Professional Accountancy MSc 2022/23 entry
The content of this course for September 2022 entry is still being updated. The information on these pages relates to September 2021 entry and is for guidance only. Please revisit this course page for updated information.
Overview
This course has been designed with the aim to facilitate your personal, professional and academic development – and help to prepare you for professional exams.
The MSc Professional Accountancy course is designed to help you achieve a Master’s qualification, as well as prepare you for the Strategic Professional level qualification of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)*, the world’s leading body for professional accountants, upon successful completion.
You will have the opportunity to complete modules that are designed to mirror the Strategic Professional papers of the ACCA, and while you will need to undertake ACCA exam papers at an external ACCA examination centre to gain the Strategic Professional qualification, we believe our teaching puts us in a good position to facilitate our students in helping them towards completion of ACCA exams, should they choose to take the ACCA exams, upon successful completion of this course.
This course aims to develop strategic knowledge and understanding, critical thinking and analysis, and advanced skills within an international accounting and finance context.
*This course can also help you prepare for the Strategic Professional level of the globally-recognised ACCA qualification, which you may wish to undertake following successful completion of this course. Please note that undertaking ACCA exams is is subject to availability and additional fees will apply. Students will need to undertake any ACCA exams at an external ACCA examination centre.
Why Coventry University?
An award-winning university, we are committed to providing our students with the best possible experience. We continue to invest in both our facilities and our innovative approach to education. Our students benefit from industry-relevant teaching, and resources and support designed to help them succeed. These range from our modern library and computing facilities to dedicated careers advice and our impressive Students’ Union activities.
COVID-19
The University may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via emerging online technologies and methods across all courses. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are prepared for courses due to start in or after the 2020/2021 academic year to be delivered in a variety of forms. The form of delivery will be determined in accordance with Government and Public Health guidance. Whether on campus or online, our key priority is staff and student safety.
Due to the ongoing restrictions relating to COVID-19, some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) and some non-academic offerings (particularly in relation to international experiences), may vary from those advertised and may have reduced availability or restrictions on their use.
Global ready
An international outlook, with global opportunitiesEmployability
Career-ready graduates, with the skills to succeedStudent experience
All the support you need, in a top student cityAccreditation and Professional Recognition
This course is accredited and recognised by the following bodies:
European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD)
Coventry Business School is currently an active member of the European Foundation for Management Development, a global membership organisation dedicated to management development, covering over 900 members across 91 countries. There is currently no intention for this membership to lapse however if this membership is not renewed we would notify applicants and students as soon as possible.
Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS)
Coventry Business School is currently an active member of the Chartered Association of Business Schools, which has a membership of over 120 business schools and higher education providers, and supports its members in maintaining world-class standards of teaching and research. There is currently no intention for this membership to lapse however if this membership is not renewed we would notify applicants and students as soon as possible.
Course information
This course aims to develop students strategic knowledge and understanding, critical thinking and analysis, and advanced skills within an international accounting and finance context, to help students towards achieving a Master’s qualification (subject to successful completion of the course), whilst also helping to prepare students for ACCA examinations, through the study of modules mirroring the Strategic Professional papers of the ACCA.
This course aims to enable you to build upon existing accounting and finance learning and provide you with an opportunity to develop postgraduate level knowledge. Further, this course has been designed to provide an opportunity to develop commercial awareness and demonstrate critical appraisal of alternative solutions to financial decision-making based upon systematic analysis of complex business problems.
Upon successful completion, you will be able to graduate equipped with a range of employability skills, attributes and attitudes, including developing effective problem-solving skills which could enable you to advise local and international individuals and organisations on a range of business-related matters.
Alongside employability skills, you will also have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate a capacity for independent research, together with the opportunity to gain the ability to present solutions to complex accounting and finance problems using a range of media appropriate to the profession.
