you a thorough understanding of modern finance. You will learn how the operation of the financial economy is related to the operation of the real economy, distinguishing this course from other programmes. This understanding is achieved through high quality training in relevant theory, concepts, methods and practice. You will be taught by academics engaged in leading edge research which also informs economic and financial policy. This MSc offers you the opportunity to advance your knowledge, bringing you close to the current research frontier. While the emphasis is on core knowledge and skills, it provides the opportunity to specialize in particular areas of economics or finance such as corporate finance, investments, asset pricing and financial regulation as well as in micro and macro economics. It is designed to provide a firm technical foundation for research degrees in economics and finance and professional employment in the public and private, economic and financial industries. You can choose a route through the programme which best suits your strengths and interests, primarily in terms of econometrics and macroeconomics. You can also choose optional modules to pursue new topics in economics and finance.
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5.a.i Statement of purpose for applicants registering for the Postgraduate Diploma programme
Please express succinctly the overall aims of the programme as an applicant facing statement for a prospectus or website. This should clarify to a prospective diploma student why they should choose this programme, what it will provide to them and what benefits they will gain from completing it.
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N/A
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5.b.i. Programme Learning Outcomes - Masters
Please provide six to eight statements of what a graduate of the Masters programme will be able to do.
If the document only covers a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma please specify four to six PLO statements in the sections 5.b.ii and 5.b.iii as appropriate.
Taken together, these outcomes should capture the distinctive features of the programme. They should also be outcomes for which progressive achievement through the course of the programme can be articulated, and which will therefore be reflected in the design of the whole programme.
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PLOOn successful completion of the programme, graduates will be able to:
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1Explain and understand the methods of logical and mathematical reasoning used by economists, finance professionals and researchers to assess and manage risk, price financial assets and make financial decisions, drawing on key analytical approaches and understanding of the major current research problems in so doing.
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2Identify the research methods and models relevant to particular problems in economics and finance in learned journals and other media with the aid of bibliographical databases, summarising and synthesising this body of knowledge to thoroughly understand the limitations of such models and how an allowance can be made for these weaknesses in practice.
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3Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the techniques of economics and finance and the ability use them, by formulating rigorous and well-reasoned analysis of analytical problems.
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4Use developed digital skills to locate, compile and present economic and financial data and demonstrate a thorough appreciation of their strengths and weaknesses.
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5Formulate economic or financial models in a suitable form for data analysis, selecting suitable state-of-the-art statistical, econometric and computer-based techniques to examine these models and provide robust economic and financial forecasting counter-factual analysis to inform policy makers or private sector clients.
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6Analyse and evaluate the design and impact of relevant public policy in the light of the insight from economic and financial modelling and data analysis.
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7Produce effective written communications which address the concerns of the intended audience. To articulate effectively arguments which are supported by analytical reasoning and, where necessary, by data-based evidence.
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8Formulate a research proposal, identifying a testable hypothesis, select the methodology appropriate to test it and carry out the proposed research efficiently and to a deadline with minimal supervision, to effectively communicate persuasive findings.
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5.c. Explanation of the choice of Programme Learning Outcomes
Please explain your rationale for choosing these PLOs in a statement that can be used for students (such as in a student handbook). Please include brief reference to:
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i) ... in what way will these PLOs result in an ambitious, challenging programme which stretches the students?
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They reflect the ambitious overall purpose of the programme, which is to equip students with the best skills available for understanding the economic world and the operation of financial markets. The programme and modules offered present a high level standard of tuition which is competitive against the best competitor programmes in the UK and around the world.
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ii) ... in what way will these PLOs produce a programme which is distinctive and advantageous to the student?
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They give the student access to a set of analytical and digital skills to address economic and financial problems in the real world. The understanding that the programme offers the student that the operation of the financial economy is closely associated with the operation of the real economy is a distinctive feature of this programme compared with many competitor programmes. The various skills that the students acquire is valued by the wide range of employers of our graduates around the world. The PLOs are designed to help students gain confidence through problem-solving and discussion, and their learning is assessed through examination and the writing of a 10,000 word dissertation. 
