Master of Science in Business Finance

at Brunel University London United Kingdom

Our Visual Effects and Motion Graphics BSc degree is a modern, hands-on course that combines digital technology and creative design. It has been developed to equip you with the knowledge and practical skills required by the visual effects and motion graphics sector within the entertainment and creative industries.

At Brunel, we combine a study of visual effects with motion graphics so you can learn a wide range of creative and technical skills required to produce high-quality visual assets and artefacts for film, TV, the Web, games and other creative outlets. You’ll study VFX acquisition, motion design, CGI, digital graphic design, digital photography and video. You will then progress to producing more complex post-production assets and artefacts involving compositing, advanced CGI, 3D animation, media aesthetics, motion graphics and mixed reality. In your final year, you can choose from modules in advanced digital graphics and motion design and advanced 3D animation with additional options in digital experiences and creative technology design.

Professional and transferable skills required for working in the creative digital industries are developed throughout each year of the course. 

Our modern, industry standard digital media facilities include a green screen and post-production studio, motion capture, sound and photography studios, 4K digital cinema cameras, and a dedicated render farm. You will have independent access to exclusive PC and Mac computing laboratories and benefit from the latest industry standard specialist software for graphics and image/video editing, 3D animation, digital compositing and high-quality asset creation. There's also the opportunity for you to use our immersive virtual environment laboratory. This includes an immersive dome (planetarium) set up for Brunel by the National Space Centre in Leicester, and is one of only a few in the UK! 

There are guest lectures covering lots of different digital media topics and the visiting lecturers provide industry insight and advice on how to structure your portfolio and showreels. Speakers include creative and design directors, motion graphics professionals, 3D graphic supervisors, and VFX specialists and generalists.

Visits are arranged to TV and photography studios, and post-production houses. There’s also the opportunity to go to conferences and this is your chance to build networks with key industry experts. In addition, you have the advantage of Brunel’s close location to London for trips to exhibitions celebrating the creative industries.

The course can be studied full-time over three years, or four years with a placement year. We encourage the placement year option. This time in industry helps you to further prepare for the world of work and you’ll have a year’s worth of invaluable professional experience when you graduate. If you decide to go on a digital media placement year, you will have the opportunity of working in the ever-growing creative industries.

The end-of-year highlight is the BrunelDigital degree show hosted on Brunel’s one London campus. Exhibiting your creative work at this event is a great way for you to connect with leading creative technologists and showcase your talent.

Brunel’s visual effects and motion graphics course is fully accredited and industry recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK’s screen-based industries. It carries the ScreenSkills Select quality mark which indicates that it is best suited to prepare you for a career in the screen industries. An added benefit as a student on this ScreenSkills endorsed course, is that you're eligible to apply for a Royal Television Society (RTS) bursary.

The digital media courses at Brunel are the only ScreenSkills-accredited degree programmes in London and the South East.

Accounting best practice is key to the success and longevity of a business. Accounting data contributes to valuable analysis with which to chart the progress of a business and support pivotal decision-making. This can be particularly useful when projecting future profitability and at what rate it is sustainable based on the current resources available.

The Business and Management (Accounting) BSc course offers hands-on experience using Sage Accounting software, which is widely used in the industry. You will also learn valuable technical skills along the way including numerical methods and how to use statistical software packages such as SPSS and EXCEL. This part of the course does not require A level maths or the overseas equivalent.

The accounting pathway gives students a broad overview of management issues with specialist knowledge of the applications of accountancy to the world of commerce. You will gain the combination of analytical, technical and interpersonal skills required to understand, analyse and address the issues that today’s companies face.

Our Management Enquiry module was created specifically to help you adapt to university study with learning sessions on working in groups, report writing, and time management.

This degree course is accredited by all the professional accountancy bodies in the UK (ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW, CIPFA and AIA), and allows you to gain exemptions from some of their professional papers if you wish to further your study with them after you graduate. These accreditations attests to the relevance and rigour of our curriculum. We have particularly good exemptions from ACCA; we hold all nine possible exemptions.  So when you graduate you will be part qualified and will just need to sit final exams and gain some professional experience to qualify as an accountant.  Find out more about all our accreditations and exemptions on our accreditations and exemptions page.

Once you graduate, provided you have passed certain modules, you will be exempt from some of the entry level examinations of these professional accountancy bodies. This is because this degree course already covers some of the content of the examinations you must pass to gain the professional qualifications. The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants has also told us that Brunel graduates have a higher than average pass rate in both the accounting and management streams of their examinations.

There is the option to take a year’s work placement between your second and third year. Previous employers have included Adidas, Microsoft, British Airways, PwC and Nissan. Find out more on our work placement year page.

Brunel University London’s impact on the future wages of its graduates is among the best in the country compared to other universities, according to analysis of government data by The Economist (2017).

All our business degrees include the option of a work placement year between your second and third year.

