Course specification and structure
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UDACTFNC - BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance (Top-up)

Course Specification


Validation status Validated
Highest award Bachelor of Arts Level Honours
Possible interim awards
Total credits for course 120
Awarding institution London Metropolitan University
Teaching institutions London Metropolitan University, SAA Global Education PTE, Singapore
School Guildhall School of Business and Law
Subject Area Business and Management
Attendance options
Option Minimum duration Maximum duration
Full-time 1 YEARS 2 YEARS
Part-time 2 YEARS 4 YEARS
Course leader  

About the course and its strategy towards teaching and learning and towards blended learning/e-learning

This course provides great opportunity to those who have studied Accounting & Finance or/and other equivalent courses and those with relevant work experience who now want to develop their Accounting & Financial management skills. With a duration of 1 year (full time), this programme offers substantial professional experience and academic knowledge to those who have the relevant qualification and/or work experience equivalent to the completion of our level 5 BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance course.

The level 6 modules in this course will be taught through lectures, seminars and workshops. Lectures convey the general overview and outlines of the principles and knowledge relevant to each module. The seminars are built around student activity in response to a set of prepared tasks that require students to apply knowledge, discuss and critically analyse issues in Accounting and Finance. The workshops provide a flexible platform for students to practice what they have covered in the lecture/seminar and use of professional software relevant to the subject area. Students will be expected to prepare for the workshops/seminars using a variety of learning resources that will include textbook, module handout/Weblearn site including learning/stimulus materials, references to sources in the learning centre, and materials available on academically reputable internet sites

The course team works with professional bodies and use approved guidance to develop students’ technical skills appropriate to the subject benchmark. These include, where appropriate, information technology, numeracy, technical language and current practices, contemporary theory, technical and qualitative/quantitative analyses techniques.

Teaching, learning and assessment methods ensure that practical knowledge is developed through lectures and practiced, with guidance in seminars. Direct teaching is supported through textbooks, journal articles and electronic sources, with every component being supported with its own web site. The knowledge developed and subsequent understanding is assessed in a variety of ways, including reports, essays presentations, group work and unseen examination. The teaching, learning and assessment methods are compatible with the professional bodies requirements.

Intellectual skills, identified in the subject benchmarks are developed throughout the courses. These include critical evaluation of arguments and evidence, the ability to analyse and draw reasoned conclusions from a given set of data, the ability to locate, extract and analyse data from multiple sources, including the referencing of sources. Independent and self-managed learning is encouraged and the capacity to develop these skills is developed from the earliest stages of the courses. Participants are required to develop these essential skills, as they are key components to both academic and lifelong learning.

Participants are encouraged to engage in their own learning in the subject. This is achieved by relating as much as possible to the real and practical world scenario. This enables participants to understand the relevance of the subject to their own lives, and to the lives of others. Students are able to experience a real-world business environment through the compulsory work-related learning element in the final year of their course programme.

The core modules of the course satisfy some of the requirements of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) and the Association of International Accountants (AIA). Students can use the Level 6 option modules on the course to gain further exemptions. Although this programme is aimed to provide a final year top-up opportunity, students may be able to claim exemptions, by themselves, from what they have studied in the past. For this course, accreditation through London Metropolitan University can only be permitted based on the agreed framework with the professional bodies, which encompasses some of the level 6 modules.

Course aims

The overall aims of this course are the following:

This course aims to provide the opportunity to study the major and advanced disciplines in accounting and finance course cohort at level 6. It gives the opportunity to relate theories, principles and practices to the current accounting & business environment. It also aims to provide a sound understanding of professional, managerial or business career and to help students understand current thinking, analyse current problems in accounting and finance and help them deal with the rapidly changing business environment. In terms of the career perspective, this top-up course is able to enhance students’ employability and/or gain admission to a PG programme or study for a professional qualification. Students can use the Level 6 option modules on the course to gain some professional bodies exemptions. With the help of one of the highly specialised modules, the audit and assurance module, the course provides an understanding of the process of audit review and the reporting functions within the regulatory frameworks and professional and ethical dimensions. The course also have a dimension that provides students the opportunity to critically evaluate the arguments and the manners in which evidence can be obtained in accounting and finance. Consequently, this approach helps learners to develop the self-managed learning skills to help them engage in professional reflections.

