UDBANKFY - BSc (Hons) Banking and Finance (including foundation year)

The BSc Banking and Finance (including foundation year) programme aims to foster life-long learning among students and to provide a springboard into employment in the graduate labour market. The course is designed to prepare students for a career in the banking and finance industry in London, Europe or further afield.

The course uses the Bloomberg suite for teaching delivery and assessment tasks and enables students to join the elite group of Bloomberg users around the world. The course also enables the development of expertise in the use of packages such as Eviews, Stata, SPSS and Business Simulation to analyse economic and financial data.

The course provides students with the broad range of skills they need to secure and retain employment in the highly competitive labour market. The academic depth and breadth of this undergraduate programme provide highly relevant subject specific knowledge and transferable skills. Students also develop their cognitive skills, problem solving, quantitative and IT competence, and effective oral and written communication skills.

Students are able to gain experience of a real-world business environment through the compulsory work-related learning module options which can be selected by students in Level 5 of their course programme.

The course adopts an approach to teaching and learning based on practices that have been agreed across undergraduate courses at Guildhall School of Business and Law, and aims to develop knowledge, subject-specific skills and transferable skills necessary for students to become confident, creative & connected professionals.

This course provides students with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of theory, methods and application in Banking and Finance and develops their ability to use critical reasoning in a variety of contexts.

Students’ learning is initiated and directed through formal contact time with the teaching team in lectures and seminars. Students are encouraged to develop their learning through individual and group activity in class and through reading, writing, problem-solving and other learning activity outside class. Students learn both individually and in groups and use case studies, presentations and exercises to develop and demonstrate their understanding. Critical thinking is developed throughout the course.

Numerical and statistical skills are introduced and developed in core quantitative modules at levels 3, 4 and 5 and the application of these methods is supported and enhanced in other core modules. Students learn how to obtain, manipulate and interpret key financial data and they are able to extend quantitative and research skills at level 6 in the project module and through option choice.

Practical skills are developed through the use of student presentations in seminars/tutorials, and through independent activities undertaken by students who reflect on, develop and present work for informal assessment by the tutor. Initiative and independence are developed progressively through the four levels of the course, so that students learn to take greater responsibility for their work, culminating in their level 6 project.

With respect to blended learning: all modules make use of virtual learning environment platforms (WebLearn) in which module lecture material, course handbooks and other material are made available. Other ICT resources include links to key web resources, on-line learning games, test questions and previous examples of assessments with feedback.

An inclusive learning environment anticipates the varied requirements of learners, while raising aspirations and supporting achievement for people with diverse requirements, entitlements and backgrounds.

BSc Banking and Finance (including foundation year) course aims:

1: Our graduates will have the confidence needed to take leadership decisions in challenging situations.

2: Our graduates will possess the necessary communication skills that will help them adopt a global and multicultural perspective in their professional context.

3: Our graduates will be cognisant of the effects of the social and environmental effects of their decision, and will remain active citizens of the places they live and work.

4: Our graduates will demonstrate application of creative thinking skills to practical problems, and possess the analytical and organizational skills to translate creative ideas to operational solutions

5: Our graduates will have sufficient knowledge in the core discipline areas included in their Banking and Finance course.

The University learning outcome that cuts across the entirety of the London Metropolitan University provision, and thus, the BSc (Hons) Banking and Finance (including foundation year), is:

On completion of this course, students will be able to: demonstrate confidence, resilience, ambition and creativity and will act as inclusive, collaborative and socially responsible professionals in their discipline (ULO)

Thus, upon graduating with an honours degree in Banking and Finance, students will be able to:

1. Have the confidence needed to take leadership decisions in challenging situations (LO1).

2. Possess the necessary communication skills that will help them adopt a global and multicultural perspective in their professional context.

3. Be cognisant of the effects of the social and environmental of their decisions and will remain active citizens of the places they live and work.

4. Appreciate the nature of the context and institutional framework in which finance operates, demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the main theories used in banking and finance, and relate empirical evidence to finance theory in relevant areas, with an understanding of the significance and limitations of such evidence

5. Understand and appraise the financial needs of business entities; the principles of personal investment; the workings of capital markets; the relationship between risk and return; and the nature and use of financial derivatives

6. Apply relevant theory in structured situations from given data generated for the purpose, interpret financial data and carry out statistical and financial analysis

7. Understand and evaluate the economic, political, regulatory and social environments in which finance and financial services operates, and the ethical considerations embedded in these operations

8. Demonstrate possession of cognitive abilities, subject-specific skills and transferable skills necessary to become confident, creative and connected banking and finance professionals and citizens.

Finance (2019)

A range of assessment methods are used across each level of the course, reflecting the range of learning outcomes at each level and the diversity of learning styles amongst students. In each module the assessments methods chosen are those best-suited to measuring the achievement of that particular module’s learning outcomes.

For instance, essays are used in modules where learning outcomes include the development of writing skills, referencing, synthesis and critical evaluation. Group work is used in modules where co-operative skills are being developed. Case studies are employed where students are learning how to apply financial analysis to particular scenarios or organisations. Other methods or assessment include: individual presentations, coursework problem sets and mini-projects, group reports, in-class tests, seen and unseen exams.

