University of Bedfordshire
UCAS Code: N420 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
112 Tariff points
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
112 UCAS Tariff points
UCAS Tariff
About this course
This accredited course provides a direct route to a professional qualification in accounting, opening the way to a range of rewarding careers. It offers a comprehensive knowledge of the main ideas and principles of accounting and finance as well as the skills to apply your knowledge. Using the latest technology, you study business practice and the business environment in which accountants operate before proceeding to corporate law; data analysis; and the advanced study of management accounting, taxation and auditing.
**Course Accreditation/Industry Endorsement**
- This course is accredited by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA); Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT); The Association of International Accountants (AIA); and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
- Completing relevant accredited course units makes you eligible for exemptions in ACCA, AAT, AIA and CIMA examinations.
**Facilities and Specialist Equipment**
- New business analytics suite to support data analytics, 'big-data', data mining, SEO and other management skills needed in today's workplace.
- Access to industry-standard applications and platforms to aid practical learning including Sage, Refinitiv Workspace and econometrics software STATA.
- Access to digital learning platforms and knowledge tools.
- A well-equipped trading room to enhance your financial skills.
- Gain competencies in key digital skills such as Excel through SIMnet, our Microsoft Office training platform.
**Partnerships and Collaborations**
- Our students benefit from our collaboration with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
**Your Student Experience**
Completing relevant, accredited course units make you eligible for exemptions from: the first nine papers of the ACCA professional exams (the maximum ACCA exemptions available at undergraduate level); seven out of 15 of the CIMA exams ; AIA’s Professional level 1 paper; full exemption from AAT L4.
- Benefit from our connections with top finance and accounting firms, including Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, PwC, and Deloitte, along with professional bodies like the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
- With our state-of-the-art trading room, experience what it’s like to be on the trading-room floor, reacting to live ‘stock-market’ data and building investment portfolios using data on listed companies from around the world.
- Learn from masterclasses from industry experts and guest speakers, benefitting from their experience and keeping at the leading edge in the accounting and finance field.
- Enhance your student experience with field trips to major financial institutions such as the Bank of England as well as industry networking events.
- Acquire transferable, professional skills in communication, problem-solving, teamwork and leadership.
- Working with the University’s Research and Innovation Service (RIS), get involved in solving real-life problems for businesses, from start-ups to established corporations, through our business development packages.
- Companies that have benefited from our business development packages include Vauxhall; Drax Technology; the Royal Air Force; Luton and Bedford Borough Councils; a range of small businesses and national charities.
Modules
- Business Practice Explored (BSS005-1) Compulsory
- Introduction To Accounting And Finance (AAF005-1) Compulsory
- Introduction To Economics (AAF010-1) Compulsory
- Numerical Skills For Finance And Economics (AAF015-1) Compulsory
- Corporate And Business Law (LAW018-2) Compulsory
- Data Analysis For Finance And Economics (AAF022-2) Compulsory
- Management Accounting (AAF006-2) Compulsory
- Personal Development And Employability (AAF004-2) Compulsory
- Social And Environmental Reporting (AAF033-2) Compulsory
- Taxation [UK] (AAF025-2) Compulsory
- Audit And Assurance (AAF004-3) Compulsory
- Financial Management (AAF002-3) Compulsory
- Financial Reporting (AAF003-3) Compulsory
- Specialist Project In Accounting (AAF016-3) Compulsory
Every effort is made to ensure this information is accurate at the point of publication on the UCAS website. For the most up-to-date information, please refer to our website.
Assessment methods
The assessment strategy on this course is bounded to a large degree by PSRB requirements, thus, unseen tests and examinations dominate the types of assessment employed on the course. However, their format and type vary from online objective tests to written multi-task examinations.
Compulsory and objective questions will be used to encourage you to study across the breadth of the syllabus, whereas the multi-task questions will assess your ability to simultaneously, assimilate a wide range of information, apply and justify your choice of several ideas and concepts to make informed decisions or recommendations.
Accounting is not only about numbers and the manipulation of numbers, rather, it is a systematic way of preparing, reporting, presenting and analysing financial data to inform business or investment decisions. You will develop a number of transferable skills including the ability to present your findings, both verbally and in writing, in a professional, clear and concise manner.
Written reports are designed in a way that promotes critical thinking as you move up the stages of the course; from knowledge, comprehension and simple explanations in the early stages to application, analysis, appraisal and synthesis as you get closer to graduation.
In your final capstone (specialist project) unit, you will be required to produce an individual and independent piece of work which will place demands on your academic judgement and integrity whilst being the most challenging but yet enjoyable and rewarding experience you will encounter.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Luton Campus
Department of Law and Finance
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Accounting
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Accounting
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
You don't have to be an accountant if you take this degree, but over half of graduates take a look at the rewards on offer for accountancy trainees and go into the job. Many others go into other parts of the finance industry as advisors or book-keepers, and some go into management or marketing. London is very popular for accountancy graduates going into their first job, but it's also quite common to work in Scotland, with Glasgow a perennial hotbed of Scottish accountancy recruitment. If you want to find a job in finance as an accountancy graduates, recruitment agencies were particularly important last year, so try to get in touch with one as soon as you can to improve your chances.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Accounting
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£18k
£22k
£26k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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