MSc Business

Duration: 1 year full-time
Places Available: 60 (22 Accounting and Finance; 23 Marketing; 15 Behavioural Science)

The MSc in Business is designed for graduates wanting to develop comprehensive business skills. It can act as a conversion course and allows even existing business students to study a new specialism through its three pathways.

Select the study route which directly supports your personal career ambitions:

• MSc Business (Finance & Accounting)
• MSc Business (Marketing)
• MSc Business (Behavioural Science).

All routes study four core modules in term one, followed by three modules specialising in your chosen stream in term two and one further elective chosen from another stream or from a selection of other elective modules. Career development activities offer a range of opportunities to further enhance your employability and we expect graduates from this course to take prime junior management positions in bluechip industries.

• More information on the MSc in Business

MSc Marketing and Strategy

Duration: 1 year full-time
Places available: 90

The course aims to give a deep and balanced understanding of both marketing and strategy. Through a combination of taught modules and research you will learn about marketing and decisionmaking processes within organisations. You will also develop the ability to critically evaluate and apply new concepts and approaches in a range of business contexts. If you are interested in becoming a Chartered Marketeer in the UK, then the MSc in Marketing and Strategy will meet the qualification requirement for entry to the CIM’s Chartered Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing. You will need to take three marketing elective modules, and complete your dissertation in a marketing field. You will then only need to meet the experience requirement in senior marketing management.

Graduates from this course are in high demand. Some go on to undertake consultancy roles with firms such as Accenture, IBM and Deloitte. Others work in marketing for a range of organisations, including Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble.

• More information on the MSc Marketing and Strategy

MSc Management

Duration: 1 year full-time
Places available: 100

The MSc Management is for graduates looking to add business knowledge to your first degree. This course will provide you with a broad education in management and business. It will develop your analytical and interpersonal skills, enabling you to apply your knowledge creatively, to improve management and business practice. Through the MSc Management, you will gain a wide perspective on management and business issues and the organisational contexts in which they apply. You will refine and build upon your communication, teamworking, and presentation skills through individual and group work and develop your personal and professional skills in decision-making, problemsolving, analysis, and critical reflection.

• More information on the MSc Management

MSc Business Analytics and Consulting

Standard Duration: 1 year full-time, 2-3 years part-time
Places available: 60

The first of its kind in the UK, this course covers the skills, methods, and tools needed to address complex organisational situations and enable better decision-making. Our experienced and international faculty will help you build your problem structuring, decision analysis, and systems modelling skills – everything you need to get a head start in a career in consultancy. Our graduates go on to work all over the world in a variety of roles, mostly as business analysts and consultants in a range of sectors and functions. Companies include: Abbey, Accenture, British Airways, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, HSBC, IBM, Procter & Gamble, PwC and Virgin Media.

• More information on the MSc Business Analytics and Consulting

MSc Finance

Standard Duration: 1 year full-time
Places available: 90

This course aims to provide you with a strong foundation in both the principles and practice of finance, together with the analytical tools required by the finance industry. You will cover the key areas of modern finance, and gain a broad understanding of critical issues with teaching by a faculty recognised as one of Europe’s leading centres of excellence. Our MSc in Finance is highly-regarded professionally and is a CFA Program Partner. Alumni from this course have gone on to work in many leading companies such as Deloitte and Touche, Ernst & Young, HSBC, KPMG, UBS and Deutsche Bank.

• More information on the MSc Finance

MSc Accounting and Finance

Standard Duration: 1 year full-time
Places available: 60

Our new MSc has been developed to create a new breed of financiers: those who are able to challenge orthodoxy through their critical thinking and skilled mastery of accountancy techniques.

The course combines the traditional technical requirements for a career in accounting or finance while developing the critical thinking required of the next generation of finance professionals. You will explore how accounting and reporting decisions affect markets and companies, and study accounting in its wider social context. You will build on your knowledge of accounting to develop a deeper understanding of current issues. The combination of core modules will provide you with a rigorous technical training as well as a critical approach to current techniques and practice; essential skills in a post-crisis world. The wide range of elective courses available gives you the opportunity to tailor your course to your preferences, allowing you to take modules from behavioural science through to quantitative finance.

