Accounting and Finance for International Business BA (Hons) top-up

Undergraduate
Top-up courses

Female sitting in a classroom looking at a screen

Fast-track your way to a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance with this intensive one-year course for learners holding level 5 qualifications in finance or accountancy-related fields.

Year of entry

2024-25 2025-26

Location

Coventry University London (City of London)

Study mode

Full-time
Part-time

Duration

1 year full-time
2 years part-time (UK only)

Course code

N900

Start date

January 2025

How to apply

Book an Open Day

Download a prospectus

Course overview

This course may appeal to you if you're interested in becoming an accountant, working at a financial organisation or working in the finance department of any business.

You can gain:

A bachelor's degree in just one year.
A globally focused grounding in accounting and financial management, delivered in the heart of the City of London.
Experience using industry-standard programmes, including Bloomberg Terminals and our S&P Market Intelligence Suite.
Knowledge of world economies and development, international investment, and business management, from a finance and accounting perspective.

Global ready

An international outlook, with global opportunities

Icon of human figure in front of whiteboard

Teaching excellence

Taught by lecturers who are experts in their field

Employability

Career ready graduates, with the skills to succeed

Why you should study this course

You will have the opportunity to:

Learn how to give sound financial advice and make effective financial decisions.
Develop your analytical skills and strategic thinking.
Draw upon international case studies to foster your intercultural fluency.
Develop the practical skills needed for working in the finance industry.

You will be taught through a wide range of business-based approaches, including business simulated learning and contemporary business case studies, which will enable you to develop the knowledge and the ability needed to apply fundamental financial concepts to real life business situations. The course will help to prepare you for the international business marketplace, or postgraduate study in the UK and abroad.
Paa Kusi, Course Director, quoted in 2022

The Lloyd's building in London's financial district

What you'll study

This course aims to give you the opportunity to develop the practical skills and experience you need for accounting and finance roles. Once you have graduated, you should have the confidence to provide sound financial advice and make effective financial decisions.

We have designed this course to reflect business systems, standards and practices from around the world. It draws upon international case studies with the objective of fostering your intercultural fluency, and aims to develop your analytical skills, perspectives on financial strategy and strategic thinking.

Modules

Financial Management - 20 credits

This module aims to make you aware of the scope and nature of the financial management function, to understand the source of capital, cost of capital, possible return and related risk. You will learn how to assess situations by collecting data and analysing historical performance, to inform appropriate logical solutions.

Compulsory

Financial Reporting - 20 credits

This module aims to introduce you to the main systems and techniques required by a business to produce financial statements, and to the core concepts underpinning these statements. You will learn about the international regulatory framework, which governs the production of published financial statements of companies. It also helps you to develop your ability to interpret these financial statements and become aware of their inherent limitations.

Compulsory

International Business in Emerging Markets - 20 credits

This module examines the development of emerging markets from international business management, finance and economic perspectives. The module will have a specific regional focus by examining in depth the emerging economies and developing countries in Africa, Latin America, and East and South Asia.

You'll examine relevant theories relating to developing countries and emerging economies, to understand the dynamics of business development and activities in emerging markets.

Compulsory

Audit and Assurance - 20 credits

The module aims to develop your knowledge and understanding of the principles and practices of external and internal auditing and assurance, in the context of both the UK and the international regulatory framework. It provides you with an understanding of the legal and ethical framework surrounding auditing.

Compulsory

Corporate Reporting and Analysis - 20 credits

This module aims to develop your critical understanding of the international framework in the context of corporate reporting, and its role in the communication process between reporting entities and user groups.

The module introduces you to a range of analytical techniques to resolve issues arising from financial services.

Compulsory

Strategy and International Business Simulation - 20 credits

To survive and prosper, firms must be able to create and sustain competitive advantage over a significant period of time. This module aims to introduce you to key issues in the formulation and implementation of corporate strategy. You will learn how to understand and apply some models and concepts for building a firm's competitive strategy.

You will also look at the role of company and industry research in evaluating new opportunities and developing new products.

Compulsory

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.

How you'll learn

You will typically receive around ten hours of contact teaching per week. The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group sessions, and online classes.

Additionally, you would be expected to undertake significant self-directed study of approximately 46 hours each week, depending on the demands of individual modules.

Course content will be taught by university staff and supplemented by representatives from industry such as experts, consultants and contractors (subject to availability), who will share knowledge and insights from their industries².

Activity-based learning is used throughout the delivery of the module, to maximise the opportunities to apply theory and processes to real-life situations.

As an innovative and enterprising institution, the university may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via emerging online technologies and methods across all courses. 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 response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are prepared for courses due to start in or after the 2023/24 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.

Assessment

Your learning will be assessed using a combination of exams and coursework, including essays, reports, presentations, simulations and workshop activities.

All of our assessments give you the opportunity to demonstrate subject knowledge and develop professional skills, including report-writing, structuring a logical argument, analysing data or making a compelling presentation.

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.

International experience opportunities

You will have the opportunity to gain an international experience in many ways. Coventry University London is a hugely multicultural university, so our typically diverse student and staff body helps to facilitate a multicultural learning environment.

The course examines international regulations and case studies, encouraging you to think about issues from cross-cultural perspectives.

