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Come and see our City of London campus to see what we can offer you.

Full-time degree

BSc (Hons) Banking & Finance

Learn the theory and skills you’ll need to work in several important financial services roles. As you progress, you can choose the right career path for you and tailor your learning accordingly.

Two young women smiling sitting in a classroom

About this degree programme

Our BSc (Hons) Banking & Finance is a specialist degree programme. It teaches the theory you need and gives a practical real-world understanding of the financial services industry and financial markets.

In fact, this degree programme was welcomed into the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program because it is so closely tied to professional practice.

You can study this degree programme over three years or four, depending on whether you want to include a one-year industry placement.

We will introduce you to the practical elements of trading  financial instruments within the contemporary market environment. We work with Amplify Trading, who provide real-life trading simulation sessions with investment experts, so you'll develop the practical skill set that many financial institutions actively seek.

Each year of your degree will give you a foundation in a set of subjects about working in banking and finance. In the third year your knowledge will be taken to a higher level, exploring themes such as strategy, management and risk. 

Employability is the cornerstone of this programme. You will graduate with a combination of knowledge and practical skills that will take you forward in your career.

Key points

  • Choose from options modules to tailor your learning to the career path you want to follow  
  • Study over three years, or four years with an industry placement 
  • Study in the heart of the City of London, with academic experts who have industry experience 
  • Enjoy free membership of a professional body  –– The London Institute of Banking & Finance –– while you’re studying
  • Access networking opportunities, events and personal career support 
  • 100% of our students are either in full-time employment or in further study within six months of graduating (DLHE 2016/17)
  • We were voted joint first in London for overall student satisfaction, in the National Student Survey 2018  
 


   Voted joint 1st in London for overall student satisfaction (NSS 2018) 

Our degrees are CFA Institute University Affiliated – recognising our professional standards 


                                         CFA
“The events expose you to situations you wouldn’t normally get in other universities.”

Elliot Seal, graduate

Modules

Please be aware that some of this content may change for the next academic year 

First year modules

Foundations of Economics

This is an introductory module that provides students with fundamental concepts of economics at both micro and macro level. Good economics foundations are fundamental for an understanding of the impact that economic factors and government decisions have on the operation and functioning of markets and financial institutions. Microeconomics focuses on the decision making of firms, market efficiency, and the public policy response to market failure. Macroeconomics studies the economy as an interrelated system of major economic aggregates using analytical models.

Introduction to Banking: Institutions, Law, Regulation & Ethics

This is an introductory module that exposes students to key forces driving change in the financial services industry. The module is designed to provide an introduction to the environment within which the financial services industry operates and to explore the main components of the financial system. The emphasis is on financial institutions, their role and risks they face, legal and regulatory framework, and ethical dilemmas.

Introduction to Financial & Management Accounting

This is an introductory module that provides students with a basic level of financial and management accounting techniques used in business decision‐making. This module examines general principles of accounting within the regulatory framework and standards, data collection approaches, recording of transactions, balance adjustments, production and interpretation of financial statements and management accounting information, to inform management decision making for effective business operation.

Personal Development & Employability

This is an introductory module that explores key skills (study skills, interpersonal skills, and professional skills) to assist students in their academic study and ensuing professional career. This module provides students with a portfolio of skills including self-management, team work, leadership and influencing, negotiation, self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses, career planning, communication (written, oral), and proficiency of Microsoft Office and selected financial databases.

Principles of Finance

This is an introductory module that provides students with a basic level of financial literacy and understanding of the role of finance in our culture and society. This module exposes students to the key topics in finance including the time value of money with applications to valuation, portfolio theory and the risk-return concept, efficient markets and behavioural finance, and corporate governance, stewardship and agency. The module also provides an overview of financial markets and instruments, notably bonds, equities, derivatives, commodities and other asset classes (real estate and real estate investment trusts (REITs), exchange-traded funds, and alternative investments).

Introduction to Quantitative Techniques for Business & Finance

This is an introductory module that provides an understanding and application of numerical techniques used in finance. This module supports decision making by providing students with the ability to formulate problems into quantitative models, apply statistical methods of analysis and communicate the results of the process, while recognising the limitations of such models. The module covers systems thinking, basic algebra and calculus, and statistics.

Second year modules

Commercial & Corporate Banking

This second year module builds on concepts learnt in Introduction to Banking: Institutions, Law, Regulation & Ethics and Retail Banking, and exposes students to corporate and commercial banking and the products and services that they offer. This module provides an understanding of commercial and corporate banking and the products and services that they offer, with a focus on managing the relationship between the financial institution and its MSME and corporate clients.

