BSc Finance with Placement Year

Prepare for a career in the fast-paced financial industries – and gain valuable real-world experience – with our BSc Finance with Placement Year degree.

Recent changes in finance – including the emergence of financial technology and the focus on sustainability – have necessitated changes throughout the industry.

This four-year course develops the key skills and knowledge to meet these changes head-on, as you gain a deep understanding of finance and the financial services industry. An integrated Placement Year provides a fantastic opportunity to put your skills into practice in preparation for your future career.

Experts from from Henley Business School will introduce you to the:

• fundamental principles of accounting, finance and economics
• quantitative techniques of finance
• role of finance in business and society
• ethics required to work in the finance industry.

As your studies progress, you’ll gain deeper knowledge of the core concepts in:

• portfolio management
• financial modelling
• corporate finance.

You’ll learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, practical workshops, and self-guided study. This will provide the opportunity to discuss subject materials in an in-depth way with your lecturers and fellow students.

The University of Reading is a CFA partner university. Within this partnership, a number of scholarships are offered towards CFA exams (partial fee reduction) for which students can apply.

Choose BSc Finance with Placement Year at Henley Business School

• Ranked in the top 25 in the UK for Accounting and Finance (23rd in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide, 2024).
• Triple-accredited status from the UK, European and US accrediting bodies (AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB).

Flexible study options

After the first year of your BSc Finance with Placement Year degree, you will have the option to transfer to any of our specialist pathways:

• BSc Finance (Investments)
• BSc Finance (FinTech)
• BSc Finance (Sustainable Finance)
• BSc Finance (International Business)

Each pathway is designed to help you understand particular challenges within finance and how to respond to them.

If you choose to remain on the general degree course, you’ll still be offered a wide range of options in your second and final years – allowing you to tailor your learning to your individual interests.

We also offer two other variations of this course: BSc Finance, a three-year course; and BSc Finance with Study Year Abroad, a four-year course with a year of overseas study instead of a placement.

Dedicated industry facilities with BSc Finance with Placement Year

Put your understanding of financial systems and capital markets into practice in our state-of-the-art dealing rooms, featuring computer trading simulations and financial modelling.

Placement Year in industry

In your third year, you’ll have the opportunity to gain valuable experience in a real-world setting with our Work Placement module.

We will support you to find and secure a placement that’s right for you.

As well as enriching your studies, an industry placement can be an excellent way to: