BSc Accounting and Finance

Mode of Attendance: Full-time

This programme is ideal for students whose ambition is to pursue a career in accounting, banking, investments, auditing, taxation, and other finance-related strategic roles in business.

You will learn how to analyse financial statements, how to critically evaluate investment opportunities, how to design financial plans, and how to make strategic decisions in the areas of accounting, banking, finance and investments.

Our teaching offers you exceptional insights into financial institutions and markets in London and other major cities in the world. In addition, we offer specialist knowledge of financial and management systems in the emerging markets of Africa, Asia and the Middle East – something that will set you apart from graduates of other universities that normally focus on the analysis of Europe and the Americas.

By joining this programme, you will become a member of the world-leading Centre for Global Finance at SOAS University of London and participate in high-profile events and weekly seminars. This will provide you with the opportunity to exchange ideas with leading scholars, practitioners and policymakers who shape local and global developments today.

Why study BSc Accounting and Finance at SOAS

Learn from world-class financial experts

• We are ranked 2 in London and 11 in the UK for Business and Management by the Guardian University League Tables 2019.
• We are the hub of bespoke professors in accounting and finance, who have extensive academic and practitioner experiences in banking, investments, industry, and A-list International Organisations.
• We have the Centre for Global Finance (CGF), a world-leading research centre in finance, which hosts cutting-edge research projects that involve students and a global network of experts in generating innovative solutions to real-time challenges.

Obtain real-world skills, right here in London, the global financial hub

• You will be equipped with skills, competencies and capabilities to prepare you for professional tasks in key areas such as financial accounting, management accounting, financial management, financial reporting, auditing, and taxation.
• On successful completion of the BSc Accounting and Finance programme, students may apply for exemption from respective modules of ACCA and CIMA professional accounting qualifications, supported by testimonials provided by our leading professors.
• SOAS is in close proximity to the City of London, the leading financial centre in the world, with 75% of the top global companies based in the city, 100% of leading financial institutions represented, and 200 + foreign banks

Benefit from language support and diverse optional modules

• We are proud of our specialists in the delivery of languages, well over one hundred years.
• Your command of a language at SOAS will give you a competitive advantage in global job market.
• You will be able to flexibly structure your programme using our programme optional modules and/or our open options modules from other departments.

Employment

Graduates will have a firm grasp of accounting and financial management disciplines that should place them in a good position to pursue a career in accounting, banking, auditing, investments, taxation and other finance-related strategic roles in business. Students who attain a first or upper second class degree will be well-placed to embark on postgraduate study. The School of Finance and Management Studies maintains close links with employers in the United Kingdom and its focus regions; the Centre for Global Finance has solid international links with multinational firms, governments and multilateral financial institutions.

Our graduates have taken up work in a wide range of organisations, including:

• Deloitte
• Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
• KPMG
• Euro Monitor International
• Santander
• Investec
• HM Treasury
• Western Securities Co. Ltd
• Nomura
• UBS

Types of roles that graduates have gone on to do include:

• Trainee Chartered Accountant
• Business Relationship Manager
• Financial Analyst
• Investment Banker
• Market Research Executive
• Management Consultant
• Vice-President
• Foreign Exchange Trading Business Manager
• Deputy Chief Executive Officer
• Events Manager

Structure

Students take 120 credits each year.

The programme has been designed so that second and third-year modules build on modules taken in the first year.

Year 1

Core Modules

• Introduction to accounting
• Understanding company accounts and reports
• Quantitative and analytical techniques for managers
• Introduction to Public Sector Accounting
• Organisational Behaviour
• Principles of Management
• Business Law

Year 2

Core Modules

• Managerial accounting
• Fundamentals of Corporate Finance
• Financial Accounting
• Analysing Company Financial Statements
• Research Methods in Accounting and Finance
• Managerial economics

plus

Choose modules to the value of 30 credits from List A below.

Year 3

Core Modules

• Financial Markets and Instruments
• Taxation
• Corporate Financial Reporting
• Audit and Assurance
• Financial strategy
• Independent study project in international management

plus

Choose modules to the value of 15 credits from List B below.

List of modules (subject to availability)

List A - Year 2

• International business strategy
• Qualitative and case study research
• Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

List B - Year 3

• Finance in China
• Finance in Japan and Korea
• Finance in the Middle East and North Africa
• International human resource management

Important notice

The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session.

Admissions and Applications

To apply for an undergraduate degree at SOAS (including students wishing to transfer from another university) you must apply through the UK's central universities application organization, UCAS. An application form and details of courses can be found on their website. UCAS charges an applicant's fee for handling the application.

You can apply to up to five choices of higher education institutions or course on the UCAS form. How you utilise the choice is up to you. In other words, you could apply to do the same subject, for example, economics, at five different universities, or five different courses at the same university, or any combination of subject and institution. Nor do you have to use up all five choices. Whatever you choose you should list your choices in the order they appear in the UCAS handbook.

Entry Requirements

• Subjects Preferred: Applicants without A-level Maths (or equivalent) must have a minimum of Grade B in GCSE Maths.
• A-Levels: AAB - ABB
  GCSE Maths B (grade 6 in the new structure)
• IB: 35 (665 at HL)

Alternative entry requirements

• BTEC: DDM
• Access to HE: Minimum of 30 Level 3 Credits at Distinction
• Scottish Highers: AAABB
• Scottish Advanced Highers: AAB
• Irish LC: 340 points from 5 Higher level subjects at grade C1 or above
• Advanced Placement: 4 5 5 (Two semesters - UCAS Group A) plus US HSGD with GPA 3.0
• Euro Bacc: 80%
• French Bacc: 14/20
• German Abitur: 2.0
• Italy DES: 80/100
• Austria Mat: 2.0
• Polish Mat: Overall 75% including 3 extended level subjects

English Language Entry Requirements

You must be able to show that your English is of a high enough standard to successfully engage with and complete your course at SOAS. Please note that we take our English language requirements seriously and failure to meet them exactly may well result in your application to SOAS being rejected. It is not possible to negotiate if your scores are below our required levels, with the expectation that because they are 'close enough' they will be accepted. It is important that you plan appropriately, well in advance, so that your English language test comes in good time and so that you have time to retake the test if necessary. We do not accept reasons of inconvenience or financial hardship for not submitting or retaking an English test.

International students

For EU and International students who need a visa, if unconditional entry scores are achieved we accept qualifications from several countries, as well as a range of international qualifications and tests.

If a Tier 4 entry visa is required then a SELT, such as UKVI IELTS may be needed. For this reason, we recommend all Tier 4 visa students to choose the UKVI IELTS Academic test as the test of first resort.