The course also covers the business operations of global organisations, helping you develop globally focused knowledge and expertise.

Entry requirements

Typical offer for 2024/25 entry.

Requirement	What we're looking for
Higher National Diploma (HND)	HND or successful completion of 2 years of appropriate academic study in Higher Education.
Foundation Degree	Merit profile
GCSE requirement	Minimum 5 GCSEs at 9-4 (A*-C or equivalent) including English Language and Mathematics

If you wish to find out if your experience or if your entry criteria academically would be accepted please contact registry.london@coventry.ac.uk

We recognise a breadth of qualifications, speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you.

Contextual offers and Fair Access Scheme

If you meet the criteria for our Fair Access Scheme, you could automatically receive a contextual offer that may be up to 24 UCAS points lower than our standard entry requirements. View the criteria for our Fair Access Scheme.

Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:

You can view our full list of country specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

Alternatively, visit our International hub for further advice and guidance on finding in-country agents and representatives, joining our in-country events and how to apply.

English language requirements

An adequate proficiency in English must be demonstrated. Applicants must possess a minimum IELTS of 6.0 overall with no component below 5.5.

If you don't meet the English language requirements for this course, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a Pre-sessional English programme with us, before starting your course.

We recognise a breadth of qualifications, speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you.

Fees and funding

2024/25 tuition fees.

Student	Full-time	Part-time
UK, Ireland*, Channel Islands or Isle of Man	£9,250	Request fee information
EU	£9,250 per year with EU Support Bursary £16,800 per year without EU Support Bursary	Not available
International	£16,800	Not available

If you choose to do a work placement², you should consider travel and living costs to cover this. There is also a tuition fee³ of £1,250 that will cover your academic support throughout your placement year.

For advice and guidance on tuition fees³ and student loans visit our Fees and Finance page.

We offer a range of international scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our international scholarships page.

The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:

Additional overseas ﬁeld trips or visits: £400+ per trip.
Any costs associated with securing, attending or completing a placement (whether in the UK or abroad).

*Irish student fees

The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.

**EU Support Bursary

Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.

How do you know if you need to pay UK or international tuition fees?

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Your fee status determines your tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available to you. The rules about who pays UK (home) or international (overseas) fees for higher education courses in England are set by the Department for Education. The regulations identify all the different categories of student who can insist on paying the home rate. The regulations can be difficult to understand, so the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) has provided fee status guidance to help you identify whether you are eligible to pay the home or overseas rate.

If you meet all the criteria required by any one category, including any residence requirements, your institution must charge you the home rate. You only need to find one category that you fit into.

Facilities

We have a range of facilities⁴ available to support our students in putting the theories they are taught into practice.

Take a virtual tour of our campus to explore all of the facilities available to you.

Bloomberg Trading Floor

Our Trading Floor has been created to reflect the environment where traders work at the London Stock Exchange. It contains Bloomberg Terminals, which provide access to real-time global financial data, which students learn how to use through teaching and simulated projects.

female delivering a presentation holding a laptop

Standard & Poor Market Intelligence Suite (S&P)

The S&P Suite contains some of the same tools used by Wall Street. Its databases and tools can help you track performance, identify investment ideas, and keep up with industry news and insights.

recruitment session two ladies and one man

The Talent Team

Need employability support? Our dedicated Talent Team are on hand to help. They can assist you in applying for work placements, graduate-level jobs and offer skills development workshops. They also organise networking events to introduce you to potential employers and industry contacts.

Careers and opportunities

On successful completion of this course, you will:

Graduate with well-developed analytical skills, clear perspectives on financial strategy and highly effective communication and research skills, all of which are demanded by employers in the private and public accounting and finance sectors.
Be well-placed to progress on to sitting ACCA, CIMA and ICAEW exams, if desired.
Be well-equipped to meet potential management challenges of the future.

On successful completion of the course, you should be well placed to pursue a wide variety of careers in finance, management, accounting, banking and finance, in private, public and third-sector organisations.

Further study

You can choose to continue your studies at Coventry University London with the Professional Accounting MSc, Global Finance MSc or Global Financial Services MBA.

You may be entitled to an alumni discount on your fees, if you decide to progress from undergraduate to postgraduate study.

How to apply

View our courses on UCAS

Visit UCAS

UK students

Full-time students applying to start in September should apply for this course through UCAS. Part-time students should apply directly to the university. Read our application pages to find out your next steps to apply.

How to apply

For further support or more information about your course get in touch with us today.

(+44) 024 7765 2222

ukadmissions@coventry.ac.uk

Complete our contact form.

International students

International codes:
LONU051

Full-time students applying to start in September 2023 should apply directly to the university.

How to apply

For further support for international applicants applying for an undergraduate degree view our International hub.

Disclaimers

Coventry University together with Coventry University London, Coventry University Wrocław, CU Coventry, CU London, CU Scarborough, and Coventry University Online come together to form part of the Coventry University Group (the University) with all degrees awarded by Coventry University.

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 unpaid and/or 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, public authority guidance, decisions or orders and visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand any 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 UK (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. Access to some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) may vary from those advertised and/or may have reduced availability or restrictions where the university is following public authority guidance, decisions or orders.

Student Contract

By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the current 2024/2025 contract is available on the website. 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.