Everything you need to know...
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What is the fee?
Home: See fees section below
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How long will I study?
3 / 4 Years
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Where will I study?
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What are the entry requirements?
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What is the UCAS code?
A113
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When do I start?
September 2025
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Placement year available?
Yes
1. Course summary
- Gain a solid foundation in financial trading and investment management.
- Develop deep analytical, critical thinking and problem-solving skills in finance.
- Study for a degree and a professional qualification in state-of-the-art facilities.
- Learn from qualified experts – many who are active in business and research.
Apply multiple areas of financial knowledge to a range of real-world settings. Based in our renowned Sheffield Business School in your first and final year – in your second year you’ll work with our experienced trading partner Zishi in London. It’s an incredible chance to gain valuable market knowledge in one of the world’s financial capitals – where you could also complete an extended placement, or even in another global location.
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Come to an open day
Visit us to learn more about our gold-rated teaching and why we were awarded the highest possible rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.
Sheffield Business School accreditation
Sheffield Business School is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and has been awarded the Business School Impact System label by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD).
2. How you learn
You’ll study BSc (Hons) Financial Trading and Investment Management at our Sheffield Business School, rated in the top 6% globally for excellence in teaching and research. Here, you’ll join a global community where business leaders, researchers and 6,500 students all come together to solve problems and make things better.
Our academics are highly skilled professionals, bringing their cutting-edge knowledge and diverse experience into the classroom. Not only are they academically qualified – they’ve also worked in a range of industries, with some actively engaged in research.
You learn through:
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- IT sessions
- Regular formative feedback
- Teamwork and group-based learning
- Practice-based applied learning
- Authentic learning experiences
- Engagement with guest lectures
- Discussions
- Self-managed study
- Problem-solving
- Self-development activities
Key Themes
You’ll begin by developing a strong understanding in financial trading, investment management, equipping you with the practical skills essential for investment management, and the quantitative skills to apply the fundamental concepts of finance. You’ll develop your understanding of how and when to use appropriate processes, tools, technologies and trading techniques.
As you progress, you’ll further refine these fundamentals through real-world projects, collaborating in teams to create reports, presentations, and recommendations inspired by real industry challenges. After completing your second year in London, and potentially a placement year there or further afield, you'll then undertake a trading and investment management project in Sheffield.
We promote flexibility, aiming to empower you to customise your course to align with your interests and aspirations. You can choose from elective pathways including forensic accounting, sustainable accounting/environmental accounting, sports finance and other traditional routes.
Course Support
You’ll be supported in your learning journey towards highly-skilled, graduate-level employment. This includes:
- Access to specialist support services to help with your personal, academic and career development
- Access to our Skills Centre for support with one-to-ones, webinars and online resources, where you can get help with planning and structuring your assignments and assessment preparation
- Industry-specific employability activities, including work placements, live projects, simulated learning environments, and networking opportunities
Applied learning
Live Projects
In your second year, you’ll actively engage in the formulation and execution of trading strategies in real financial markets in London – making use of live data and integrating your expertise in investment management.
In your final year, rather than a dissertation, you’ll construct a simulated trading or investment portfolio, which serves as the focal point of your major project.
This final project is an innovative opportunity to demonstrate your applied knowledge and practical competencies in finance and investment. It also offers a real-world perspective that can significantly enhance your career prospects.
Work Placements
You’ll have the opportunity to take part in an extended work placement between your second and third years. This gives you hands-on work experience to prepare you for your future career – immersing yourself in the industry you’ve been learning about.
As your second year is based in London, you’ll be well-positioned to secure a placement in London before returning to Sheffield for your final year. Or if you’d like to broaden your experience even further, we can help you apply for placements around the globe.
This is such valuable work experience to prepare you for your future career – and allows you to graduate with an Applied Professional Diploma to add to your CV.
Networking Opportunities
You’ll benefit from networking opportunities in both Sheffield and London. Our Sheffield Business School has strong links with industry – both locally and nationally – giving you regular opportunities to network with employers. Additionally, during your time in London, you’ll benefit from the longstanding relationships our trading partner has in the city.
Competitions
As well as in-class tests and quizzes to help build your learning, we also run investment competitions and take part in the annual Bloomberg University Trading Challenge.
