This course is designed for international students and as such, is designed with a specific focus on banking and finance in an international context, incorporating the study of the English language for business, to better prepare you for potential global career options in areas such as business, accountancy or financial management.

Why you should study this course

Designed to help you develop the skills needed for a career in the finance and banking sectors, this top-up course covers core finance modules and relevant banking modules, while also incorporating important elements of the economics and accounting disciplines. This approach allow you to gain knowledge across various areas, while also specialising in the skills needed to become a finance and banking professional.

With a strong focus on applying learning to practical situations, this course involves rigorous banking and regulation-based modules which should help to prepare you for potential work in the sector. Throughout the course, modules should allow you the opportunity to work on real case studies and explore the tackling of specific issues faced by banks in the global banking environment, using the skills you have learned to look at proposing recommendations on how to solve the problems.  

There are also modules covering contemporary developments in the industry, including Financial Technology, or FinTech, which give you the opportunity to gain insight into recent technological developments (such as blockchain and cloud computing), new emerging sectors (such as crypto-currencies and peer-to-peer lending), and take a look at the main players driving the growth of the FinTech industry.

By studying our top-up course you will benefit from:

• Specialist content which covers the identification, analysis and solution of financial decision making.
• Outstanding facilities include our Trading Floor, currently one of the largest of its kind in Europe, featuring contemporary Bloomberg terminals.
• Opportunity to access support from the university’s sigma centre, which can provide maths and stats help and advice through drop-in sessions with experienced staff.
• Experienced staff, some of whom have worked in roles such as auditors for large scale professional services firms in different countries and as ACCA markers in the UK (please note that staff are subject to change).
• Opportunities to join a variety of student-led societies, such as the Accounting and Finance society, the Investment Society and the Financial Trading Society.
• Potential opportunities to network with like-minded professionals and visit key financial institutions, which have previously included the London Stock Exchange and Bank of England.

Upon successful completion, you will be able to:

• Develop a critical understanding of appropriate research theories and empirical evidence relevant to banking policy, regulation and ethical practice.
• Assess banking and financial institutions’ operations within an international context by comparing different approaches to financial regulation and practice.
• Constructively analyse theoretical and empirical approaches to solving banking and financial problems in an international context.

• Apply financial modelling and analytical tools when conducting research using a variety of finance and finance-related resources such as relevant databases and literature in order to resolve typical finance and banking issues.