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The Class of 2022: How They Faced Pandemic and Geopolitical Challenges

The Class of 2022: How They Faced Pandemic and Geopolitical Challenges

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The ICEF class of 2022 numbers 172 bachelor’s and 31 master’s graduates. With plans to embark on careers in domestic and international companies, they will all be contributing to the global economy. Here’s what makes the class of 2022 special.

The class of 2022 have had difficult times. Alongside the challenges of the prevalently online communication with their teachers and among themselves, the three years of the pandemic had exposed the undergraduates to taking the UoL examinations online, each time in an updated format. In those challenging circumstances, ICEF had managed (through the use of the proctoring software) to ensure a higher level of objectivity of its assessments than the University of London itself.

New difficulties arose in the final year of study, associated with geopolitical situation, sanctions and restrictions. But nevertheless, the four-year journey is complete, goals are achieved and plans fulfilled.

In 2022, bachelor’s degree will be awarded to 172 students and master’s to 31. Of them, 28 bachelor’s and 11 master’s students will graduate with honors. The class of 2022 has sixty-five bachelor’s and four master’s graduates who were given "excellent" grade on thesis defense, with six students scoring 10 out of 10.

While some of this year’s graduates became winners in the HSE and RF Central Bank Competition for Best Student Research Paper, others have performed best in the world in the University of London international programmes or won the Russian stage of the CFA Institute Research Challenge and Economietrics Universiade, among others.

Traditionally, nearly half of bachelor’s degree holders are planning to continue their studies in postgraduate programmes at top universities in Russia, Europe and the USA. While HSE, NES, Skoltech and MSU are the popular domestic choices, LSE, LBS, Erasmus University, Bocсoni, as well as University of Washington, Boston University, New York University, UCLA and France’s top ranked business schools HEC and EDHEC attract those who would like to study abroad. More than 50 members of the class of 2022 have received scholarships and places on postgraduate programmes of some of the best universities in the world. The University of London graduation ceremony will take place for ICEF undergraduate graduands in August, with more than half of them expected to be awarded First Class Honours degrees.

More than 60 percent of bachelor’s and almost all master’s graduates, with 80% of the latter already being in receipt of job offers compared to 42% in June 2021, are planning to start careers at the Russian and international companies in sectors with a vital role in global economy – banking, finance, consulting, industry, and IT. The majority of the members of the class of 2022 have landed jobs at Sberbank, VTB, Bank of Russia, Yandex, Alfa-Bank, Citibank, Aton, Raiffeisenbank, Credit Suisse, McKinsey, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, Ozon, and J.P.Morgan. 

In May-June 2022, the second-, third- and fourth-year students of ICEF bachelor's degree sat the University of London (UoL) examinations. The first-year students have successfully passed the end-of-year exams required for admission to the UoL programme and will be enrolled in the University of London in September 2022. The cooperation with UoL has taken on a new format, where ICEF students are taking the UoL courses, sit international examinations and study for the UoL degrees as individual learners.

Click here to read about this year’s examination process.