Undergraduate & honours qualifications

Bachelor of Commerce in Economics

Qualification code: 98305
NQF level: 7
Total credits: 360
SAQA ID: 101040
APS/AS: 21
Rules:
The College has made several amendments to the curriculum. Students should note that during the course of their studies they would be required to have access to a computer, printer and the internet.
Purpose statement:
The primary purpose of the qualification is to provide qualifiers with graduate-level knowledge, specific skills, applied competence and the necessary attitudes in the fields associated with commerce and industry that prepare them to be lifelong learners, employable workers/entrepreneurs and contributors to society and the business community. The second purpose of the qualification is to provide South Africa (and other countries) with functional managers at the middle management level in all sectors of the economy. A further purpose of the qualification is to provide graduates with a self-sustaining understanding of the process whereby productive resources are mobilised and utilized with a view to being gainfully employed in serving the material needs of society in a globalised world.
This qualification will be presented using both online and distance learning modes.

Who can register?

  • Applicants (new applicants & Unisa students who applied for admission to a new qualification) may only register if they have received an offer of placement from Unisa and have accepted the offer online. Unisa reserves the right to not process and / or to cancel your registration if it is found that you were incorrectly admitted to a qualification. 
  • Re-registering students may register for the 2024 academic year once the registration period opens.

Please note: Should you wish to start a new qualification, please apply online for the alternative qualification during the prescribed application period.


How to choose your modules

Each Unisa qualification is structured in such a way that you need to pass a certain number of NQF level credits within a certain amount of time in order to graduate.

  • Co-requisite: Module A is a co-requisite for Module B. You want to register for Module B, but have not yet passed Module A. You must then register for both Modules A and B simultaneously. You may NOT cancel your registration for Module A unless Module B is also cancelled.

  • Pre-requisite: If Module A is a pre-requisite for Module B, you must pass Module A before you may register for Module B.

You may not register for more than the allowed maximum number of credits / modules per academic year and / or semester: 60 credits per semester or 120 credits per academic year.

The maximum number of credits do not include supplementary and / or aegrotat examinations from a previous semester. Modules taken for non-degree / non-diploma purposes also count towards the maximum number of credits allowed.

You must take your available time into consideration when choosing your modules, as this will impact your academic performance. You need approximately

  • 6 to 8 hours per week for semester modules.
  • 4 to 6 hours per week for year modules.

Click here for more information on managing your studies.

Curriculum for this qualification

While you are deciding on the modules for which you will be registering, write down the module names and codes so that you have something to refer to when completing your registration.

Please click on the modules below to see further information (eg semester/year module, NQF level)

First level

The College has removed ECS1601, FAC1601 and MNB1601 from the first level to the second level.
DSC1630 has been removed from the curriculum. Students who have already completed DSC1630 will
retain the credit.

Module (Please click on the module to see further information) Pre-requisite/Co-requisite/Recommendation
Group A. Compulsory
DSC1520 - Quantitative Modelling I
ECS1501 - Economics IA
FAC1502 - Financial Accounting Principles, Concepts and Procedures
MNB1501 - Business Management IA
STA1501 - Descriptive Statistics and Probability
STA1502 - Statistical Inference I Co-requisite:STA1501
SUS1501 - Sustainability and Greed

Second level

The College has replaced DSC2604 with DSC2608. Students that have completed DSC2604 in this
qualification, will retain the credit and will not be required to complete DSC2608.

Module (Please click on the module to see further information) Pre-requisite/Co-requisite/Recommendation
Group A. Compulsory
DSC2608 - Applied quantitative modelling Pre-requisite:DSC1520
ECS1601 - Economics IB (Macroeconomics I) Co-requisite:ECS1501
ECS2601 - Intermediate Microeconomics Pre-requisite:ECS1501
ECS2602 - Intermediate Macroeconomics Pre-requisite:ECS1601
ECS2603 - South African Economic Indicators Pre-requisite:ECS1601
FAC1601 - Financial Accounting and Reporting Pre-requisite:FAC1502
FIN2601 - Financial Management Pre-requisite:FAC1601 or FAC1602 & ECS1601
INV2601 - Fundamentals of Investment Pre-requisite:FIN2601
MAC2601 - Principles of Management Accounting Pre-requisite:FAC1601 & (either BNU1501 or QMI1500 or DSC1630), CAS1501, CBC1501
Recommendation:IOP1501, ECS1601, MAC2602
MAC2602 - Principles of Strategy, Risk & Financial Management Techniques Pre-requisite:FAC1601 & (either BNU1501 or QMI1500 or DSC1630) CAS1501, CBC1501
Recommendation:IOP1501, ECS1601, MAC2601
MNB1601 - Business Management IB Pre-requisite:MNB1501
Group B. Choose 1 of the following
ECS2604 - Labour Economics Pre-requisite:ECS1601
ECS2605 - South African Financial System Pre-requisite:ECS1601
ECS2606 - Environmental Economics
ECS2608 - Economic History of the World Pre-requisite:ECS1601
ECS2609 - Economic History of South Africa Pre-requisite:ECS1601

Third level

The College has included ECS3708, ECS3709 and ECS3711 as compulsory modules and moved
ECS3701, ECS3702, ECS3703, ECS3704 and ECS3707 to being electives. ECS3710 has also been added on
the list of elective modules. IOP3708 has been removed from the curriculum. Students who have
already completed the modules that were replaced or moved while registered in this curriculum, will
retain the credit(-s) and will not be required to complete the relevant replacement modules.

Module (Please click on the module to see further information) Pre-requisite/Co-requisite/Recommendation
Group A. Compulsory
ECS3705 - History of Economic Thought Pre-requisite:ECS2601 & ECS2602
ECS3706 - Econometrics Pre-requisite:ECS2601, ECS2602 & (DSC1520 or QMI1500 or [STA1501 & STA1502])
ECS3708 - Applied Microeconomics Pre-requisite:ECS2601
ECS3709 - Applied Macroeconomics Pre-requisite:ECS2601 & ECS2602
ECS3711 - Research Methods in Economics Pre-requisite:ECS2601 and ECS2602
MAC3701 - Application of Management Accounting Techniques Pre-requisite:MAC2601
MAC3702 - Application of Financial Management Techniques Pre-requisite:MAC2602
Group B. Choose 4 of the following
ECS3701 - Monetary Economics Pre-requisite:ECS2602
ECS3702 - International Trade Pre-requisite:ECS2601
ECS3703 - International Finance Pre-requisite:ECS2602
ECS3704 - Public Economics Pre-requisite:ECS2601
ECS3707 - Development Economics Pre-requisite:ECS2601 & ECS2602
ECS3710 - Applied Health Economics Pre-requisite:ECS2601