Course learning outcomes

On successful completion of the BA (Hons) Accounting & Finance (Top-Up) course, students will be able to achieve the following objectives:

Knowledge and understanding

1. Develop ability of critical examination of advanced financial reporting practice and techniques from a UK and International perspective.

2. Understand how to construct a consolidated statement of financial position and income statement for groups of companies in compliance with relevant accounting standards.

3. Apply knowledge, understanding and skills learnt at Certificate and Intermediate levels, essentially taking a strategic standpoint, and thereby providing an appropriate foundation for higher studies.

4. Have a critical understanding of the corporate social reporting, corporate governance and ethical issues involved in accounting.

5. Perform a range of advanced techniques in the context of current international financial reporting practice and articulate the current debates on issues and controversies in reporting in the UK and internationally.

6. Develop skills, in particular: academic writing skills, problem solving and decision-making skills, application of knowledge and data presentation skills, numeracy/ quantitative methods skills.

7. Develop students’ intellectual abilities, self-confidence and ability to study independently using a range of teaching, learning and assessment methods.

8. Have a critical understanding of the corporate social reporting, corporate governance and ethical issues involved in accounting.


Subject specific skills

1. Develop the skills and critically evaluate the internal and external audit review and risk management in the context of the wider strategic, ethical, professional and environmental developments in the UK and international audit and assurance services frameworks.

2. Prepare financial statements in compliance with external reporting requirements.

3. Communicate financial information, both quantitative and qualitative to different audiences in a variety of idioms. Acknowledge and reference sources correctly in written work.

4. Work independently, take responsibility for their own work and manage their time effectively.

5. Maintain computerised accounting records using Sage Accounting system.

Transferable skills

1. Communicate ideas, principles, theories and information effectively by oral, written and visual means.

2. Demonstrate their ability to work within a professional framework and apply that framework to the political and theoretical debates about the changing uses of accounting information. The ethical implications of the use of data follow from this.

3. Work effectively as part of a group, or independently.

4. Evaluate the appropriateness of data for alternate purposes and handle complex data.

Intellectual skills

1. Critically evaluate intellectual discussion, scholarly research, arguments and evidence.

2. Develop the ability to analyse and draw reasoned conclusions concerning structured and unstructured problems from a given set of data.

3. Manipulate financial and non-financial information for short- and long-term decision-making.

5. Analyse corporate finance decisions and critically evaluate the decision making process.

6. Identify problem areas in current financial reporting practice.

Course learning outcomes / Module cross reference

Please check the Course Handbook for this item.

Principle QAA benchmark statements

Accounting

Assessment strategy

There are a variety of assessment tools used in the core and option modules. Students will be provided with the opportunity to demonstrate their writing skills through writing essays and reports. They will demonstrate their presentation skills in a number of modules, which in turn will prepare them for the employment market on completion of the course. They will demonstrate their numeracy and IT skills through analysing company financial data using relevant software. Some modules use more traditional methods of assessment, such as closed book examinations in order to gain professional body exemption.

Organised work experience, work based learning, sandwich year or year abroad

Students are able to experience a real-world business environment through the compulsory work-related learning element in the final year of their course programme.

Course specific regulations

In order to pass the course, the core and option modules must be passed with a minimum overall mark of 40% and a minimum mark of 35% in each component of assessment. This is to meet the exemption requirements by the professional bodies.
As part of our Undergraduate Student Promise, every student will benefit from accredited work-related learning/learning through work as an option element within the study programme. Those who have completed a work related module during their previous studies at level 4/5 may claim exemption but they are required to take another 15 credit module to complete the course with a total of 120 credit.