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iii) ... how the design of the programme enables students from diverse entry routes to transition successfully into the programme? For example, how does the organisation of the programme ensure solid foundations in disciplinary knowledge and understanding of conventions, language skills, mathematics and statistics skills, writing skills, lab skills, academic integrity
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The student base for this programme is diverse by country as well as by first degree. All enter with the equivalent of an upper second class degree with a significant element of economics, mathematics and statistics. Some have a significant background in finance.  The core modules in the Autumn term deliver the key components of economic theory, econometrics and finance theory which are then further developed in other modules. The choice of core module including both level and area of focus reflects the range of backgrounds and interests of the students. The students are encouraged to construct workgroups to work together on solving problems for seminars and for understanding the material taught. In addition to the help that they receive in the office hours of their teachers, the students are also directed towards the Maths Skills Centre to fill gaps in their mathematics and statistics background.
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iv) ... how the programme is designed to enable students to progress successfully - in a limited time frame - through to the end of the award? For example, the development of higher level research skills; enabling students to complete an independent study module; developing competence and confidence in practical skills/ professional skills. See QAA masters characteristics doument http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Masters-Degree-Characteristics-15.pdf
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The core modules in the Autumn term deliver the key components of economic theory, econometrics and finance theory which are then further developed in other modules. Many modules offer preparation in the research skills that will be required in the dissertation at the end of the programme. These are bolstered by specific lectures which focus on the practical issues of data discovery and econometric methods as well as how to approach writing the dissertation. For those who do not have English as their first language additional support is offered through a term-long English writing course.

The dissertation cultivates the ability to arrive at carefully reasoned conclusions. Time management skills, including efficient search and assessment of relevant literature, are an essential component of this process. The Department provides a suite of support for students as part of the module. There is a one hour “Introductory Lecture” delivered by the Dissertation Coordinator (or another senior member of academic staff) which provides guidance and a lot of detail, e.g. expectation of kind of output, looking for and choosing a topic, time line, bibliographic search, plagiarism, etc. In addition, a one hour lecture entitled “Data Resources and Econometric Software” is delivered in early February to each of three groups of students; these lectures provide information on data sources, econometric packages, mathematical packages, and word processing programmes---how to access them, search them, and use them---all of which are available through the University. There is also a one hour presentation by the Liaison Librarian for DERS later in February. The material for all three lectures is available on the module’s VLE site. Finally, there is a Dissertation Library on the VLE which is a useful source for dissertations submitted in the past which helps with topics and as a general guide.
A matching process under the direction of the Dissertation Coordinator is used and it is expected that by mid-March most students will have found a supervisor and settled on a topic. The role of the supervisor is to help define the research task more precisely, to advise on relevant reading, data, if relevant, and what sort of econometric technique to use, or what model to use and what questions to use it to analyse. Work on the dissertation starts in earnest after the examinations with the supervisor expected to read and comment on a preliminary draft of the dissertation but to refrain from a lot of detailed supervision since that would defeat the purpose of learning to work independently.
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v) ... how this programme (as outlined in these PLOs) will develop students’ digital literacy skills and how technology-enhanced learning will be used to support active student learning through peer/tutor interaction, collaboration and formative (self) assessment opportunities (reference could be made to such as blogging, flipped classroooms, response 'clickers' in lectures, simulations, etc).
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Students are taught a number of digital literacy skills through introduction to specific pieces of econometric statistical software and how to collect data suitable for study from a leading provider of research data in economics and finance (Datastream). Students are encouraged to interogate the library provided collections of academic journal articles. Students are encoraged to construct work groups to work collaboratively on solving problems for seminars and to prepare for the summative examinations.
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vi) ... how this programme (as outlined in these PLOs) will support and enhance the students’ employability (for example, opportunities for students to apply their learning in a real world setting)?