3. Future careers
This course prepares you for a career in a wide range of roles in Financial Services including:
- Financial markets trading
- Investment management
- Wealth management
- Financial planning and advice
Previous graduates of this course have gone on to work for trading firms and internationally-renowned financial services organisations, including:
- OSTC (a proprietary trading firm)
- eToro (a retail trading firm)
- The Bank of England
- The Bank of America
- Investec
- Barclays
4. Where will I study?
You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.
City Campus
City Campus is located in the heart of Sheffield, within minutes of the train and bus stations.
City Campus map | City Campus tour
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Adsetts library
Adsetts Library is located on our City Campus. It's open 24 hours a day, every day.
Learn more5. Equipment and facilities
Construction of the new Sheffield Business School is underway – providing state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities and social space to students.
On this course, you’ll have access to:
- Our virtual learning environment – Blackboard sites
- Accounting software
- Bloomberg Professional Terminals
- Our financial trading floor
- A physical and online library with databases and digital books, journals, newspapers, and magazines
Media Gallery
6. Entry requirements
All students
UCAS points
- 112-120
This must include at least 64 points from 2 A Levels or equivalent BTEC qualifications. For example:
- BBC-BBB at A Level
- DDM in BTEC Extended Diploma
- Merit overall from a T level qualification
- A combination of qualifications, which may include AS levels, EPQ and general studies
GCSE
- English Language at grade C or 4
- Maths at grade C or 4
You can find information on making sense of UCAS tariff points here and use the UCAS tariff calculator to work out your points.
• Access - an Access to HE Diploma with at least 45 credits at level 3 and 15 credits at level 2. At least 15 level 3 credits must be at merit grade or above, from a QAA-recognised Access to HE course, or an equivalent Access to HE certificate.
If English is not your first language, you will need an IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in all skills, or equivalent. If your English language skill is currently below IELTS 6.0 we recommend you consider a Sheffield Hallam University Pre-sessional English course which will enable you to achieve an equivalent English score.
Additional information for EU/International students
This course is not open to international students who require a student visa to study in the UK. If you are an international applicant but do not require a student visa, email our Admissions Team to find out whether you’re eligible to apply.
Modules
Important notice: The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.
You will be able to complete a placement year as part of this course. See the modules table below for further information.
Compulsory modules
This module explores asset class categories of investments with similar characteristics and risks – from equities and fixed income to real estate and alternative investments. You’ll consider diversification of investment capital across asset classes to match an investor's goals, risk tolerance and investment horizon – as well as the active or passive nature of investment management, from choosing individual securities to buy and sell within asset classes, to investing in a diversified portfolio of index funds or ETFs that track a particular asset class.
You’ll study topics such as:
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Asset classes and investment management
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Equities and stock market analysis
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Fixed income securities, duration and bond market analysis
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Real estate investments and property analysis
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Alternative investments: private equity, hedge funds and commodities
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Portfolio management: asset allocation and diversification
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Active investment management: fundamental and technical analysis
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Passive investment management: index funds and ETFs
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Behavioural finance: investor biases and emotions
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Capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and modern portfolio theory (MPT)
This module develops your understanding of various quantitative processes for collecting, analysing, managing, interpreting and utilising data within the context of business and economics. You’ll gain the knowledge and analytical and mathematical skills to tackle advanced material in later years, along with transferable insights for other disciplines and applications.
You’ll study topics such as:
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Summarising data by tabulation, graphs and summary measures
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Analysis through measures of change and index numbers
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Examine the relationships between variables using scatter diagrams and correlation coefficients
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Time series analysis using graphs, moving averages and linear regression
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Forecasting using additive and multiplicative models
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Creating future cash flows based on forecast figures and estimation
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Calculate present, future and outstanding values and the internal rate of return of a project
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Descriptive statistics, measures of central tendency, variability and graphical representation
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Trend analysis, seasonal factor and time series model forecasting
This module develops your understanding of the principles of finance, including the ability to read, understand and perform fundamental analysis of financial statements – such as income statements, statements of financial position and cash flow statements. It’s an applied project module, working collaboratively with a client to explore real-world challenges while developing and employing professional behaviours.
