Accounting & Finance BA (Hons)

Accountants are essential to every business. At Winchester, we are passionate about enhancing your digital capabilities and agile thinking to ensure you thrive in this core and rapidly evolving industry. <br/><br/>**Course Highlights**<br/><br/><br/>- You are taught by academics with professional experience as accountants, supporting your personal development and helping kick-start rewarding careers.<br/><br/><br/>- We favour workshop-style sessions over lectures, offering you opportunities to apply cutting-edge knowledge and skills to real-life scenarios.<br/><br/><br/>- You will develop a range of transferable abilities and professional practice skills valued by employers, including critical evaluation, self-direction, problem-solving, analysis, presentations, and negotiation.<br/><br/><br/>- Learning takes place in class sizes that prepare you to work in management teams, with modules focusing on applying theory to real business scenarios.<br/><br/><br/>- In your final year, you have the option to complete a dissertation, undertake a consultancy project or work placement, or launch a start-up.<br/><br/><br/>- You may choose to spend a year on a paid work placement in a business relevant to your ambitions, increasing your professional confidence and employability.<br/><br/><br/>**Learning Style**<br/><br/>Our aim is to shape confident learners by enabling you to develop the skills needed to excel in your studies, and onto further studies or the employment market. You are taught primarily through a combination of lectures and seminars, allowing opportunities to discuss and develop your understanding of topics covered in lectures in groups. You are encouraged to access academic support from staff within the course team and the wide range of services available to you within the University.<br/><br/>**Structure of Course**<br/><br/>In your first year, you will develop fundamental concepts and practices of financial accounting and management accounting. You will gain a holistic view of how an entity’s performance is affected by internal and external environments, and acquire essential professional skills for academic success and a successful career, including digital skills.<br/><br/>During your second year, you will extend your understanding of financial accounting to International Financial Reporting Standards. You will develop competence in diverse research methods for academic and professional purposes, including practical qualitative and quantitative research skills. This year also introduces core concepts of business finance and the financial environment, preparing you for advanced finance study. You will have the option of an industrial placement year between your second and third years.<br/><br/>Your final year offers a capstone project where you can choose to undertake a dissertation, a placement for social good, a consultancy project, or launch a start-up with sustainability values. You will also extend your knowledge of financial reporting and analysis to more complex areas and develop an understanding of investments and financial risk management. You will also choose optional modules to specialise further.<br/><br/>**Our Connections**<br/><br/>Our BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance programme is accredited by prestigious professional bodies known for their commitment to excellence and maintaining the highest standards. This helps to boost your employability and can give you exemptions from some professional exams.<br/><br/>ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales)<br/>ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)<br/>CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)<br/>CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants)<br/><br/>Previous graduates took up trainee positions with accounting firms such as Deloitte and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.