This course can be offered on a part-time basis, with study over two years. Whilst we would like to give you all the information about our part-time offering here, it is tailored for each course each year depending on the number of part-time applicants. Therefore, the part-time teaching arrangements vary. Please contact us using our online forms, for UK and for EU/International students, to discuss part-time study.
Course Specification
Download PDF
Modules
We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.
In more detail...
AAs a student with prior accounting and finance experience, possibly with a degree in the discipline or maybe having passed the Fundamentals level of ACCA through study or the eligibility of exemptions, you may now be ready for the next step and progression in your accounting career. By successfully completing this course you will be awarded a postgraduate award with a strong emphasis on research and decision-making. This course can also help you prepare for the Strategic Professional level of the globally-recognised ACCA qualification*, which you may wish to undertake following successful completion of this course.
There is also the opportunity for students who have already passed papers at the ACCA Strategic Professional level to be exempted from certain modules thus allowing a fast-track completion of the Master’s qualification, upon successful completion. The ACCA professional papers which currently provide exemptions, and which modules they currently provide exemptions from, are listed below:
- If you have successfully completed the ACCA Strategic Business Leader (SBL) paper, you will be exempted from the Strategic International Organisation Management module.
- If you have successfully completed the ACCA Strategic Business Reporting (SBR) paper, you will be exempted from the Strategic International Corporate Reporting module.
- If you have successfully completed the ACCA Advanced Financial Management (AFM) paper, you will be exempted from the Strategic International Financial Management module.
- If you have successfully completed the ACCA Advanced Performance Management (APM) paper, you will be exempted from the Strategic International Performance Management module.
- Experienced employability staff from our Talent Team to work with you throughout your course.
- Faculty facilities including our academic Trading Floor, currently one of the largest of its kind in Europe, featuring 42 dual screen Bloomberg terminals and our new Business Simulation Suite.
- Coventry Business School benefits from professional accreditation across a number of courses, and is a member of many leading professional bodies, including currently being active members of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) and the European Foundation of Management Development (EFMD). Please see the Memberships tab for further information.
- Coventry Business School was ranked as ‘excellent’ by Eduniversal in 2019, an annual ranking of Business Schools across 154 countries.
- Strategic Corporate Reporting and Performance Management: Designed to help students to provide a foundation and explore selecting, applying and evaluating financial reporting principles and practices in a range of business situations and exploring strategic management accounting techniques in different business contexts and collaboratively contributing to the evaluation of the performance of an organisation and its strategic development.
- Corporate Financial management and Organisational Strategy: Designed to provide a firm foundation in understanding the link between corporate and financial strategy, as well as exploring the techniques of strategic and financial analysis and evaluation open to companies, from which to explore ethically sound strategic options, choices and business performance solutions.
- Becoming a Strategic Professional Accountant: This course is designed to help students develop their strategic vision, using a blend of ethical, technical and professional skills, and the opportunity to gain a range of academic experiences.
The programme can be studied over one year full-time or over two years part-time. All modules are mandatory. Whilst we would like to give you all the information about our part-time offering here, it is tailored for each course each year depending on the number of part-time applicants. Therefore, the part-time teaching arrangements vary. If you are interested in part-time study, please contact us using our online forms, for UK and for EU/International students.
Traditional teaching methods include weekly lectures and medium sized group seminars. These sessions may be delivered through a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials,and online classes and tutorials. We also use a range of practical exercises aimed to reinforce the integrative nature of accounting assessment. For example, you may be tasked with preparing financial statements or developing a business strategy on behalf of a UK company with overseas subsidiaries, which requires knowledge of international corporate reporting, UK and overseas taxation and management reporting.
Coventry Business School also currently has the largest academic Trading Floor in Europe, which has been designed to incorporate industry standard news, data, research and analytical tools into the teaching and learning environment. The space incorporates Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters’ Datastream software for teaching and research. We believe that exposure to such facilities will give you a competitive edge in trading and related activities.