Priority is given to methods of assessment consistent with timely formative feedback, either in the development stage of the work or as soon as possible after the assessment has been completed.
On some modules formative feedback on drafts of essays may be provided before essays are handed in. The University aims to provide feedback on the first assessment component within two weeks of submission, and for subsequent assessment components within three weeks of submission.

Unseen and seen examinations are also seen as an important tool for assessing the achievement of learning outcomes and the maintenance of academic standards.

As part of our Undergraduate Student Promise, every student will undertake accredited work-related learning.

Students have the opportunity to take a 30 credit 12-month sandwich work-placement module before commencing their final year of study (which would extend the course to five years). Students who do not take this sandwich work-placement year will take at least one Work-Related Module i.e., MN5W50 or MN5W55 in Level 5, enabling them to learn and enhance their practical business skills and experience; thus they will have the option of taking the “Create a Winning Business” or “Learning Through Work” 15 credit module in the second year of the course programme.

Work-related learning provides students with:
● the experience of a competitive recruitment process or pitching for an opportunity
● a work-related experience or project which impacts a real organisation
● assessment and feedback on their reflections on their experience of the work-related learning and planning for their future career.

Where required, students will be supported in finding suitable opportunities which can be either be a placement, part-time role or ’live’ project for an external organisation untaken within the University. We have dedicated placements and careers teams who will assist learners with all aspects of their job search and application. The suitability of the opportunities will be assessed by the Module Leader on an individual basis. It is the student’s responsibility to apply for opportunities and engage with the relevant University personnel who to assist them in gaining a suitable role.

Learners may be able to utilise their existing part-time / vacation employment (whether or not this relates to their subject area), providing they can demonstrate that it is personally developmental and involves responsibility (decided upon submission of the role details by the Module Leader).

The course draws on external links with banking and finance practitioners in the City and elsewhere in the UK. These links give rise to University and GSBL guest lectures, external speaker seminars and other meetings of interest to undergraduate students. These events throughout the course provide opportunities for students to gain knowledge and experience from outside the University.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The course includes the option to take a paid 30-credit Work Placement module at level 6 or sandwich year (subject to approval of the Placement and Employability Office) which would extend the course to 5 years including the placement year. Students must seek advice on funding implications of extending their course to five years.
Students are encouraged to seek advice and guidance on fees and funding from the University’s team of specialist advisers and the University’s fees and funding webpages.

Modules are required to be taken as indicated in the course structure. Where a student is taking no more than 90 credits in an academic year within the maximum permissible time limit, they may be designated as Part Time.

There are no course specific regulations.

Modules are required to be taken as indicated in the course structure.

Students are encouraged to reflect on their personal development throughout the course. They are introduced to personal development planning in the academic skills seminars in BA3005 Using and managing data and information and MN3102 The Context of Business
at level 3, and in FE4051 Introduction to Financial Markets and Institutions at level 4 and they are thereafter encouraged to plan the development of their skills and employability throughout their course.

Students are provided with support for the development and reflection on professional skills and develop their presentational and team-working skills in a number of modules across levels of study. Where particular skills are developed in particular modules, lecturers and course tutors make this process explicit to students to enhance reflection.

The language modules allow students the option of developing skills in languages such as German, French, Spanish or Arabic.

The final-year dissertation module requires students to carry out research and assessment work which incorporates work-based skills and professional standards.

QAA Frameworks for
Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) (2014)

Taking this course opens up a wide range of career opportunities. In the past BSc Banking and Finance graduates have found employment in financial institutions, international companies and public sector organisations. A sizeable proportion also progress to postgraduate study.

The Careers Development and Employment Service is a university-wide resource made available to students which provides information about labour market opportunities and career development.
Students are given a “Careers” talk during Welcome Week at the beginning of level 3. The University careers advisor then gives career presentations in core lectures in all four levels of the course and also runs careers and CV forums which students are encouraged to attend.

Students are also introduced to the local Careers and Employability team within the School and the placements service it provides. They are encouraged to plan early for their work-related learning module alterative core modules at Levels 5 to assist students in finding work placement opportunities. The course leader, with the support of academic staff contributing to the course, provides information about career opportunities, and the Careers and Employability team assists students to find beneficial part-time work and/or internships.

Guest speakers organised by the School of Business & Law and student societies bring students into contact with finance specialists and business managers from both national and international organisations. These meetings give students the opportunity to know more about future career paths and the best strategies to pursue their own career aspirations.

In addition, students are 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 University Business Challenge.

The Student Enterprise team based at the University’s specialist off-campus business incubator, Accelerator, provides students with all the advice, support, networks, knowledge and resources to get started. Through one-to-one advice sessions, support and a number of programmes that run throughout the year, Accelerator has helped to launch student businesses and support student entrepreneurship.

This course will equip you to take on a range of roles in the banking and finance industry – both in London and beyond. Our graduates have gone on to find employment in HSBC, JP Morgan, Barclays, Deloitte, Google and a wide range of other global organisations.

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

• a minimum of 32 UCAS points
• English Language and Mathematics GCSE grade C/4 (or equivalent)

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.