You’ll apply skills and learning such as:
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Reading, comprehending and providing basic analysis of core financial statements
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Describing and interpreting financial ratios
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The principle of risk and return and the time value of money
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The concept of investment analysis – present and future values
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The role of financial firms (corporate objectives)
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The principal-agent relationship
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Conducting and explaining basic investment appraisal analysis
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Work experience through a client-led experiential project
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Reflecting on your strengths
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Recognising your professional behaviours, limitations and experiences
Module Aim:
This module provides students with an awareness of trading algorithms so that they have a basic understanding that will help them make sense of other more complex trading platforms later. Students will use variants of Jupyter Notebooks to explore the Python coding language and its libraries such as Pandas, that run on the Linux operating system in a cloud. After mastering basic coding skills students will be guided through more advanced coding that models stock data as a time series and uses "Back Testing" to check if an algorithm would make money or not.
The module will be delivered weekly as a one-hour lecture that explains underpinning theories before a two-hour practical seminar to embed and reinforce learning from the lecture.
Indicative content:
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Jupyter notebooks
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IT infrastructure
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Linux operating system
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Getting and preparing data
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Introduction to Python
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Introduction to Trading Algorithms
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In-built and custom-made functions
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Pandas, Numpy and other modules
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Stock data as a data set
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Time series analysis
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Visualisation
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Back testing
Compulsory modules
This module provides an understanding of financial markets to enable evaluation of choices in funding and financing investment decisions, with an appreciation of the role of cash in firm, managing working capital and the management and measurement of risk for decision making. You’ll apply core concepts of finance to reduce risk or engage in risk taking activities, while gaining immersive work experience in partnership with external organisations.
You’ll study topics such as:
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Business risk and financial risk
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Sources of equity finance, debt finance and leasing decisions
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Working capital management of cash, inventory, receivables and payables
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Investment appraisal techniques with risk and capital rationing
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Foreign exchange rate risk management using both internal and external techniques
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Interest rate risk management using both internal and external techniques
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Other financial risks facing global companies, including liquidity, commodity and operational risk
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Credit rating factors determining ratings, covenant tests and ratings methodology
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The adoption and implementation of enterprise-wide risk management
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Work-integrated learning
This module provides an in-depth understanding of the structure and functioning of financial markets and institutions, including the roles and functions of financial intermediaries – such as banks, central banks, insurance companies, pension funds and stock exchanges. You’ll consider how they contribute to the efficient allocation of capital in the economy, while developing analytical and critical thinking skills, and making informed decisions when investing or managing financial risk.
You’ll study topics such as:
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Overview of financial markets and institutions
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Financial instruments, bonds, equities and derivatives
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Foreign exchange markets and currency risk management
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Money markets and capital markets
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Securities markets and trading
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Financial intermediary banks, insurance companies and pension funds
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Asset-backed securities and mortgage-backed securities
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UK listing rules and the UK listing authority
This module is initially taught by our specialist trading education partner Zishi – six weeks full-time Monday to Friday in an internship environment, where you learn how to trade a range of markets from professional traders in a purpose-built trading room using industry-standard technology. You’ll then join us for two weeks, focusing on the employability skills you’ll need in financial services.
You’ll study topics such as:
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Fundamental analysis
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Technical analysis
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Trade planning and execution
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Trade management
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Using industry-standard hardware, software and news services
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The behaviours and professionalism required to succeed
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Critical analysis and reflection of your strengths
This module introduces law, the English legal system and professional ethics in financial services. You’ll develop your understanding of legality and morality to inform decision making in financial services organisations.
You’ll study topics such as:
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The English legal system
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Contract law
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Legal and ethical principles and theories
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The relationship between law and ethics
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Law and ethics in professional practice
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Legal trusts
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Ethical decision making
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The role of financial advisers
Optional modules
Module aim:
The aim of this module is to enhance students’ professional development through the completion of and reflection on meaningful work placement(s).
A work placement will provide students with opportunities to experience the realities of professional employment and experience how their course can be applied within their chosen industry setting. The placement will:
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Allow student to apply the skills, theories and behaviours relevant and in addition to their course
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Enable students to enhance their interpersonal skills in demand by graduate employers – communication, problem solving, creativity, resilience, team work etc.
