Finance and Business (with a professional placement year) BSc (Hons)

Key information

Duration:
4 years full time
UCAS code:
NN1H
Start date:
September 2025

On the Finance and Business BSc, you develop an in-depth understanding of modern financial markets alongside the essential management skills you'll need in your career. You study diverse aspects of finance, business and management, economics and accounting, gaining an essential understanding of the context within which business is conducted today. You also have the opportunity to apply for a year in industry where you can gain professional experience and put your knowledge into practice.

In Finance, you focus on corporate finance, financial institutions, markets, derivative products and banking. In Business, you cover the different aspects of the global business world, entrepreneurship, leadership and the processes of management. You also build your knowledge of analytical techniques to apply throughout your course, including statistics and mathematics for finance and economics. 

While broadening your knowledge of finance and business, you can tailor your degree to suit your desired career path through a wide range of options including blockchain finance, cryptocurrency markets, entrepreneurship, global supply chain, law and ethics.

You have access to our Bloomberg Financial Markets Lab if you’re interested in improving your trading skills or conducting your own research project. You also benefit from having an Academic Success Adviser who can help you with academic study skills including critical thinking, presenting, academic writing and note-making. You also have the opportunity to apply for a term studying abroad.

Accreditation

You’ll join the EQUIS and AMBA-accredited University of Sussex Business School. Learn more about all of our course accreditations here. Find out more

  • Recognised by the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA). Find out more
  • Accredited by the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) for the purpose of eligibility to apply for associate membership with that body. Find out more
  • Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) for the purpose of exemption from some professional examinations through the Accredited degree accelerated route. Find out more

To help you gain experience and increase your employability, you can apply for an optional placement as part of your course. This can be a fantastic opportunity to gain real-life insight into industry as well as skills valued by employers. You’ll be responsible for applying for and securing your placement. Our dedicated careers team can help you:

  • find an employer
  • draft an application
  • prepare for interviews.

Don’t worry if you’re not successful, you’ll simply transfer to a non-placement version of your course.

We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision. We’ll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities described in this prospectus. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to government or regulatory requirements, or unanticipated staff changes, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

The course had a good balance of core knowledge and skills, such as accounting, and more theoretical subjects, such as finance for development.”Jessica Green
Finance and Business BSc 

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Entry requirements

Entry requirements for this course are currently under review – please check back in early March 2024.

Modules

This is a single-honours course, allowing you to focus in depth on your core subject.

Find out about our types of undergraduate degrees, their structure, modules and credits

Core modules

Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.

Check back in January 2025 for more details of the modules running in the academic year 2025/26.

Core modules

Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

Options

Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.

Check back in January 2025 for more details of the modules running in the academic year 2025/26.

You can apply to take a paid professional placement in the third year of your degree. Recent students have gone on placement at:

  • IBM
  • GSK (GlaxoSmithKline)
  • Hewlett Packard.

For more details, visit Business and Management: Placements

Our careers team offers dedicated support to help you obtain a placement, including:

  • finding an employer
  • drafting an application
  • preparing for interviews
  • ongoing help throughout a placement.

Don’t worry if you’re not successful in securing a placement, you’ll simply transfer to a non-placement version of your course.

Last year I did a professional placement year – this was the best decision I have ever made.”Andrea Kiliaris
Accounting and Finance (with a professional placement year) BSc 

Please note that if you’re receiving – or applying for – USA federal Direct Loan funds, you can’t undertake your placement in the USA if the number of credits for the placement/internship exceeds 25% of the total credits for your course. Find out more about American Student Loans and Federal Student Aid

Core modules

Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

Options

Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.

Check back in January 2025 for more details of the modules running in the academic year 2025/26.

TEF 2023 silver

Silver

The student experience and student outcomes are typically very high quality.
This rating was awarded in 2023, for four years.
(Teaching Excellence Framework 2023)

Find out more about our approach to teaching and supporting you to thrive

Our staff

Fees

Fees are not yet set for the academic year 2025/26 – please check back in September 2024. Note that your fees, once they’re set, may be subject to an increase on an annual basis.

Find out about typical living costs for studying at Sussex

Find out about our terms and conditions

Scholarships

Details of our scholarships are not yet set for entry in the academic year 2025/26.

Careers

At the University of Sussex Business School you benefit from extensive career support and business connections including mentoring by employers, networking and guest lectures.

You learn the fundamentals of finance while keeping a door open to a career in any business sector. You develop core knowledge in finance and business, ethical awareness, independent thinking, leadership, self-confidence as well as problem-solving and teamwork skills. You’ll be well prepared to work in:

  • investment or retail banking
  • corporate or public-sector finance
  • financial services, risk analysis or portfolio management
  • management, consultancy or human resources
  • advertising, marketing and PR.

Working while you study

Our Careers and Entrepreneurship team can help you find part-time work while you study. Find out more about career development and part-time work

I enjoyed the process of doing my group projects because I can turn my technical knowledge into practice. Also I tackled many problems that may occur in my future career.”Ziyu Zeng
Finance and Business BSc 
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