Banking Practice and Management

What's the Banking Practice and Management course about?

The BSc (Hons) in Banking Practice and Management is linked to the many years of experience held by ifs University College in educating banking professionals and our understanding of the banking and financial services industry. The programme covers the essential understanding needed for a successful career in banking and financial services management.

It reflects what employers tell us they are looking for from potential recruits. In the year one, you will develop your knowledge of the workings of the banking and financial sector covering organizational and financial market viewpoints. You will gain a grounding in essential concepts of risk that underpin financial decision making at every level and appreciation of different customer groups and their financial needs.

Year 2 builds your understanding of the commercial environment banks operate in, the principles of management and organizational effectiveness. There is an opportunity to build specialist knowledge in retail or corporate financial services or to undertake a work placement within the industry.

Year 3 focuses on developing and embedding core strategic concepts, enhancing decision-making ability and growing the detailed industry knowledge that is essential for a successful management career in banking and financial services. Throughout the course, you will have the opportunity to be introduced to, and interact with financial services employers through visits, industry speakers, and practical workshop activities.

The BSc (Hons) in Banking Practice and Management is studied through a series of core, compulsory and option modules, to give you an essential understanding of the industry as a whole and the ability to tailor your learning to subjects of interest and your career aspirations. Each module is taught through a variety of lectures and tutorials by our lecturers. Throughout the programme, senior industry practitioners will give guest lectures and seminars and provide insight on the latest developments in the industry.

The course is assessed through a number of tasks, usually up to 3 per module and scheduled across throughout in the year. Tasks are based on industry scenarios and are practical in many of the modules. Development, self-reflection, awareness, and evaluation of own skills are built into tasks to enable you to reflect and develop further. Assessments also include elements of self and peer group assessments.

A range of assessment tools will be used including written and multiple-choice examinations; coursework in the form of written assessments, reports and projects, case studies and business proposals; and, in the final year, dissertation.

Advanced Work-based Learning

For this module student performance, as demonstrated in their final reflective report, will be assessed against the module learning outcomes and the assessment criteria published in the WBL guidelines

Examples of final assessments include:

• Role play based interviewing and appraisals
• Work-based research on a chosen topic such as Cost analysis of a company
• Academic business reports investigating the financial performance of an organization
• Business presentations including Business proposals & ratio analysis outlining performance
• Financial analysis and interpretation, construction and evaluation of financial statements
• Business meetings and discussions of financial issues
• Essay's such as comparing & contrasting management philosophies
• Portfolio development to assess practical skills developed in work roles
• Personal Development Plan file identifying skills development and areas to improve
• Verbal discussion and evaluation such as your response to deep questioning around a topic
• Written examination
• Computer-based tests including Interpretation of financial spread-sheet information
• Research e.g. Detailed analysis of forthcoming financial legislation or journals