Banking and Finance BSc (Hons) with foundation year

Course overview

Why you should study this course

Foundation year

• Supports you to gain the academic skills required for degree-level study
• Provides a grounding in key areas of finance and economics.

Degree

• Gain knowledge about banking and the wider financial sector alongside a wide range of financial skills
  You can expect to gain a solid understanding of the financial sector, learning about the operation of financial markets, banking and financial services, understanding and using financial data, professional, ethical and regulatory issues in banking, personal employability and professional skills. You’ll also look to develop a wide range of other financial skills such as buying a property, preparing and analysing financial statements, valuing investments and bonds, and measuring banking risks.
• Tailor your studies
  Our wide range of economics and finance courses share a common first year. This gives you the flexibility to decide the direction you want to take your degree after you have received a thorough grounding in economic and financial concepts, and principles.
• The Trading Floor⁴
  This provides hands-on experience to work with market leading financial databases such as Thomson Reuters Eikon, Bloomberg, Fitch Connect and Refinitiv Datastream.
• Sigma Maths and Statistics Support
  Access maths and statistics support through drop-in sessions with experienced tutors⁴.
• Practical focus
  Prepare and analyse financial statements, as well as the study of the impact of finance on real businesses through case studies of a diverse range of organisations.
• Gain real-world exposure
  Prepare for a future career in banking and finance with a work placement².

Careers and opportunities

Upon successful completion, you will be able to:

• use a range of transferable skills, e.g. writing clear and concise reports based on evidence and logic, making effective use of information technology, and creative problem-solving.
• communicate technical banking and financial concepts in a clear manner to a range of relevant stakeholders.
• apply banking and financial theories and empirical methods to real-world scenarios.
• carry out an independent piece of research on a banking or finance topic using appropriate theories and analytical tools.
• understand the importance and relevance of personal finance and banking products and services to daily life.
• apply appropriate mathematical and quantitative techniques to solve business and financial problems.
• understand the importance of banks, their function in society, and ethics in banking and financial decisions.
• apply the key approaches to risk management in devising strategies to tackle practical issues and risks that confront modern banking. Understand the role of banking and financial regulators and how this impacts the performance and structure of banks and other financial institutions.

The course aims to give you the confidence to give sound financial advice and make effective financial decisions. You should be well placed to pursue a wide variety of potential future careers options in areas such as:

• finance
• banking
• management
• accounting
• personal and corporate finance
• business
• education in private, public and third sector organisations.

The Talent Team will also support you with workshops and guidance on the various aspects of the employment process such as preparing your CV, interview practice and mock assessment centres, as well as putting on employer events, which should allow you to network with potential future employers offering graduate roles, internships and placements in the advertising and marketing sectors².