This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which could vary depending upon the module. Assessment methods include closed book written tests, closed book exams, group presentations, poster presentations and individual written submissions.
The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards the achieving the intended learning outcomes. Assessments may include exams, individual assignments or group work elements.
On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Undertake the ACCA exams at the Strategic Professional Level* (exams will be taken at an external ACCA examination centre, subject to availability. Fees apply)
- Demonstrate critical thinking on conceptual and theoretical frameworks within accounting.
- Exercise sound judgement in the selection of different methods and approaches available to deal with complex accounting and financial management problems in the modern global business world.
- Develop logical and coherent arguments.
- Demonstrate diagnostic and decision-making skills in dealing with accounting problems and issues.
- Design and conduct research in accounting using appropriate methodologies to advance knowledge in these areas.
We set out below the typical teaching contact hours that you will receive on this course. In addition to the contact hours below, we offer the opportunity to attend additional optional sessions, such as guest lectures (subject to availability), or to meet with staff during their advice and feedback hours.
As an innovative and enterprising institution, the University may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the University may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.
In your first and second semesters, you will have around 13 contact hours of teaching a week. The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online classes and tutorials.
A strong emphasis is placed on the Project module in your final semester and therefore the total teaching contact hours may be reduced in the final semester.
In addition, you will be expected to undertake a significant amount of further self-directed studying and revising in your own time each week, including some guided study using hand-outs, online activities etc.
At Coventry Business School in 2018/19, over half of our students were from outside the UK and therefore you will have the opportunity to work in multinational teams during your studies, with the chance to learn about your fellow students’ cultures and build networks of friends throughout the world, who could even become your future business contacts.
Entry Requirements
Fees and funding
2022/23 Tuition fees
For advice and guidance on tuition fees3 and student loans visit our Postgraduate Finance page.
We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.
Course essentials - additional costs
This course may incur additional costs associated with any field trips, placements or work experience, study abroad opportunities or any other opportunity (whether required or optional), which could include (but is not limited to) travel, accommodation, activities and visas.Career prospects
Graduate Immigration Route visa
Based on current information from the UK Government, international students whose study extends beyond summer 2021 may be eligible for a visa under the UK Government’s Graduate Immigration Route, which will enable students to stay and work, or look for work, in the UK at any skill level for up to two (2) years. Check the most up to date guidance available to check your eligibility and any updates from the UK Government before making an application or enrolment decision.
Upon successful completion of this Master's course, you may decide to apply for roles within the accounting or finance industry and could become for example, a finance manager, financial controller, or senior management and financial accountant.
Should you wish to, you will also be able to undertake the ACCA examination at the Strategic Professional level* (subject to availability, fees apply), with this course's modules tailored to mirror the content of that examination. Passing the ACCA examination may help you progress through your career, as a survey carried out by ACCA has shown 95% of employers see ACCA as a respected brand for professional qualifications which could therefore imply that companies value the business acumen, ethical integrity and financial know-how of successful candidates of the ACCA qualification.
Disclaimer
1Accreditations
The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery.
2UK and international opportunities
Please note that we are unable to guarantee any UK or International opportunities (whether required or optional) such as internships, work experience, field trips, conferences, placements or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (which could include, but is not limited to, equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable travel COVID and visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the visa requirements, please contact the International Office.
3Tuition fees
The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated in the above table for the first Academic Year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For Home Students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, the University may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation.
For International Students, we may increase fees each year but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation. If you defer your course start date or have to extend your studies beyond the normal duration of the course (e.g. to repeat a year or resit examinations) the University reserves the right to charge you fees at a higher rate and/or in accordance with any legislative changes during the additional period of study.
4Facilities
Facilities are subject to availability. Due to the ongoing restrictions relating to COVID-19, some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) may vary from those advertised and may have reduced availability or restrictions on their use.
Student Contract
By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. The 2022/23 Contract is currently being updated so please revisit this page before submitting your application. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.
