The MSc Computing for the Financial Services provides an intensive course specifically tailored for computer science graduates or graduates of related subjects with a substantial amount of programming who are interested in pursuing a career in financial services. As well as gaining a broad knowledge of the subject, you acquire practical skills and have the opportunity to investigate certain areas of current research more deeply.

If you are new to the subject, this MSc provides the foundation for a career in IT within the financial services industry, and if you already work in IT, it provides an opportunity to broaden your knowledge and update your skills specifically for finance while obtaining a formal qualification.

The programme offers a single software development pathway in Java. For more experienced students there is the opportunity to carry out project work in other languages.

• The Department of Computer Science and Information Systems at Birkbeck is one of the longest-established computing departments in the UK, celebrating our 65th anniversary in 2022. We provide a stimulating teaching and research environment for both part-time and full-time students.
• The Birkbeck Knowledge Lab draws on multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies from across the sciences, social sciences and the arts, to investigate how digital technologies and digital information are transforming our culture and how we learn and work.
• You will have 24-hour access to several laboratories of networked PCs with a range of language compilers, database and other application software. We are connected, via the SuperJANET network, to the computers of other academic institutions in London, elsewhere in the UK and abroad.
• In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF), more than 75% of our research outputs in Computer Science were ranked world-leading or internationally excellent.

You take one compulsory 30-credit module and choose six option modules worth 15 credits each.

You also complete a project, comprising the design, development and evaluation of a major piece of software in the target application domain.

Part-time students usually take three to five modules in their first year, including the compulsory module, and choose the remainder of their option modules and complete their project in Year 2. Full-time students complete everything in one year.

Graduates go on to careers in the financial services and IT sectors. Possible professions include information systems manager, IT consultant, or systems analyst. This degree can also be useful in becoming a technical author or IT trainer.

We offer a comprehensive Careers Service to help you advance your career, while our in-house, professional recruitment consultancy, Birkbeck Talent, works with London’s top employers to help you gain work experience that fits in with your evening studies.