Accounting and Finance
BSc (Hons)
- Typical offer for 2024 academic year (202425)
- Duration
- UCAS code
Suitable for applications.
Overview
Our BSc (Hons) in Accounting and Finance (with placement year) prepares you for a career in accountancy or the financial sector, and gives you a strong understanding of core business principles and practice.
You’ll develop an in-depth understanding of how accounting and finance fits into the broader context of business and management, and study topics such as:
- Capital Markets, Investment and Finance
- Auditing
- Corporate Reporting
- Taxation
- Company Law and Administration
The programme gives you solid theoretical foundations, and applies this knowledge to real-world commercial situations.
You will be taught by leading academics with extensive experience in the accounting and finance sector. You’ll learn how to develop and apply accounting and finance strategies that enhance corporate value, and develop the techniques and understanding of specialist databases you need for a career in the accounting and finance sector.
A sandwich placement year, taken in year three of the programme, enables you to develop your skills and professional confidence - and boosts your employability on graduation.
Professional accreditation
We are proud to be in an elite group of business schools to hold the triple accreditations of Equis, AMBA and AACSB, often referred to as the "Triple Crown".
Many of our Accounting and Finance modules attract accreditation from the professional bodies, such as:
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
- Association of International Accountants (AIA)
- Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
- CPA Australia
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) accredit this programme. This means that, by successfully completing your degree, you are eligible for exemptions from some ACCA fundamental level examinations.
Rankings
Times Higher Education Business School of the Year 2021
The Times Higher Education Awards recognise outstanding achievements in UK higher education. The School of Management was recognised for our focus on economic and social regeneration.
Our award citation states, "During the pandemic, the school focused its initiatives on helping graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds navigate the disrupted job market and on providing support for local businesses dealing with crisis trading conditions. The judges commended Bradford's "inspiring" support for students, alumni, schools and local businesses."
Find out more about our Times Higher Education Business School of the Year 2021 award
"The placement year offered me the opportunity to develop a wide range of skills, including team work, written and verbal communication plus some real hands-on experience of accounting. I was working with new systems and producing reports for senior management. These skills will be invaluable in the graduate job market."
Sandwich year
This 4-year programme offers you the opportunity to take up a placement year working in business in your third year.
Placements are real, paid jobs in a wide variety of organisations in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors and offer you a valuable opportunity to experience first-hand how business and management concepts are applied in practice, and to give you direct exposure to real issues in the workplace. It can also be done abroad.
The placement year is a vital part of your learning and will add significantly to your personal development, self-confidence, planning, communication and business acumen skills. Statistics show that students who have undertaken a placement year benefit from a better graduate job, higher graduate starting salary and a better degree outcome.
In a competitive graduate market, valuable experience and employability skills gained from a year’s work placement will differentiate you from the thousands of other graduates seeking work.
We find that students return from their placement year with their confidence and personal skills enhanced and ready to implement their focused plan for the future.
The School of Management has an excellent network of organisations that offer placements including:
- IBM
- Vauxhall
- NHS
- GE Money
- Arris (formerly PACE)
- Enterprise Rent A Car
- Cummins
- Peugeot
Together we ensure your placement is appropriately challenging and that you can make a real and positive impact on the business. Your experience will be monitored and assessed through a credit bearing work based learning module that will count towards your final degree.
This module is portfolio based and will develop your ability to reflect on professional work related experiences and recognise the impact on your career development planning. Placements are not guaranteed, and students will have to invest considerable time and effort in their 2nd year in securing one, with the support of the dedicated Careers team.
Learning and assessment
For all taught modules your learning will be directed, supported and reinforced through a combination of lectures, tutorials, small group seminars, virtual learning environment activities and guided private studies. Generally, for each module, you will attend one lecture and one tutorial each week during which you will be in direct contact with teaching staff.
The School of Management is committed to demonstrating the relevance of taught material to real business problems; you can expect to see guest industry lectures and the use of real industry sponsored business problems for assessment purposes.
Methods of assessment vary according to the learning outcomes of particular modules and the stage of study. Accordingly, a mixture of examinations, essays, group work and presentations will be used in assessment of your work.
Career prospects
The programme opens up a wide range of career paths. Recent graduates have progressed into roles such as:
- Accountant
- Account Manager
- Digital Analyst
- Financial Support Adviser
- Graduate Trainee
- Programmer
Career support
The University is committed to helping students develop and enhance employability and this is an integral part of many programmes. Specialist support is available throughout the course from Career and Employability Services including help to find part-time work while studying, placements, vacation work and graduate vacancies. Students are encouraged to access this support at an early stage and to use the extensive resources on the Careers website.
Discussing options with specialist advisers helps to clarify plans through exploring options and refining skills of job-hunting. In most of our programmes there is direct input by Career Development Advisers into the curriculum or through specially arranged workshops.
AWS Academy program from Amazon Web Services (AWS)
The School of Management has joined the prestigious worldwide AWS Academy program from Amazon Web Services (AWS). All students will be given an opportunity to enhance their employability skills, helping to make them ready for the world of work.
AWS Academy is a global program that provides educational institutions with access to cloud computing content to support student learning in a competitive digital workplace. As a member of the AWS Academy, the University of Bradford will help students become proficient and certified in the use of AWS technologies and ready to join the dynamic cloud IT workforce.
All learners will have the opportunity to seek professional certification with the skills gained through AWS Academy content, delivered by University staff that are AWS Academy accredited.
Career Booster
During your time studying at the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences you will have the opportunity to take part in our distinctive career booster programme throughout the duration of your course. The programme is designed to equip you with the necessary skills and graduate attributes to be job-ready when seeking employment with leading innovative organisations. The Career Booster Programme offers you the opportunity to gain certificates in:
- The European Computer Driving License (ECDL) - the benchmark for digital literacy
- Sage 50 Accounting and Sage 50 Payroll - training that will allow you to develop leading accounting and payroll software skills
- Project Manager Professional certificates - giving you the edge when seeking to become a Certified Project Manager
- Big Data analysis and reporting skills - using Software and Services (SAS) that will lead to certification.
In addition, the programme will also include activities to promote teamwork, confidence, communication and many other skills sought by employers.
Developing a portfolio of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Certificates will demonstrate to employers that you are not only ambitious but also take responsibility for your own professional development.
Study abroad
A study abroad year is a fantastic opportunity to broaden your horizons, build connections with people from different backgrounds and cultures, and strengthen your skills and experience to make you stand out in the job market.
We have opportunities for students to study, work or volunteer in more than 150 countries across the world and will support you every step of the way.
Study support
You will be allocated a Personal Academic Tutor, who will provide you with personal guidance and support.
Module leaders and tutors are accessible, providing office hours and appointments in order to support your learning beyond class contact.
The Effective Learning Service (ELS) is a dedicated facility within the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences, established to support our students to maximise their academic learning (e.g assignments and examinations) as well as help overseas students adapt quickly to UK academic requirements.
The ELS provides a huge range of services, including various workshops run during term time, 1-1 consultations and vast printed and online resources to cater for every possible development area
These are in addition to the wide range of students support that are offered by the University of Bradford at the City Campus.
Research
You will be taught by research-active teaching staff. This means you will have access to the latest knowledge and tools in the areas of accounting and finance.
The final year dissertation module will allow you to develop a research topic in an area of Accounting or finance of your choice.