UDACFINA - BA Accounting and Finance

About the course, its strategy towards teaching and learning and towards blended learning/e-learning:
BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance is a three-year course, which aims to provide students with the opportunity to study the major disciplines in accounting and finance and to relate these to the business environment. It also aims to provide a sound conceptual foundation for a professional, managerial or business career which will help to understand current thinking, analyse current problems in accounting and finance and deal with the rapidly changing business environment. It provides a thorough understanding of the multifaceted and diverse roles and functions that accountants perform in organisational settings.

The course will help students to access an extensive national and international network of industry contacts with the opportunity of optional work experience placement and projects that will enhance students’ employability. This course is taught by professionally and academically qualified lecturers with vast industry experience in the accounting and finance sectors including audit and assurance services, taxation, financial reporting, management accounting, the economic and business environment, data science research and analysis, business law and ethics, management information system, research methods, and dissertation. The course places particular emphasis on employability and the students will be supported to gain work related experience by completing relevant projects and optional work experience placements.

Students will be exposed to a broader range of professional accounting and finance disciplines including management accounting and financial management, financial accounting, company and busness law, principles of taxation (corporate and income), management information system, business law and ethics.

The majority of the modules will be taught through lectures and seminars, where lectures are designed to convey the broad outlines of knowledge pertinent to each module whilst the seminars are built around student activity in response to a set of prepared tasks that require students to apply knowledge, discuss and analysis. Students will be expected to prepare for the seminars using a variety of learning resources that will normally include textbook, module material/Weblearn sites including learning/stimulus materials, references to sources in the learning center, and materials available on academically reputable internet sites.

Technical skills are developed, with guidance from the professional bodies and QAA subject benchmark statements. These include, where appropriate, numeracy, technical language and current practices, contemporary theory, technical and qualitative analysis and dealing with empirical analysis of relevant material. Teaching, study and assessment methods ensure that practical knowledge is developed through lectures and practiced, with guidance in seminars. Direct teaching is supported through text books, journal articles and electronic sources, with every module being supported with its own Weblearn site. The knowledge developed and subsequent understanding is assessed in a variety of ways, including reports, essays, presentations, group work and unseen examinations. Intellectual skills, identified in the subject benchmarks are developed throughout the course. 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 course. Students are required to develop these essential skills as they are key components to both academic and lifelong learning. This is achieved by relating as much as possible to the real world. This enables participants to understand the relevance of the subject to their own lives, and to the lives of other. Students, and are able to experience a real-world business environment through work-related learning element embedded throughout the course.

Note: If there are not sufficient student numbers to make a module viable, the School reserves the right to cancel such a module. If the School cancels a module it will use its reasonable endeavours to provide a suitable alternative.

The course aims to deliver an academically rigorous programmed of study, which provides students with the opportunity to study the major disciplines in accounting and finance and to relate these to the business environment.

The course provides a sound conceptual foundation for a 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. It also enables them to understand and practice how the design, operation and use of accounting systems; information and traditions; techniques and regulations of accounting affect, and being affected by, the internal and external business environment.

Students will have knowledge and understanding of the role of accounting and finance as to how it effects the business and organisational key decisions to achieve effective and ethical management and its impact on the system and the society at large.

It will enable students to enhance their employability and/or gain admission to a Masters programme or study for a professional qualification. The core and option modules of the course provide exemptions to the relevant requirements (partial) of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales ( ICAEW ), the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy ( CIPFA ) and the Association of International Accountants (AIA) as well as the award of membership of the Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA).

The programme promotes the use of a range of teaching, learning and assessment methods, which develop the students’ intellectual abilities, self-confidence and ability to study independently.

The course has been devised with reference to the subject benchmark statement for Accounting (2025) developed by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

The University learning outcome that cuts across the entirety of the London Metropolitan University provision, and thus, the BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance, 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 honors degree in Accounting and Finance, students will typically:

UL0. Demonstrate confidence, resilience, ambition and creativity and will act as inclusive, collaborative and socially responsible practitioners/professionals in their discipline.

LO1: Have the confidence needed to take leadership decisions in challenging situations

LO2: Possess the necessary communication skills that will help them adopt a global and multicultural perspective in their professional context

LO3: 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

LO4: Demonstrate application of creative thinking skills to practical problems, and possess the analytical and organizational skills to translate creative ideas to operational solutions.

LO5: Have a wide knowledge and understanding of the broad range of areas of business and management and the detailed relationships between these and their application to practice relevant to the Accounting & Finance.

LO6: Consistently demonstrate a command of subject-specific skills as well as proficiency in generic skills and attributes.

LO7: Have a view of business and management that is relevant to Accounting & Finance and influenced by a wide range of learning sources, based on a proactive and independent approach to learning

LO8: Be distinguished from the basic standard (threshold) of achievement by their enhanced capacity to develop and apply their own perspectives to their studies, to deal with uncertainty and complexity, to explore alternative solutions.

L09: Able to demonstrate critical evaluation and to integrate Accounting/Finance theory and practice in a wide range of situations.

L10: Develop the soft skills – interpersonal, communication and emotional which will enable them to thrive in both personal and professional environment.

