How can I enrol?
The enrolment deadline for Economics & Statistical Analysis and all other AMCT stage one papers is 15 December for April examination and 15 June for October examination.
ESA is one of four foundation papers which comprise stage one of the AMCT Diploma in Treasury. Only students enrolling on AMCT can book this paper. You can study the stage one papers in any order, but are recommended to study Financial Management & Accounting before, or at the same time as Corporate Taxation, because some basic accounting knowledge is assumed in the taxation manual and tuition course.
Exemptions
Exemptions from AMCT stage one papers are available for qualified and part qualified accountants and those individuals with previous relevant qualifications.
Entry requirements
- Good standard of english: due to the course being written and examined in English, students will need to possess a good standard of English.
- Internet Browser version: the eLearning website is an important part of this course as you will be able to access the online course manual, discussion forum and further information. Therefore you do need the latest browser to access the content. We suggest one of the following browsers: Internet Explorer 7 or 8, Firefox 3 or Google Chrome to view the content correctly.
Course content
An overview of the course content is provided below. For a detailed outline download the full syllabus
Study Unit 1 – Statement of the economic problem
The scope of economics
Scarcity - the economic problem
Economic systems
Study Unit 2 – Elementary theory of demand and supply, price equilibrium, monopoly and oligopoly
The theory of demand
The theory of supply
The market mechanism
Demand elasticities
Supply elasticity
Profit maximisation
Market forms
Study Unit 3 – Macro-economics
The difference between macro and micro-economics
The circular flow of income
Aggregate demand
Study Unit 4 – Monetarism versus Keynesianism
Introduction to macroeconomics, Keynesian theory and Monetarist theory
The impact of monetary policy
The impact of fiscal policy
The impact of supply side policy
Macroeconomic goals
Government policy through time
Study Unit 5 – Interaction between government, business and the corporate treasury environment
Financial markets
Central banks
Inflation
Measuring unemployment
Major central bank announcements
Interest rates and exchange rates
The transmission mechanism
Study Unit 6 – Business statistics
Introduction
Sources
Accuracy
Data presentation
Index numbers
Weighted indices
Graphs and charts
Sampling and significance testing
Frequency distributions
Computational techniques
Frequency distribution computations
Measures of dispersion
Measure of skew
Study Unit 7 – Probability theory
Introduction
Probability of an event
Conditional probability and independence
Binomial distribution
Poisson distribution
Normal distribution
Estimation
Statistical decision making – hypothesis testing
Study Unit 8 – Statistical inference and econometric modelling
Overview
Modelling methods
Linear regression
Correlation
Moving averages
Exponential smoothing
Time series
Learning outcomes
Following completion of the course you will be able to:
- Understand the basics of micro and macro-economics and the overall scope and nature of economic theory.
- Understand the interaction between economic policy and the business environment.
- Understand and assess the theoretical concepts underlying economic commentary, and their relevance to the business and treasury environment.
- Understand the impact of market data on interest rates and foreign exchange rates in a treasury environment.
- Use statistical methods to analyse past data and infer future trends.
ESA is a distance learning programme combining self study with optional face-to-face teaching.
Study tools include:
- A comprehensive course manual
- e-learning website providing access to an online version of the course manual, progress tests, past exam papers, glossary and course tutors
What’s included: Course manual (print and online), access to the e-learning website and the tuition school.
You will need: Access to a computer with internet connection.
Tuition and revision
Optional tuition
The four day optional tuition course covers core topics. Tuition has been tailored to cover the key areas of the course – reinforcing and improving knowledge. Tuition days complement your home study; each day is intensive, covering a number of topics in detail with lecturers, worked examples and tutorial sessions.
Optional revision
The three day optional revision course covers exam preparation techniques, revision, tutor-structured solutions and exam question practice. The objective of the revision course is to revise material covered earlier, to enhance your confidence in attempting exam standard questions in the topics covered. Coverage is not comprehensive, but is designed to complement your final exam preparations and the previous tuition course and/or home study programme.
You can book onto the optional tuition and revision when you enrol or up to 10 days before the start of the courses.
Assessment and examination
Each paper within the AMCT syllabus is assessed by a three hour written examination.
Pass mark and pass rates
The mark you need to achieve a pass in all papers apart from CertITM is normally 50%. The pass mark for CertITM will vary from one examination sitting to another according to the difficulty grade of the multiple choice paper. As a guide a student achieving 70% or over will have passed CertITM.
Booking your exam venue
Students are automatically registered to sit the exam in London. If this is where you intend to sit your exam, no further communication with us is necessary.
We have exam venues in Edinburgh, Dublin, Hong Kong and Singapore which you can book. You don’t need to book your exam venue when you enrol, we will write to you 10 weeks before the exam date asking you to select your venue.
If you cannot take your exam at one of the above venues and you live outside of the UK mainland, you can request to take your exam at a venue local to you. It is your responsibility to contact a suitable venue. The first point of contact is the British Council, although Universities and Colleges of Higher Education are also acceptable venues. Further details will be available to you when you enrol as a student.
For students sitting exams at venues other than London, Edinburgh and Dublin, an administration fee will be payable directly to your chosen local exam venue.
Becoming a member of the ACT
AMCT is the associate membership qualification for the ACT and leads to the designatory letters AMCT. On achieving AMCT you can become a member of the ACT and join the largest community of qualified treasury, risk and finance professionals.
Frequently asked questions
These frequently asked question pages answer generic questions on our qualifications processes and rules which are applicable across the range of our products.
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