Corporate Finance & Valuation

The increasingly competitive world of financial markets requires graduates with good understanding and knowledge of modern corporate finance. This second year module builds on concepts learnt in Introduction to Quantitative Techniques for Business & Finance and Principles of Finance to inform financial and strategic decision making. This module examines the various decisions faced by financial managers, including investment, financing, and dividend policies, as well as more complex themes such as company valuation, strategic advice, and event studies.

Derivatives & Risk Management

Derivatives have become increasingly important instruments in finance, with options and futures actively traded on main exchanges, and forwards, options and swaps traded over the counter. Derivatives are sometimes added to other securities and are crucial to risk hedging. This second year module builds on concepts learnt in Principles of Finance and applies finance theories and models to derivative securities. This module discusses the different types of derivative instruments, characteristics, pricing and hedging, comprising forwards, futures, options, and swaps.

Retail Banking

This second year module builds on concepts learnt in Introduction to Banking: Institutions, Law, Regulation & Ethics, and exposes students to retail banking and the products and services that it offers. This module provides an understanding of retail banking and the products and services that they market to consumers and small enterprises, with a focus on how to effectively manage retail customer relationships and credit assessment models, as well as some emerging issues, including innovation and challenger banks.

Applied Econometrics

This second year module builds on concepts learnt in Introduction to Quantitative Techniques for Business & Finance and provides an application of statistical and econometric methods to a range of problems in banking and finance. The module examines regression analysis with cross-sectional and time-series data, misspecification problems, and advanced topics. The module makes use of VBA and econometric packages.

Emerging Markets

This second year module builds on concepts learnt in Foundations of Economics and Principles of Finance and exposes students to financial issues related to investment decisions in emerging markets. This module provides an overview of economic, financial, political, legal, technological, socio-cultural, and ethical issues inherent in doing business in emerging markets, with a focus on South East Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Financial Accounting

Financial accounting requires recognition and understanding of issues, disclosures, judgements and treatments. This second year module builds on concepts learnt in Introduction to Financial & Management Accounting to further develop students’ knowledge and understanding of financial accounting and published financial information within the regulatory framework and standards. This module examines principal financial statements, financial reporting systems and quality, analysis of tangibles, inventories, long-lived assets, taxes, debt, off-balance-sheet assets, and liabilities and share capital.

Fintech

This module discusses one key innovation in finance, financial technologies, namely the development of e-commerce, alongside other modern technologies like social media, the importance of disintermediation, the rise of challengers, peer-to-peer platforms (P2P), crowdfunding, cryptography, cryptocurrency (eg bitcoin), blockchain, big data, cybersecurity, regtech, and ultimately a potentially cashless society. This module is taught as a combination of workshops and guest speakers from the industry.

Third year modules

Bank Risk Management & Regulation

This third year module builds on concepts learnt in Introduction to Banking: Institutions, Law, Regulation & Ethics and Financial Derivatives to present a systematic approach to detect and mitigate risks in financial institutions within the regulatory framework. This module covers the main sources of risk in a financial institution as well as risk measurement, monitoring and management, with a focus on market risk, credit risk and liquidity risk, and explores the optimum funding mix for banks, funding risk, and how to structure that funding mix.

Bank Strategy & Management

This third year module builds on concepts learnt in core banking modules and applies them to a highly regulated industry. This module provides a good understanding of current market, regulatory and organisational challenges faced by governments and users of the financial system. This module covers key principles underlying strategic and management challenges facing banks today and in the future, including an understanding of why banks may be similar or behave quite differently depending on their home (headquarters) or host (operating) country, how banks choose businesses (sectors, countries) to operate in, and why they change them, the impact of law and regulation changes, as well as cultural conflicts inherent in strategy, management and risk taking by banks.

International Finance

The financial management of multinational enterprises (MNEs), ie, corporations with operations in more than one country whose business is conducted via branches, subsidiaries, or joint ventures, is quite challenging, nonetheless as a result of currency risk. This third year module builds on concepts learnt in Corporate Finance & Valuation and exposes you to the international dimension of financial issues. This module examines international corporate finance within the context of managing MNEs and controlling international operations, focusing on the global financial environment, foreign exchange markets, foreign exchange exposure, financing, and investments.

Investment Banking

This third year module builds on concepts learnt in Principles of Finance, Corporate Finance & Valuation and Derivatives & Risk Management, and exposes students to strategic client advice and the theoretical theories that support modern investment and risk management techniques, from the Investment Bank point of view. This module covers both financial- and strategic-related client advice, with a focus on types of capital and underwriting, mergers & acquisitions and restructuring, and security analysis and trading.