The programme's employablity objectives should be informed by the University's Employability Strategy:
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http://www.york.ac.uk/about/departments/support-and-admin/careers/staff/
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The students on this programme will leave with a training in economics and finance at a level which makes them very appealing for employers around the world. The skills that they have developed plus the subject knowledge that they have acquired puts them in a very strong position in the job market or to continue for further study.
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viii) ... how learning and teaching on the programme are informed and led by research in the department/ Centre/ University?
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All of the modules offered to students on this programme are informed by the current research of academic staff in the Department of Economics. Staff offer insights into their own published research in lectures as well as providing advice in the dissertation process based on their own research experience and also specific research tools such as econometric methods or other modelling skills.
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5.d. Progression
For masters programmes where students do not incrementally 'progress' on the completion of a discrete Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma, please summarise students’ progressive development towards the achievement of the PLOs, in terms of the characteristics that you expect students to demonstrate at the end of the set of modules or part thereof. This summary may be particularly helpful to students and the programme team where there is a high proportion of option modules and in circumstances where students registered on a higher award will exit early with a lower one.

Note: it is not expected that a position statement is written for each masters PLO, but this can be done if preferred.
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On completion of modules sufficient to obtain a Postgraduate Certificate students will be able to:
If the PG Cert is an exit award only please provide information about how students will have progressed towards the diploma/masters PLOs. Please include detail of the module diet that students will have to have completed to gain this qualification as an exit award.
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To obtain the Postgraduate Certificate students need to complete at least  60 credits of taught modules. Any such  combination of taught modules available as part of the MSc in Economics and Finance meets the PLOs for the Postgraduate Certificate. By the  completion of the Certificate students will not have achieved PLO 8, but will have achieved the essential elements of PLOs 1 to 7,  although their skills and depth of understanding of the material will be substantially lower as compared with students who complete the full MSc programme
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On completion of modules sufficient to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma students will be able to:
If the PG Diploma is an exit award only please provide information about how students will have progressed towards the masters PLOs. Please include detail of the module diet that students will have to have completed to gain this qualification as an exit award.
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N/A
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6. Reference points and programme regulations
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6.a. Relevant Quality Assurance Agency benchmark statement(s) and other relevant external reference points
Please state relevant reference points consulted (e.g. Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, National Occupational Standards, Subject Benchmark Statements or the requirements of PSRBs): See also Taught Postgraduate Modular Scheme: Framework for Programme Design:
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https://www.york.ac.uk/media/staffhome/learningandteaching/documents/programmedevelopment/Framework%20for%20Programme%20Design%20-%20PG.pdf
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http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Masters-Degree-Characteristics-15.pdf
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http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements
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http://www.qaa.ac.uk/publications/information-and-guidance/publication?PubID=2843#.VthM1fmLS70
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6.b. University award regulations
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The University’s award and assessment regulations apply to all programmes: any exceptions that relate to this programme are approved by University Teaching Committee and are recorded at the end of this document.
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7. Programme Structure
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See Jan 2021 Tab for Section 7a and 7b
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7.c. Explanation of the programme and assessment design
The statements should be in a form that can be used for students (such as in a student handbook). It should make clear to students why they are doing the key activities of the programme, in terms of reaching the PLOs.
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i) Students’ independent study and formative work Please outline how independent study and student work has been designed to support the progressive achievement of the programme learning outcomes (for example, the use of online resources which incorporate formative feedback; opportunities for further learning from work-based placements).
