Finance with Placement Year

As financial markets across the world grow more closely connected, this specialist degree develops the quantitative and analytical skills you’ll need to pursue a career in the financial services industry.

We combine academic excellence, insightful research and business connections, equipping you with the tools to become an innovative business thinker in your career and beyond. Learning from expert lecturers and guest speakers, the degree will give you a taste of real-world finance.  

This four-year degree includes a placement year to give you a real-world taste of work. The placement is a valuable opportunity to gain first-hand industry experience and start building a network of business contacts in preparation for graduation.

Practical learning is central to the course, with access to our cutting-edge Financial Trading Lab equipped with Bloomberg Terminals, giving students hands-on experience with industry-standard tools.

As an alternative to the placement route, you have the option to complete the degree in three years or spend a year abroad. 

In your first year, you will learn the core principles of finance, build essential quantitative skills, and gain a solid understanding of economic and accounting concepts that enable you to analyze firm performance and evaluate key business decisions. You will also explore key ethical aspects of financial institutions and financial decision making.

In your second year, you’ll build on your skills in quantitative and economic analysis, learn more about corporate finance, and discover how financial institutions and markets operate, as well as how securities are priced.

In your third year you engage in a business placement. More information on the placement year can be found in the Careers, Employability and Enterprise Hub.

In your final year, you will have the flexibility to select optional modules that match your interests and career goals. Additionally, a dissertation on a finance topic of your choice will account for one-third of your overall marks.

Course structure

Year 1 modules

Core modules:

Foundations of Finance

introduces the key principles of corporate finance and their importance to firms. From bonds and stocks to capital structure and dividend policy, it provides you with a solid grounding in issues of finance as they relate to the business and financial markets.

Financial Valuation and Analysis

covers the use of financial statements to analyse firms’ financial performance and risk to aid financial decision making and the valuation of businesses and alternative investment securities.

Quantitative Methods 1

provides you with a rigorous introduction to the fundamental mathematical techniques you will need throughout your degree.

Quantitative Methods 2

introduces the analytical and statistical techniques widely used in finance and business.

Introduction to Financial Economics

examines the basic principles of economics of microeconomics and macroeconomics in a financial context. The study of subjects like market structure, fiscal policy, stock market and economic growth will provide a solid foundation for modules in micro- and macroeconomics.

Global Financial Systems and Markets

develops your knowledge of the operations of financial institutions within the global financial system and the products and services these institutions provide; the markets in which financial institutions operate and that facilitate financial intermediation; and the purpose and scope of financial oversight and regulation.

Optional modules:

In recent years optional modules have included:

Ethics and Finance

introduces students to the ethical and social dimensions of financial activities and systems.

Year 2 modules

Core modules:

Corporate Finance

provides theoretical knowledge and practical understanding of key theories in finance and corporate policy decisions.

Intermediate Financial Economics

develops knowledge and understanding of international macroeconomic analysis, performance and its importance for the business community.

Financial Econometrics 1

teaches you about statistics and business models in preparation for a project in applied financial econometrics. It equips you with the mathematical, statistical and analytical skills required to interpret literature in business finance and provides a strong foundation for higher level study.

Financial Technology

introduces you to contemporary financial technologies related to financial markets and institutions. You will learn frameworks and obtain skills needed to understand and critically evaluate core concepts in financial technology.

Derivative Markets

helps you develop knowledge and understanding of theoretical concepts of derivative securities as well as pricing and practical application of derivative securities in financial markets. You will also develop the ability to evaluate academic literature in derivative markets.

Programming for Finance

introduces you to programming for finance and its applications in data collection and financial data analysis.

Banking

covers key concepts in banking and the purpose of banks as financial intermediaries. You will learn frameworks and obtain skills needed to understand and critically evaluate core concepts in banking.

Optional modules:

In recent years optional modules have included:

• Corporate Governance
• Entrepreneurial Finance

Year 3 modules

Core modules:

Placement

Year 3 is spent on placement. A minimum of 40 weeks of work experience is an opportunity to put learning from the first two years into practice. The skills and professional network gained during the placement year will give you a head start with graduate employers.

Year 4 modules

Core modules:

Security Investment Analysis

provides a thorough grounding in investment and portfolio management, focusing on theoretical concepts and practical applications.

Dissertation

develops your ability to plan and manage your own learning. It provides you with an opportunity to research the topic and present your findings and conclusions.

Optional modules:

Optional modules:

In recent years optional modules have included:

• Computational Quantitative Finance
• Behavioural Finance
• Financial Econometrics 2
• Financial Technology
• Financial Derivatives and Financial Engineering
• Real Estate Finance

Students can apply to be transferred onto either the with  Year Abroad or with Placement pathway. Places on these pathways are in high demand and if you are chosen your studies will extend from three years to four or four to five depending on course.