QAA Subject Benchmark Statement, Accounting (2025)

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 by 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. Some modules use more traditional methods of assessment, such as closed book examinations in order to gain professional body exemption.
Assessments are uploaded on weblearn by week four of the semester. Clear and detailed written guidelines as well a video on the requirements of the assessment are also uploaded. Once the material on the assessment is covered in class, tutors give guidance on preparing the assessment answers.
There are a range of formative assessments on all modules designed to enhance student skills development and prepare them for the summative assessments. Feedback will be provided on drafts of coursework prior to submitting their final work. The feedback can be provided in various forms: verbal (face to face), written on the draft work, Weblearn based and by email. All other forms of providing feedback will also be used based on accessibility and student circumstances to ensure that students receive the feedback and update their work to produce a better-quality coursework. Furthermore, individual and generic feedback (common errors identified from previous exam papers and mock exams) will be provided prior to the exam period. Mock examination are also held prior to closed book examinations.

Assessed work will be internally and externally moderated in accordance with the University’s policies and regulations as applicable.

The Level 4 core module (Learning through Organisations) provides the opportunity to deliver relevant skills that enhance their competence to become a business professional. This module will support them to start preparing them for future career by encouraging them to develop, put into practice and evidence the skills and behaviors that employers want to see. Furthermore, this module will help them to gain skills and understanding of the expected workplace knowledge, competencies, and attitudes to become business professionals.

The course draws on external links with accounting, banking and finance practitioners in the City and elsewhere in the UK such as, for example, Citisoft., RIIPEN, etc. These links may give rise to University and GSBL guest lectures, external speaker seminars, workshops, and other meetings of interest to undergraduate students. These events during the course provide opportunities for students to gain knowledge and experience from outside the University and enhance their employability

Assessed work experience modules provide students with practical experience and the opportunity to apply academic learning in real-world settings. They help develop key employability skills and offer valuable insight into industry practices and professional environments.
At Level 5, students can choose from three alternative core 15-credit work-based learning modules:
• MN5W55 Learning Through Work - For those looking to gain experience from undertaking and reflecting on work-based projects related to your career interest.
• MN5W50 Creating a Winning Business - Ideal for those seeking to understand how entrepreneurial knowledge can benefit those seeking employment or for those interested in how to be self-employed. Includes a short work-based project
• WL5W50 Empowering London: Working within the Community - For students interested in how societal issues affect London, including gaining work experience supporting a charity or community organisations.
Students can also apply for the option to extend their degree to a four-year programme by completing a full Year in Industry module (MN6W04) after successfully finishing Level 5. This provides in-depth, real-world experience, professional-level skills development, and opportunities to build networks, helping graduates stand out in a competitive job market.

Modules are required to be taken as indicated in section 22 above. 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.

The arrangements for promoting reflective learning and PDP are delivered through the Level 4 modules such as Learning through Organizations, the Level 5 modules such as Problem Solving: Methods and Analysis and the level 6 modules such as Dissertation that apply issues and controversies in Accounting and Finance. All have formative and summative assessments requiring varying degrees of critical self-evaluation and reflection in the context of accounting and finance professional practices.

Professional accountancy body requirements for specific exemptions.
QAA Framework for Higher Education Qualification (FHEQ) 2025

Employability and workplace skills are developed in a number of ways throughout the courses. The introduction of a core Level 4 module such as Learning through Organisations where each student will do a short work placement activity will assist in developing skills for the workplace. Career management is encouraged through reference to the relevant professional bodies, work experience and careers advice. We have a professional accountancy body panel briefing for final year students and presentations for all students integrated in to lectures throughout the year.
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. Additionally, these sessions boost students’ confidence, further their personal development and improve their key employability skills.
In addition, students are encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities including involvement in peer coaching of students, receiving academic mentoring, volunteering in the not-for-profit sector, joining or setting up student society and national competitions such as the Universities Business Challenge.

The Student Enterprise Team supports London Met students and graduates to bring ideas to life and develop skills for success in start-up, self-employment and freelancing. Through a range of events, activities and programmes, the Team can help everyone realise their entrepreneurial potential. One-to-one advice sessions and support programmes run throughout the year.

We also offer numerous opportunities for students to increase their employability skillset. For example, we offer programmes such as Gateway to Success. Further, we also offer support to write CVs. Students are encouraged to record their real-life experiences gained through their study, work experience and extra-curricular life. Prompts will be given to students to present examples in a format suitable for applications and interviews.
On graduating, students are equipped to pursue a career in a number of sectors related to accounting, banking and investment, such as financial regulation, insurance or accounting. This course is also excellent preparation for postgraduate study.

When studying the full three-year programme, this course qualifies you for exemption from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)’s fundamental exam papers, F1 to F9.

The core modules of the course satisfy many of the requirements of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (CIPFA), the Association of International Accountants (AIA) as well as the award of full membership of the Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

Accounting is a subject field with a high demand for graduates.

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.

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

• a minimum of grades CCC in three A levels (or a minimum of 96 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg BTEC National, OCR Diploma or Advanced Diploma)
• English Language and Mathematics GCSEs at grade C/grade 4 or above (or equivalent)

If you don't have traditional qualifications or can't meet the entry requirements for this undergraduate degree, you may still be able to gain entry by completing our Business Management CertHE course.