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Full-time degree

BSc (Hons) Banking & Finance

Launch your career with a degree that you can tailor according to your interests and ambitions.

Two young women smiling sitting in a classroom

 

We are no longer accepting applications to our undergraduate degree programmes. For any questions on existing applications please contact admissions@libf.ac.uk 

 

About the programme

The programme will teach you the theory you need to start your career. In your first year, you'll study core modules that cover the foundations of finance and help you develop your employability skills, including how to network.

In your second year, you'll learn about retail, commercial and corporate banking, products and services. You'll also examine the types of decisions financial managers face and look at the different derivative instruments.

By your final year, your knowledge will be industry-standard. You’ll explore themes such as strategy, management and risk. As you progress, you will be able to choose from optional modules to suit your chosen career path.

Entry requirements

We normally make offers of ABB/BBB at A-Level, excluding 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 at A-Level:

  • Mathematics
  • Further Mathematics
  • Economics
  • Statistics, or
  • Physics.

We accept the BTEC Extended Diploma at D*DD and the Diploma and Subsidiary Diploma along with other qualifications, including the International Baccalaureate (30-32 points).

Offers may vary, but typically we'd expect ABB at A Level and Distinction or Distinction* at BTEC.

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

How to apply

  • UCAS codes: N320/N321
  • Study modes: Full-time or sandwich
  • Starting: September

Visit the UCAS website

Course duration

You can study the BSc (Hons) in Banking & Finance over three years or over four with an industry placement.

Fees

UK: £9,250 a year

EU/EEA/Swiss/international £13,000 a year

Why study this course?

  • Choose from optional modules to tailor your learning to your chosen career path
  • Learn in a business-like environment from academic experts with industry experience
  • Study over three years – or four with an industry placement
  • Enjoy free membership of a professional body  –– The London Institute of Banking & Finance –– while you study
  • Network with industry professionals as you prepare for your career
  • Develop personally and professionally with support from our Careers and Employability Service

Careers

Graduates from this degree programme typically go on to secure roles in:

  • corporate and commercial banks
  • retail banking
  • investment banking
  • asset management
  • treasury
  • consultancy.

Some continue their studies with a masters programme.

 


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

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


                                         CFA
 

Course Content

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

First year modules

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 in 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.

This is an introductory module that exposes students to key forces driving change in the financial services industry.


The module provides an introduction to the environment in which the financial services industry operates and explores 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.

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.

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.

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 – such as, real estate and real estate investment trusts (REITs), exchange-traded funds, and alternative investments.

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

This second year module builds on concepts learnt in Introduction to Banking: institutions, law, regulation and ethics and retail banking. It 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.

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 and 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 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.

This second year module builds on concepts learnt in Introduction to Banking: institutions, law, regulation and 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.

This second-year module builds on concepts learnt in Introduction to Quantitative Techniques for Business and 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 Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and econometric packages.

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 requires recognition and understanding of issues, disclosures, judgements and treatments. This second-year module builds on concepts learnt in Introduction to Financial and 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.

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

This third-year module builds on concepts learnt in Introduction to Banking: institutions, law, regulation and 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.

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.

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 and 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.

This third year module builds on concepts learnt in Principles of Finance, Corporate Finance and Valuation and Derivatives and 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

“The lecturers are extremely knowledgeable and provide substantial support in all areas from revising, gaining experience or their personal experiences in the industry.”

James Killingback, graduate

See more student stories

Contact us

If you have a question about our degrees or want to apply directly please call +44 (0)20 8059 8569 or email admissions@libf.ac.uk.

 

 

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UCAS Code N300

Attain an industry-recognised degree that will give you the knowledge and confidence required to enter the competitive world of finance.

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