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Independent study is mostly based around background reading of mostly academic journal articles and some text books and then the preparation of formative work, and subsequently the preparation fro summative assessment. So its format and content largely reflect the format and content of those assessments, while supported by staff contact, both timetabled and non-timetabled. The type of formative work varies, primarliy according to the subject matter of the module. Much of it is on-line orientated to the extent that reading resources are idetified and delivered on line and through the VLE. In most modules the main formative coursework is centred on regular seminar or other meetings. Mostly the format is couched in terms of problem solving where the problem sets are reviewed in the seminar. The presumption for this level of students is that they will engage in more background reading and self study than undergraduates reflecting the increased academic maturity of the MSc students. The range of formative work may include in-class presentations that require independent literature search, synthesis, development of an argument, and clear explanation to peers. Students are encouraged to work in groups with the aim of encouraging similar outcomes when in-class presentations are not feasible.
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ii) Contact with staff
Please explain how the programme’s design maximises the value of students’ contact time with staff (which may be face-to-face, virtual, synchronous or asynchronous), including through the use of technology-enhanced learning. For example, giving students resources for their independent study which then enables a class to be more interactive with a greater impact on learning.
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Contact with staff is primarily designed to support students in their understanding of lecture material and formative work and independent study and in their preparation for summative assessment. The main form of timetabled content is lectures to all students taking the module in parallel to small group seminars. Many MSc modules are quite small in student number and so lectures also take on some features of seminars in that it is more practical for students to raise questions during lectures than when the group is large. Lectures are designed to provide students with the structure of the subject area and the core knowledge. Seminars are based around the review, presentation and discussion of formative coursework, which students are expected to prepare in advance and some is submitted for feedback from the seminar tutor. The additional academic maturity of MSc students is relfected in the more open-ended nature of the work given and of their expected response to the reading list associated with any module. In addition to timetabled contact, all lecturers and tutors provide further and continued informal support, normally in the form of drop-in office hours.  The dissertation is supported through an Introductory lecture, a lecture on Data Resources and Econometric Software, and a workshop facilitated by the Library on Information Sources for Your Dissertation. Once a dissertation supervisor has been allocated to the student, the process is supported through meetings, e-mail exchanges, and comments on drafts.
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iii) Summative Assessment
Please outline how summative assessment within and across modules has been designed to support and evidence the progressive achievement of the programme learning outcomes. (For example, the use of different assessment methods at the ‘introduction’ stage compared to those used to evaluate deeper learning through the application of skills and knowledge later in the programme).
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Summative assessment in each module is designed to test the progress made by the student, through studying that module, towards achieving the Programme Learning Outcomes. The main type of summative assessment used is the closed book exam, although some modules use other types such as project, computer practical or workshop presentations, sometimes singly or in groups. The wide breadth of country of first degree and therefore experience and familiarity with forms of assessment also makes closed book exams a more equitable and efficient form of assessment. The process of writing the dissertation culminates in a 10,000 word report which is assessed by the dissertation supervisor. The graduate is trained to communicate real world issues to lay people through writing notes that summarize and synthesize in the student’s own words the ideas gleaned from reading a variety of recommended academic journal articles and graduate textbooks. This is summatively assessed through writing essays and providing short discussions in the examination. Similar approaches bolstered by the practice provided by working on formative exercises set by the lecturer and summatively assessed through writing essays and technical answers in the examination train the graduate in the use of precise verbal reasoning, and mathematical derivations and techniques, to carry out formal analysis of theoretical and policy related questions.  
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8. Additional information
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8.a. Continuing Professional Development
Will any of the programme’s modules be available on a free-standing basis?
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Please Select Y/N: No
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if yes, please explain how:
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8.b. Transfers out of or into the programme
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i) Transfers into the programme will be possible? (please select Y/N) Yes
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Additional details:
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Transfers when approved are allowed until the end of week three Autumn term. Later transfers maybe considered and approved on a case by case basis.
Transfers between our programmes and to them from closely related programmes offered by the York Management School as well as those offered by the Department of Mathematics are generally considered for approval.
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ii) Transfers out of the programme will be possible? (please select Y/N) Yes
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Additional details:
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Transfer out of our programmes to other units in the University are allowed on a case by case basis depending primarily on the destination programme's willingness to accept.
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11. Exceptions to University Award Regulations approved by University Teaching Committee