BA (Hons) Business and Finance

Key information

Why choose this course?

  • Shortlisted for Business School of the Year (Times HE Awards 2019)
  • This course achieved 98% for student satisfaction (NSS 2019)
  • Tailor your studies around your core strengths and interests
  • Open the door to a broad range of amazing career opportunities in finance.  
  • Join an exciting community of like-minded individuals who will not only be your classmates, but friends. 
  • Expand on your knowledge of finance and the financial sector and develop the necessary skills for you to succeed in the dynamic, high-reward, finance and banking industries.  
  • You will be taught by a friendly and supportive group of academics and professionals, who bring their extensive industry and academic knowledge and experiences from different parts of the globe. They are not just here to teach you, but to inspire and motivate you to achieve your full potential. 
  • Access to an excellent range of teaching and learning facilities, including access to a vast range of online business, finance, and economic resources, as well as specialised databases and online discussions with staff and students.    

Careers and employability

100% of UH finance graduates are in employment or further study 15 months after graduating (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2018- 2019). In addition to this, the average salary of our finance students 15 months after graduation is £24,000 (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2017- 2018).   

Many of our graduates have also found work in the public sector and private sector, in roles such as Accountant, Finance Administrator, Billing Co-ordinator, Payroll Assistant, Fund Administrator and Internship in Finance.

In the last few years, our graduates have also gone on to work for reputable employers such as HMRC, PWC, Citibank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Hilton Worldwide.

Our aim is not only to teach you the principles of financial theory but how to use those theories in practical business environments. This is the reason why so many of our students thrive in industries after graduation. 

What's the course about?

Indicative course structure

This degree gives you an in-depth understanding of today’s business world. You’ll explore accounting, marketing, and human resources, as well as the fast-moving international financial sector – from financial markets and investments to banking and economics. It’s an ideal choice if you know you’d like a respected business degree and you’re interested in finance but perhaps not yet sure where you’d like to specialise. It enables you to bring both disciplines together and to understand how they interact and impact society. 

The course will also have modules specifically focused on your employability and developing and enhancing the skill necessary to thrive in your future career. 

The First Year introduces general business and finance modules, namely Principals of Finance and The Finance Professionals, which encompass Economics, Quantitative Methods and Ethics. These modules give our students a firm foundation and help them to build a general understanding of finance in the context of society. 

The Second Year explores employability for our students. We focus on the academic concepts covering the general disciplines and the ongoing development of quantitative analysis skills, namely Econometrics, Business Ethics and Analysing Financial Statements. We enable our students to understand and process financial information in businesses so that they apply those skills in their future careers.  

The Final Year focuses on analytical areas such as Creative Problem Solving for Managers, Contemporary Issues in Business and Management, and Financial Aspects of International Business. These modules are designed to develop the professional skills that our students need to be successful in their future careers  

Work placement/ study abroad option: In this course, students can also have the opportunity of gaining valuable work experience by going on a year-long, paid work placement or studying abroad to polish up their foreign language skills. The Careers and Employment Service on College Lane offers a range of services to students and alumni to help with their career choices, finding employment (including placements), skills enhancement (including CV writing and interview technique), and preparation for the workplace. Also, students can Study Abroad, spending part of their degree course studying, living, and experiencing life abroad at one of our partner universities across the globe. 

Your main campus is de Havilland 

You’ll share this campus with students from business, law, sport, education, and humanities subjects. The student housing is close to our Sports Village which includes a gym, swimming pool and climbing wall. You can get breakfast, lunch, or dinner in our on-campus restaurant or bar (in the newly built Enterprise Hub) on days you don’t feel like cooking. You can also use the common room to play pool, video games or just to hang out with friends.  Our Learning Resources Centres are open 24/7, which means you can study whenever suits you best. Want to pop over to the other campus? You can take the free shuttle bus or walk there in just 15 minutes.   

What will I study?

You will be studying four 15 credit modules in each semester (this may vary between double modules) and your contact time varies between modules, but usually you will have two sessions per week for each module, a one-hour lecture following by a one-hour seminar/tutorial. Typically, a new topic or theory will be introduced in each lecture and will be followed up with class discussion and feedback in the subsequent seminar. In addition, as part of your study time, you will be collaborating with your peers on tasks and group assignments. Module leaders also offer weekly drop-in and feedback sessions, usually 2 x 1 hour per module as well as revision sessions. 

The University’s ‘online learning environment’ means you can access all your course resources, literature and timetables from anywhere in the world. 

Usually, assessment is split between coursework and examinations. The style of coursework can vary from presentations to business reports or essays depending on the taught topics. 

Check out our student blogs

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Student Blogs

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Alumni Stories

Elizaveta Zaskalko

Meet Elizaveta Zaskalko, who has explored the tourism industry and shared her passion for travel. She works at Expedia Inc as an Account Manager.

Read more stories Find out more about this course
Current job roleAccount Manager
Year of graduation2016
Course of studyBA (Hons) Tourism Management with French
Elizaveta Zaskalko headshot

A passion for travel

Elizaveta always had a passion for tourism and knew her career would be within the industry. She works at Expedia Inc as an Account Manager and is responsible for the brand's relationships with Marriott, Hilton, and other chains in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Studying at the University gave her a vast knowledge of the tourism industry and prepared her for entering the sector. Tourism is a diverse and global industry, with many career opportunities for new graduates.

She says, 'When I started my studies, I knew that I wanted to work in the tourism industry but had no idea which part of it. As I progressed, I learned about so many different branches of the industry and it really helped me to narrow it down to the one I actually really enjoyed.'

Strong employment links

'The best thing about my course is that it prepared us for the working world. The programme had a huge focus on employability, which I think was incredibly useful. Coming out of university I knew where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do and how to achieve it.'

The employment focus and links to industry embedded into Elizaveta's degree are what persuaded her to study at Herts. Our courses are designed to give students great opportunities, prepare them for professional life and provide them with direct access to their chosen profession through expert teaching and tangible industry connections.

Elizaveta says, 'An important factor for me choosing to study at the University was being able to do an industry placement year, as it's very hard to get a job without work experience nowadays. My placement year was very challenging but it was one of the most useful experiences I have had so far.'