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Grow their student network and relationship building skills.
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Provide student with insights into the industry and sector in which their placement occurs
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Help student make informed graduate careers choices.
Indicative Content:
In this module students undertake a sandwich placement (min 24 weeks / min 21 hours per week) which is integrated, assessed and aligned to their studies.
Their personal Placement Academic Supervisor (PAS) will be their key point of contact during their placement and will encourage and support students to reflect on their experience, learning and contribution to the organisation they work for.
To demonstrate gains in professional development, students will be required to share their progress, learning and achievements with their Placement Academic Supervisor and reflect on these for the summative piece of work.
Compulsory modules
This module provides an in-depth understanding of derivatives and their characteristics or uses in financial markets – from futures, options, swaps and credit derivatives to the various strategies used to manage risk and enhance returns. Through applied learning you’ll learn to value derivatives, price options using different models and hedge positions using different instruments – while considering the relevant regulatory framework surrounding derivatives.
You’ll study topics such as:
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Introduction to derivatives
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Underlying assets
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Exchange traded futures and options OTC derivatives
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Clearing
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Delivery and settlement
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Portfolio research and construction
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Trading, hedging and investment strategies
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Investment selection and administration
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Regulatory requirements
This module provides the knowledge and skills you’ll need to manage investment risks and understand the impact of taxation on investment decisions – from risk analysis and management techniques to the taxation of various investment products. You’ll learn how to identify different types of investment risk and about applying appropriate risk management strategies to mitigate them – as well as the taxation implications of income, capital gains and inheritance tax.
You’ll study topics such as:
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Reducing portfolio risk
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Income tax calculations
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Investment income taxation
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National Insurance contributions
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Capital gains, inheritance tax and stamp duty
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Corporation tax and VAT
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Advising clients and fact finding
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Risk and product suitability
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Investment recommendations
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Tax planning
This module provides a comprehensive understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks governing the financial services industry in the UK. You’ll learn how to provide effective and ethical financial advice to clients –identifying their needs, assessing their risk tolerance, and developing appropriate investment strategies that comply with regulatory requirements and ethical standards.
You’ll study topics such as:
- The key principles and rules of financial regulation
- The rationale for regulation
- UK approach to regulation
- FCA and PRA regulation
- Conduct of business rules
- Regulation relating to financial crime
- Types and characteristics of clients
- Client circumstances and risk profile
- Advising clients and providing personal recommendations
This module’s outcomes are similar to a dissertation – a project where you’ll conduct independent research, visit industry clients, make informed decisions in financial markets, and present your findings clearly and concisely. The project may involve creating trading strategies, evaluating the risk-reward trade-off and assessing the performance of investment portfolios – as well as advanced statistical and financial modelling techniques to analyse data and make predictions about market trends.
You’ll apply learning and skills such as:
• Research design, methods, questions, hypotheses and ethical considerations
• Literature review searches and reviews
• Research design, sampling techniques and data collection
• Quantitative and qualitative research
• Data analysis, preparation and statistics
• Writing a proposal and reporting findings
• Consultancy, communication and team-work
• Process focus vs results focus
• Real-life consultancy projects and cross-team collaboration
• Reflection on your knowledge and skills to support graduate employability
8. Fees and funding
Home students
Our tuition fee for UK students on full-time undergraduate courses in 2025/26 is £9,535 per year (capped at a maximum of 20% of this during your placement year). These fees are regulated by the UK government and therefore subject to change in future years.
If you are studying an undergraduate course, postgraduate pre-registration course or postgraduate research course over more than one academic year then your tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with Government regulations or UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) published fees. More information can be found in our terms and conditions under student fees regulations.
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Financial support for home/EU students
How tuition fees work, student loans and other financial support available.
Additional course costs
The links below allow you to view estimated general course additional costs, as well as costs associated with key activities on specific courses. These are estimates and are intended only as an indication of potential additional expenses. Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course.
General course additional costs
Additional costs for Sheffield Business School (PDF, 255.6KB)Legal information
Any offer of a place to study is subject to your acceptance of the University’s Terms and Conditions and Student Regulations.