Modules required for interim awards

Core Modules
1) AC6006: Advanced Financial Accounting
2) AC6007: Financial Management
3) AC6P08: Issues and Controversies in Accounting & Finance

Optional Modules
1) AC6062: Assurance Services
2) AC6063: International Corporate Social Responsibility
3) MN6068: Financial Decision Making for Managers
4) BA6052: Project Management
5) FE6052: Personal Finance
6) MN6W55: Learning through Work-2

All the three core modules must be taken with two of the above option modules to gain UG award.

Arrangements for promoting reflective learning and personal development

The reflective learning and personal development planning are presumed to have been developed in the students’ previous studies at level 4 and level 5 and through work experiences. This will culminate in a reflective statement and employability portfolio in the Level 6 project module, Current Issues in Accounting and Finance. The level 6 students are advanced who gained skills through previous academic studies, vocational studies and work experiences. Therefore, the independent and self-managed learning is developed but students are encouraged to continue developing these skills throughout the academic year. Through the module “Issues and controversies in Accounting and Finance”, participants are encouraged to identify relevant issues and engage in reflecting through assessments, presentations and classroom discussions. The critical evaluation and critical thinking approach in addressing these issues enable them to understand the relevance of the subject to their own lives, and to the lives of others. For students who are joining the course at level 6 without work experience or those who have not completed a WRL module at level 5/6, the option module (MN6W55 – Learning through Work) enables them to undertake a short period of professional activity either part-time/vacation employment; short period work placement; not-for profit sector volunteering or a professional project led by an employment. The option module allows students to build on previous work and learning experience and enables them to develop personal and employability skills that require the application of subject matter knowledge and relevant literature. The students will be supported in developing better understanding of themselves, and the work environment through reflective and reflexive learning in reference to the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement relevant to this course (as also stated on the module specification).

Other external links providing expertise and experience

Professional body requirements

Career, employability and opportunities for continuing professional development

In the past, our graduates have found work with companies such as Bank of England, CIMA, Angel Finance, BBC, Grant Thornton, Hays Agency, Hartley Fowler LLP, The Courtauld Institute of Art and the Royal Opera House. To create a platform for employers to meet our level 6 students, the University provides talks from guest speakers from both national and international organisations and career/skill development specialists. These sessions give students the opportunity to learn more about future career paths and strategies to pursue their own career aspirations. Students are also encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities including involvement in peer coaching of students, receiving professional mentoring, volunteering in the not-for-profit sector, joining or setting up student society and national competitions/ activities including the IBM University Business Challenge and Amnesty International Raise Off.

Career opportunities

Opportunities for qualified accountants are extensive and our graduates have found work with companies such as Angel Finance, the BBC, Grant Thornton, Hays Agency, Hartley Fowler LLP, the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Royal Opera House.

Entry requirements

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have one of the following:

  • 240 credits from a Higher National Diploma (HND), a foundation degree (FdA/FdSc) or equivalent international qualification in a relevant subject
  • 240 credits from years 1 and 2 of an undergraduate degree (BA/BSc) in a relevant subject at a different institution

To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Tier 4 student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.

If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.

Official use and codes

Approved to run from 2019/20 Specification version 1 Specification status Validated
Original validation date 30 Sep 2019 Last validation date 30 Sep 2019  
Sources of funding HE FUNDING COUNCIL FOR ENGLAND
JACS codes 100105 (accounting): 50% , 100107 (finance): 50%
Route code ACTFNC

Course Structure

Stage 1 Level 06 September start Not currently offered

Code Module title Info Type Credits Location Period Day Time
AC6006 Advanced Financial Accounting Core 30        
AC6007 Financial Management Core 30        
AC6P08 Issues and Controversies in Accounting and Finance Core 30        
AC6062 Assurance Services Option 15        
AC6063 International Corporate Social Responsibility Option 15        
BA6052 Project Management Option 15        
FE6052 Personal Finance Option 15        
MN6068 Financial Decision Making for Managers Option 15        
MN6W55 Learning through Work 2 Option 15