MSc Finance and Economics

Duration: 1 year full-time
Places available: 55

This course is ideal for you if you have a strong economics background, are highly numerate, and want to learn to apply your knowledge specifically to finance to open up your career options. We will teach you to apply the most advanced tools in finance and economics, analyse problems in a rigorous and constructive fashion, and become confident in undertaking research in finance and economics on your own. The course is taught jointly by academics in WBS, and the Department of Economics. Practice is embedded in our study programme; WBS has been awarded CFA Program Partner status by CFA Institute. Graduates from this course are in high demand and go on to jobs in the City and capital markets, in areas such as corporate finance, investment management, central banks, pensions, life assurance, and unit and investment trusts. Employers include Accenture, Bank of England, Barclays, BNP Parabas, Central Bank, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Ernst & Young, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, KPMG, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, PwC, Reuters and UBS. Other alumni have gone on to study or teach at universities.

• More information on the MSc Finance and Economics

MSc Finance with Behavioural Science

Duration: 1 year full-time
Places available: 20

Join our new MSc in Finance with Behavioural Science to explore how the science of human behaviour, and the understanding of human judgement and decisionmaking in particular, provides practically relevant insights to the finance industry.

Financial markets are driven by patterns in human behaviour, at many levels: trading decisions, the impact of market and popular sentiment, and the formulation and impact of policy and regulation.

Financial institutions, and businesses more widely, are all subject to decision-making biases, which may lead to bubbles or crashes which are out of line with economic fundamentals. Industry practitioners and academic theorists are investigating into how the science of human behaviour can provide insights relevant to the finance industry. Studying with us will place you at the forefront of these exciting developments.

This new course builds on our highly successful MSc in Finance to give you a thorough grounding in Finance while allowing you to explore the theoretically and commercially important developments in the new field of Behaviourial Science. In addition to the core and key finance modules, you will study judgement and decision-making, exploring the psychological principles underlying how people form opinions and make decisions, and considering some of the implications of human behaviour for finance professionals.

MSc Finance and Information Technology

Duration: 1 year full-time

Places available: 25

Designed by finance professionals for aspiring finance professionals, our brand new MSc in Finance and IT is specifically aimed at graduates in computer science and related areas who want to pursue a career in finance. Incorporating intensive finance training with tailored IT modules, we will provide you with the tools you need for a successful financial career. Join us to explore:

• the principles of modern finance theory
• the complex questions faced by industry professionals
• analytical techniques and methods
• the characteristics of financial instruments and markets
• the construction of portfolios of assets with particular characteristics
• how to measure performance
• current issues in IT including: strategic development of systems; management and implementation problems and solutions; decisions relating to organisational form and governance
• existing research and scholarship to identify potential new approaches.

• More information on MSc Finance & Information Technology

MSc Financial Mathematics

Duration: 1 year full-time
Places available: 40

This course draws upon the research expertise of three departments: WBS, the Mathematics Institute, and the Department of Statistics. This ensures that the course is mathematically sound, whilst providing a first class business education and strong relationships with finance companies. We aim to equip you with a thorough grounding in the mathematics underlying modern finance theory. Our course is a mix of academia and practice; the study programme will enable you to take your cross-curricular knowledge to an advanced level. Furthermore, we will ensure you learn the theory and methodology and, crucially, can apply it in practice. Graduates go on to work mainly as managers, accountants, associates, analysts, consultants and researchers at various banks and companies, such as the Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Ernst & Young, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, KPMG, PwC, Standard Chartered Bank and Zurich Financial Services.

• More information on the MSc Financial Mathematics

MSc Information Systems Management and Innovation

Standard Duration: 1 year full-time
Places available: 70

This course focuses on teaching you to achieve business value from information and communications technology. It provides a strong foundation in the theory and practical use of information systems, together with the tools and techniques for managing technology across commercial and not-for-profit organisations. We also have an exclusive relationship with Bentley University, Boston, USA, offering a limited number of students a fantastic opportunity to study internationally.

No prior knowledge of IT is required as the course develops your management and consulting skills, and encourages your critical thinking about wider issues outside narrow technological boundaries. Graduates have gone on to work mainly as managers, analysts, consultants and researchers in companies such as CapGemini, Citigroup, Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd, Ernst & Young and PwC.

• More information on the MSc Information Systems Management and Innovation

MSc Management Science and Operational Research

Standard Duration: 1 year full-time, 2-3 years part-time
Places available: 30

This course provides a balanced grounding in management science, operational research, statistics, information technology, and general management. It will enable you to analyse complex organizational problems and improve the decision-making processes in industry, business, and the public sector. Graduates from this course go on to work predominantly as managers, directors, analysts, consultants, contractors, lecturers and partners. Organisations currently employing alumni include Abbey, Accenture Plc, Barclays Bank plc, British Airways, BP, BT, CapGemini UK Plc, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank AG, Ernst & Young, FedEx, IBM, KPMG, Nokia and PwC. Our alumni also work for governmental, religious and higher education bodies.

• More information on the MSc Management Science and Operational Research