University of Westminster

Finance BSc Honours

This exciting programme is designed with input from financial firms and public and private companies. Our aim is to combine theoretical learning content with practice to give you a deep understanding of modern financial theories together with learning about how companies make investment, financing and acquisition decisions. It will prepare you for a career in the dynamic, highly regulated world of financial services.

Developing core quantitative and analytical skills, you’ll learn how to prepare and interpret financial data and managerial information. This education will enable you to develop your expertise in evaluating financial issues to confidently make financial decisions. You will gain a broader understanding of the socio-economic, legal and professional environment within which finance operates. Graduates from this programme will be better placed to provide expert guidance to both professionals and non-professionals to solve complex real-world problems – the scope of the subject areas is broad, ranging from graduates taking on roles from corporate financial management to highly analytical areas of the field in financial risk and investment management.

The University is also recognised by the Chartered Financial Institute (CFA) as a University Affiliated Program partner. A fair proportion of the CFA Program Candidate's Body of Knowledge is embedded in this specialist finance degree.

You’ll be taught by academics with professional experience in investment banking, derivatives, asset pricing, Treasury Management, algorithmic and high-frequency trading, pricing and hedge fund trading. Theoretical aspects of your learning are seamlessly blended to develop practical skills using our state-of-the-art Financial Markets Suite (FMS). The learning resources facility provides access to a rich source of financial and market data.

As well as a firm grounding in investment, finance fundamentals and general management, you’ll be able to study a wide variety of specialist finance modules, such as portfolio management and securities analysis. With the City of London's global financial institutions on our doorstep, you’ll begin building your professional network from day one. We also have guest lecturers and industry speakers from big brokerage firms and asset management companies.

The course enhances your analytical abilities, together with team-working, problem-solving, communication skills and commercial awareness needed to meet the needs for talent in a changing global financial world. The skills and knowledge you develop will open up a range of careers in the skills necessary for a successful career in the financial services industry, economic consultancy, government departments or in regulatory agencies. With further study, you could also progress to professional finance qualifications from the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA) and the CISI.

Our course was designed with input from a range of industry professionals with expertise in financial markets, institutions and financial regulation. To retain currency and relevance, we receive ongoing feedback from the School of Finance and Accounting’s Employability Advisory Board, whose members include practitioner representatives from Vanguard, JPMorgan and Global Structured Finance, as well as former students now working in the finance industry who provide suggestions on how to improve future employability for students. As much as 70% of the BSc Finance course content is in line with the CFA’s study units’ syllabuses.

Top reasons to study with us

• Study at one of London’s leading centres for finance education based in the heart of London and its political, media and financial services scene
• Access to one of the largest financial databases in our state-of-the-art Bloomberg virtual trading room
• Take part in real-time financial and trading simulations
• Opportunity to undertake an internship: investment banks, corporates, and policy-making institutions
• Guest lectures from industry practitioners: recent talks featured seasoned entrepreneurs, traders, authors and asset managers
• Field trips to financial institutions: students had a guided tour of the new Bloomberg HQ in London
• Programmes are delivered by a multicultural and international teaching body that comes from professional practice and/or are regularly published in top international journals
• Our graduates have gone on to work as a fund manager, financial analyst, assets manager, investment manager, investment banker, corporate banker, corporate finance specialist, treasury specialist, stockbroker, within the finance departments of both public and private companies, treasury departments and more

Why study this course?

• Combine theory and practice
  Link theory to global practice through real-life case studies, guest lectures, field trips and insight from one of the world’s largest financial databases.
• Professional software
  Enhance your digital literacy and computer skills with industry-standard software, including Excel, Tableau and FAME.
• Build connections
  Build connections with peers and future business leaders.

Professional accreditation

The University is recognised by the Chartered Financial Institute (CFA) as a University Affiliated Program partner.