Accounting and Finance (BSc)

Multiple financial crises, technological developments, globalisation and regulatory changes have revolutionised the international financial sector. As organisations find ways to respond to these unprecedented changes, employees with cross-cutting accounting and finance expertise are in high demand.

Our BSc Accounting and Finance programme is accredited by the Accounting Professional Bodies and is designed to equip you with practical skills and professional confidence for a successful career in accounting and finance-related roles, or in preparation for postgraduate study and research.

On a universal first year, shared with our BSc Accounting programme, you’ll develop business and finance expertise from our team of international researchers and qualified accounting professionals. They’ll introduce you to corporate finance and strategy, markets, institutions and taxation while encouraging you to consider the social, economic and ethical implications of your decisions.

A programme of industry-specific workshops, organised in partnership with professional accounting firms and accrediting bodies, complements your academic study with exposure to real-world accounting and finance scenarios.

This is a three-year, full-time course, consisting of 120 credits a year.  All modules are compulsory in year one. In year two and year three, you choose modules to the value of 120 credits from a range of core and optional modules. 

Learning And Assessment:

Our teaching is heavily informed by research and combines academic rigour with practical relevance. While our internationally recognised faculty consists of academics who are at the forefront of knowledge within their field. They bring the lessons learned from their most recent research into the classroom, giving you access to critical business thinking and contemporary real life examples and scenarios.

We will provide your teaching and learning resources, and will be responsive to your needs and views. For your part, you will need to put in the necessary amount of work both during and outside formal teaching sessions, and make good use of the facilities provided.

Most modules involve a mixture of lectures and small group teaching (called classes, seminars, workshops or tutorials). 

Lectures provide an overview of the key concepts and frameworks for a topic, equipping you to carry out independent research for the seminars and to develop your own ideas. Seminars provide an opportunity for you to explore the ideas outlined in the lectures. Seminars may take various formats, including plenary group discussion, small-group work and student-led presentations.

What Skills Will I Practise And Develop? 

As a result of engaging fully with this course, you will acquire and develop a range of valuable skills, both those which are discipline specific and more generic ‘employability skills’. These will allow you to:

• grasp complex issues with confidence
• ask the right questions of complex texts
• have an imaginative appreciation of different views and options and analyse these critically
• identify and apply relevant data
• develop practical research skills
• propose imaginative solutions of your own that are rooted in evidence
• communicate clearly, concisely and persuasively in writing and speech
• sourcing, interpreting and presenting relevant numerical information – to support the composition of projects reports and business cases
• work to deadlines and priorities, managing a range of tasks at the same time
• work as part of a team, developing a collaborative approach to problem-solving
• use IT programmes and standard software packages, where appropriate
• take responsibility for your own learning programme and professional development.

Why Study This Course:

• Learn from the best
• Benefit from expertise and support of research-active staff in a school with the highest possible score for research environment.
• Industry insights
• Prepare for your career with industry-specific workshops in partnership with professional accounting firms.
• Placement opportunities
• Develop the skills, confidence and connections to accelerate your career.
• State of the art trading room
• Prepare yourself for trading and risk management in a controlled environment equipped with Investor Simulations, TRETS and Bloomberg.
• Professional accreditation
• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) and others.

Entry Requirements:

• We accept a combination of A-levels and other qualifications, as well as equivalent international qualifications subject to entry requirements. Typical offers are as follows:
• A level
• AAB-ABB
• Extended/International Project Qualification: Applicants with grade A in the EPQ/IPQ will typically receive an offer one grade lower than the standard offer. Please note that any subject specific requirements must still be met.
• Our grade range covers our standard offer and contextual offer. We carefully consider the circumstances in which you've been studying (your contextual data) upon application.
• Eligible students will be given an offer at the lower end of the advertised grade range.
• Where there is no grade range advertised and/or where there are selection processes in place (like an interview) you may receive additional points in the selection process or be guaranteed interview/consideration.
• Learn about eligible courses and how contextual data is applied.
• International Baccalaureate
• 34-32 overall or 666-665 in 3 HL subjects.
• Baccalaureate Wales
• From September 2023, there will be a new qualification called the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales (level 3). This qualification will replace the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (Welsh Baccalaureate). The qualification will continue to be accepted in lieu of one A-Level (at the grades listed above), excluding any specified subjects.