This new course allows you to top up your existing qualifications to an honour’s degree in one year, whilst benefiting from all that Northumbria University and the city of Newcastle has to offer.

This course has been designed to give you the ideal balance between a broad understanding of business, whilst developing your specialist knowledge in international banking and finance as well as transferable professional and managerial techniques.

The course includes specialist modules in financial markets, and risk management. You’ll gain first-hand experience of financial markets through using our Bloomberg terminals and taking advantage of opportunities to build a track record and portfolio.

You will be supported to develop your skills in critical thinking and writing techniques during the course of the year with core modules which focus on employability, and contemporary business issues. During these modules you will develop personal applications, CVs and cover letters as part of overall career planning to promote future employability. You will be asked to prepare an independent review of the literature on a contemporary business issue of your choice (discipline specific), which will develop independent thinking and learning, whilst applying knowledge to specific business issues.

The relevance, rigour and internationalisation of this course are set to meet some of the highest and most demanding levels of accreditation. This course is covered by the prestigious AACSB accreditation for Newcastle Business School, which was ‘Business School of the Year’ at the Times Higher Education Awards 2015.

What’s more, when you study at Northumbria, you’ll be part of a leading, business-focused university. Northumbria ranks within the sector as in top 30 for further study, sustained employment or both for Business and Management, 12 months after graduation (LEO 2020).

There’s plenty of support for you to develop the academic study skills that are required. Whatever your background, we’ll help you take the more critical, deeper, and research-informed approach that’s needed for an honour’s degree at a UK university.

Your tutors will challenge you through modules that take a strategic consideration of business and management within a international banking and finance context, as well as a substantial piece of research work that is relevant to a specific research problem within international banking and finance.

Teaching methods include lectures, seminars, and workshops. There is significant emphasis on independent learning as well as self-directed and group activities as this course is, in effect, the final year of a degree course.

Teaching is backed up by a well-designed support system in order to ensure a successful learning journey and the development of the necessary academic study skills. Extensive feedback, from both tutors and peers, is built into the course. Whatever your background, we’ll help you take the more critical, deeper, and research-informed approach that’s needed for an honour’s degree at a UK university.

Our assessment strategy is based on our understanding that everyone has different needs, strengths, and enthusiasms. Assessment methods will include a portfolio of work, group presentations and reflective statements.

Newcastle Business School has a global reputation for delivering some of the best business management education in the UK. Our business staff include Fellows of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the British Academy of Management and lecturers who have taught at universities all over the world.

The Newcastle Business School teaching team is always looking to explore new fields of knowledge and generate ground-breaking concepts and insights. Over 40% of our publication outputs and 60% of our impact case studies were assessed as internationally excellent or world leading in the REF 2014.

At Newcastle Business School you’ll experience a first-class education in a world-class environment. From our social spaces and hub areas to lecture theatres and exhibition spaces, our facilities are exceptional. For example, the 24/7 university library achieves some of the highest levels of student satisfaction in the UK and has held the Cabinet Office accreditation for Customer Service Excellence since 2010.

We’re also committed to helping you make the most of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) by embedding it throughout the course. Tools such as the ‘Blackboard’ eLearning Portal and electronic reading lists are there to help you efficiently and thoroughly prepare for seminars and independent research. Lecture capture software means you can revise previously lectured material online in your time, as well as at your speed.

There are plenty of opportunities to put your learning into practice through volunteering, internships, and placements. This includes the Business Clinic that enables our students to participate in a ‘consultancy firm’ to provide advice for our region’s businesses.

At Northumbria, we take an enquiry-based, problem-solving approach, encouraging you to develop research skills like information literacy, sampling, statistical reporting, and surveying. In the final year you’ll undertake a significant investigatory task that can be either a dissertation or consultancy project. This strong research ethos is one reason why Newcastle Business School was the eighth most improved business school in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF).

Throughout the course your learning will be directly informed by the teaching team’s active research into their specialist subjects, as well as our three signature research themes that include digital business, strategic innovation and entrepreneurial leadership, and responsible business. Specific areas of research include financial crime, corporate reporting, social entrepreneurship, business ethics, economic development, emerging mobile technology and post-recession business strategy.

The course includes the ‘Career Development and Research Informed Learning’ module that will equip you with knowledge and skills for academic success and long-term career development. As part of this you’ll explore your personality, values, abilities, and interests to make a well-informed career choice and develop a career plan.

Every module will play a role in developing and reinforcing the transferable attributes that are necessary for graduate employment: effective time management, excellent communication, good teamwork, and high-level analysis. In addition, our Careers and Employment Service will offer a range of workshops, one-to-one advice, and networking opportunities.

At the end of this course there are logical career paths into banking, finance, financial services, insurance, and financial advisory work, both in the UK and around the world. You can also undertake further study at postgraduate level with a course such as our International Finance and Investment MSc. If you decide to start up your own business, it’s good to know that the combined turnover of our graduates’ start-up companies is higher than that of any other UK university.

Whatever you decide to do, you will have strong employability as a result of having acquired the characteristics of a Northumbria graduate. These include critical reflection and self-learning, collaboration and curiosity, and the ability to apply your knowledge to solve problems in ways that are sustainable and ethical.