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University of Essex

Colchester, England, United Kingdom

PhD Accounting

This PhD programme gives you the opportunity to develop new insight into accounting and accountability processes with a view to influencing policy and practice. It is open to those who have previous experience in academic research in accounting.

You can follow a traditional thesis approach, where you write a dissertation reflecting on contemporary problems facing the world of accounting, or you may decide to produce a 'three paper' thesis. This consists of a number of research articles, framed by an introduction and conclusion. Your supervisors support you to submit these papers to conferences and for publication in international journals, so you can begin to build you international research portfolio well before graduation.

You study at Essex Business School (EBS), world-renowned for research on governance, the impact of auditing and the effect of accounting practices in a globalised world. As one of the few centres of Excellence for Critical Accounting Practices, we explore alternative aspects of accounting through a social science lens. We champion issues such as responsible management, sustainability and global development, business ethics and social responsibility, producing cutting-edge research that aims to make organisations better places to do business.

Essex Business School is the largest department at the University of Essex and is ranked in the top 200 for Accounting and Finance in the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2022). We are home to cutting-edge researchers, such as Emeritus Professor Prem Sikka, who is regularly cited in the national and international media for his work calling businesses who avoid tax to account. We help you to develop new transferable skills, enhance your professional development and build a network of invaluable contacts from across academia and the private, public and third sectors.

Our accounting research centres, Essex Accounting Centre and BAFA Accounting and Finance in Emerging Economies, organise seminars throughout the year. These give you access to the latest academic thinking and the opportunity to network with colleagues and visiting scholars from across the world. You also have the opportunity to present your work at our PhD conference each year.

You may decide to study on a full or part-time basis and we also offer an Mphil and a Masters by dissertation in this subject. If you would like to undertake a doctoral degree in accounting, but do not have a Masters degree, you might want to consider our integrated option.

Campus Information

Colchester campus

Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom

Intakes

  • Oct

Application Processing Time in Days: 20

Minimum English Language Requirements

English Level Description IELTS (1.0 -9.0) TOEFL IBT (0-120) TOEFL CBT (0-300) PTE (10-90)
Expert 9 120 297-300 86-90
Very Good 8.5 115-119 280-293 83-86
Very Good 8 110-114 270-280 79-83
Good 7.5 102-109 253-267 73-79
Good 7 94-101 240-253 65-73
Competent 6.5 79-93 213-233 58-65
Competent 6 60-78 170-210 50-58
Modest 5.5 46-59 133-210 43-50
Modest 5 35-45 107-133 36-43
Limited 4 32-34 97-103 30-36
Extremely Limited < 4 < 31 < 93 < 30

Job Opportunity Potential

You get more than just a degree with Essex Business School, you get a head start on your career. 
Our courses allow you to experience the cutting edge of modern business practices and are designed to equip you with the essential skills and knowledge that you will need for an exciting and fast-paced career in business and beyond. 

On this page you will find information on a wide variety of career pathways for business school graduates. From Accountant to Wall Street Wizard (yes, we encourage our graduates to build their own job titles where possible) you will discover where a degree from Essex Business School could take you.

We are a big department with academic expertise in five key subject areas: accounting, finance, entrepreneurship, management and marketing. Therefore, this page will guide you through the key skills and alumni destinations for each of our subject areas.

As business themes operate through every industry you will find that doors open for business school graduates in virtually every sector. On this page you’ll hear from business school graduates who have taken their opportunities and built upon the skills gained on their degrees to become entrepreneurs, traders, business leaders and so much more.

Which career will suit me?

  • Graduates from business subjects typically have good commercial awareness which makes them very versatile candidates and attractive to recruiters.
  • Many graduates go on to have successful careers in HR, finance, marketing, new venture creation and consulting and are often suited to professional level employment soon after graduation.
  • Graduates from Essex Business School are very well suited to entrepreneurship and often set up their own businesses either as students or shortly after graduating.

At Essex Business School, we have five core subject areas, plus The Essex MBA. To find out about the specific career prospects for your chosen subject, click on one of the panels below. To find out more about how Essex Business School supports your employability skills and career prospects more generally as a department, please keep scrolling.

PSW Opportunity

  • 2 Years PSW is applicable after completing a minimum duration of 9 months course (like- Undergraduate, Postgraduate Level)
  • 3 Years PSW is applicable after completing PhD level courses.

Admission Requirement / Eligibility Criteria

Many of our Postgraduate Taught Masters will consider applicants with 50% or 5.3/10 from Band 1 or Band 2 institution/ 55% or 5.8/10 from all other institutions from Bachelor degree. Some courses and departments have higher entry requirements as well as other admissions criteria

Academic IELTS (including UKVI IELTS, non-UKVI
IELTS, IELTS Online, and IELTS Indicator) and British
Academic Centre International English Test (BACIET)

6.5 overall with minimum component scores:
Listening: 5.5
Reading: 5.5
Writing: 6.5
Speaking: 5.5

TOEFL iBT, TOEFL MyBest, TOEFL Special Home Edition

88 overall with minimum component scores:
Listening: 17
Reading: 18
Writing: 26
Speaking: 20

Pearson Test of English (PTE)

58 overall with minimum component scores:
Listening: 42
Reading: 42
Writing: 58
Speaking: 42

Cambridge Advanced English (CAE) and Cambridge
Proficiency English (CPE)

176 overall with minimum component scores:
Listening: 162
Reading: 162
Writing: 176
Speaking: 162

Disclaimer: GR updates the information on this page from time to time; however, there may have been more recent updates. Please refer to the university website for the latest information.