 

Alternative Investments

Alternative investments have witnessed a recent increase in interest as a result of low interest rates and bear markets. This third year module builds on concepts learnt in Principles of Finance and exposes students to investments beyond the traditional investment portfolios (equities and bonds). This module examines major alternative investment classes with a focus on vehicles, methods and industries, including hedge funds, commodities, real estate, energy, distressed securities and private equity, while also analysing strategies, performance, benchmarks, return enhancement and risk control.

Capstone Project

This module consists of a 5,000–6,000 word, independent, research-based project, which encapsulates learning acquired in the degree as well as work-based, involving collection, interpretation, analysis and presentation of information and data. The module includes sessions on research framework, namely planning, research objectives and questions, literature review, data collection, ethical issues, methodology, analysis, and write-up.

Corporate Strategy

The corporate advisory industry requires graduates with good understanding and knowledge of modern corporate strategy. This module examines the goals and key elements in corporate strategy formulation and implementation, with a focus on core business definition, internal and external environment, and peers’ strategy.

Private Equity & Venture Capital

This module provides an overview of private equity and venture capital, including deal-making, fundraising, venture valuation, investment exits, innovation outputs, corporate governance and ethical issues.

Entry requirements

We normally make offers of ABB/BBB at A level. (This excludes General Studies, Critical Thinking, Extended Projects and Citizenship Studies.)

All applicants are usually required to hold a minimum of GCSE Maths, Grade B or Grade 6 +, GCSE English, Grade C or Grade 4. Ideal applicants will have studied one of the following A Levels: Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Economics, Statistics or Physics.

We accept the BTEC Extended Diploma at D*DD-DDM and the Diploma and Subsidiary Diploma along with other qualifications. We also accept the International Baccalaureate (28-32 points).

Offers may vary, but typically we'd expect BBB at A-Level and Distinction Distinction Distinction at BTEC.

Our Financial Education qualifications can contribute to our entry requirements, and will help you stand out from other applicants.

Assessments

You will be assessed in a variety of ways throughout your studies including assignments and exams. You might be required to:

  • write a blog, case study, essay or report
  • take part in a forum discussion, group assignment or project
  • prepare an individual project or dissertation, portfolio or presentation.

Exam questions may be based on mathematics, require a short answer or an essay. We use different types of exams including multiple choice tests, unseen exams, seen exams, take home or open book. 

Find out more about how we assess our students

Our faculty

Our team of lecturers have a combined experience of both academic and practitioner experience. Many of our lecturers have worked in the financial services industry and all of them keep up to date with industry regulations and news. This means they can show you how theory relates to practice.

Meet our lecturers
4

"It’s central to all the banks. It’s safe and a really nice area if London. It’s also really easy to get to." Hazel Smith, student.

See more student stories


Careers

Graduates from this programme have gone onto secure roles:

  • in corporate and commercial banks
  • in retail banking
  • in investment banking
  • in asset management
  • in the Treasury
  • as consultants

Because you can select from our optional modules, you can tailor your learning throughout the programme to suit your career aspirations. 

Throughout your studies we help you develop employability skills and make connections with employers, which will give your career a head start. This programme is also an excellent foundation for further study including professional qualifications or if you want to specialise at masters level

Find out about our careers and employability services

Frequently Asked Questions

All students can become an associate member of International Students House (ISH).Their bar, The Thirsty Scholar London, is located on 1 Park Crescent – a stone’s throw from Oxford Street and a short tube journey away from our campus. Membership gives you access to all the events run by ISH and to the Travel Club, who offer discounted trips to fantastic destinations around the UK, Europe and worldwide for groups of fellow independent travellers.

Yes. We have a dedicated Careers & Employability Service at our Lovat Lane campus who offer one-to-one support to students.


We will help you with everything – from putting your CV together and writing a cover letter writing, to help finding an internship or graduate position. We also host a series of face-to-face, online and campus events. 

We fund and support our Student Societies to organise social events, trips and the End of Year Student Party. And we work with student representatives to make sure you have the best possible time while you’re studying with us.

What’s more, London is one of the world’s most historic and vibrant cities, and an excellent place to live as a student. From our City campus you can easily reach:


  • the West End – well known for its shops and theatres
  • the Southbank, a cultural centre and home to Shakespeare’s Globe, the National Theatre, British Film Institute and the Tate Modern
  • Brick Lane – famous for its markets, bagels and curry houses
  • the Olympic Park – site of the 2012 Olympics, and great for walking, shopping and eating out.

And there’s so much more!

Looking for further information?

If you have any questions about our banking and finance programme or applying to us, please contact the Full-time Programme Team on +44 (0)20 7337 6293/4 or email admissions@libf.ac.uk 

"Couldn't ask to study in a better location. The city vibe itself motivates me to reach my end goal." Adella Formosa, student.

See more student stories

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