• In addition to providing the opportunity to put what you’ve learnt in your degree into practice, and to earn some much appreciated money, our students find their work placement experience significantly enhances their career prospects when they come to graduate. In fact many students are offered employment with their work placement company upon graduation. You'll be working in the same capacity as you would when you graduate so it will give you a taste of what's to come, hopefully, including all the challenges and rewards.
• Placements are available at different sized organisations across the public and private sector, so you can choose the type of experience most suited to you. You’ll need to apply for these positions in much the same way as you would a job, so it’ll be useful experience in that respect too.
• The good news is that through our Business Life programme and the University’s Professional Development Centre, you should be well prepared to make the best applications you can.
• Placements tend to last 44 weeks. During your placement, an academic member of staff from Brunel Business School will keep in touch, and your employer will be invited to attend a tutorial day at Brunel with you.

Understanding customer behaviour and translating this into how a company communicates and operates is the crux of good marketing practice, which in turn, is integral to a successful business.

Brunel’s Business and Management (Marketing) BSc offers you the chance to explore the principles and practices of modern day marketing, such as market research, database marketing, digital marketing, and the marketing of not-for-profit services.

As with all our Business and Management degree courses, you will be equipped with a broad knowledge of business and management fundamentals as well as the analytical and interpersonal skills required to address the problems that today’s companies face.

You will also learn valuable technical skills along the way including numerical methods and how to use statistical software such as SPSS and EXCEL (A-level maths or the overseas equivalent is not a requirement).

A module on Management Enquiry will help you adapt to university study with learning sessions on working in groups, report writing, and time management.

There is the option to take a year’s work placement between your second and third year which could see you working in the marketing department of a leading brand or organisation. This is an excellent opportunity to gain experience and make valuable contacts for your future career. Find out more on our work placement year page.

You may also obtain the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Certificate in Professional Marketing while you study through the CIM Gateway, as this is a CIM accredited course. The CIM is the leading professional body for marketers worldwide and CIM qualifications are highly regarded by potential employers.

Our Business and Management (Marketing) BSc is also accredited by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), which means you will gain exemptions from some of their professional papers if you wish to undertake further study towards being a chartered management accountant after you graduate.

This course has a placement option. Find out more about work placements available.

All our business degrees include the option of a work placement year between your second and third year.

• In addition to providing the opportunity to put what you’ve learnt in your degree into practice, and to earn some much appreciated money, our students find their work placement experience significantly enhances their career prospects when they come to graduate. In fact many students are offered employment with their work placement company upon graduation. You'll be working in the same capacity as you would when you graduate so it will give you a taste of what's to come, hopefully, including all the challenges and rewards.
• Placements are available at different sized organisations across the public and private sector, so you can choose the type of experience most suited to you. You’ll need to apply for these positions in much the same way as you would a job, so it’ll be useful experience in that respect too.
• The good news is that through our Business Life programme and the University’s Professional Development Centre, you should be well prepared to make the best applications you can.
• Placements tend to last 44 weeks. During your placement, an academic member of staff from Brunel Business School will keep in touch, and your employer will be invited to attend a tutorial day at Brunel with you

What makes some nations rich and others poor? Are there some places on earth you just wouldn’t want to live? Is it just economics and leadership or are deeper factors at work? If you’d like to explore the answers to these questions, this course is for you.

Within the core spine of your Global Challenges degree, you will take an in-depth look at issues such as climate change, sustainable development, migration, terrorism, inequality and poverty and how they affect the world we live in. Alongside this, with the Social Cohesion pathway you will delve into the pressing need to address social wellbeing.

Looking at the multiple challenges of economic hardship, unemployment, terrorism, and mass human migration, you will address the causes and consequences of social inequalities, and the ways in which they can be tackled.

In your first year you will explore global issues like capitalism, poverty, social injustice and social infrastructures as you start you to think critically about the influence of power in social inequality.

In your second year you will focus on social cohesion and social wellness and how it relates to the challenges associated with the migration of displaced peoples and the role cyberculture and cybersecurity. In your final year, you will study social conflict as you explore war, violence and human rights violations.

Throughout your course you will build your ability to work in teams as you build skills in project management, debates, presenting and team pitches. A third year Enterprise Project will help to bring all these skills together as you work on a group project with a real organisation.

You have the option to apply for an internship at the end of your first year and can take a one-year placement between years two and three, giving you valuable work experience and a step ahead for your career when you graduate.

At the end of the course, your knowledge of social issues and your problem solving capabilities will allow you to follow a career with a focus on making change for good.

Digital media and gaming applications are at the cutting edge of user experience technology. The Computer Science (Digital Media and Games) BSc is a flexible course that provides graduates with the knowledge and skills to design creatively and commercially.

This specialist degree course will help you understand the nature, diversity and limitations of software artefacts (programs) targeted at the entertainment market and apply your skills to implement and develop your own.

In addition, you’ll acquire in-depth knowledge of algorithms, design, programming and testing techniques. By the end of the course, you’ll have confidence in your knowledge of common system and network architectures and system development approaches, requirements capture, design methods, models, tools, and techniques.

You’ll become well-versed in implementing and testing systems and software maintenance. Key to this course is cultivating a reflective approach to project management issues arising from team-based software development.

All our degrees emphasise acquiring knowledge and skills to develop your new understanding creatively and professionally. Although this is an academic degree, the course balances theory with real-world practice in information and computer management.

Our course is designed for flexibility, so if you’re not sure which route you want to go, you can select modules and specialise gradually during your time with us. You can transfer between Computer Science and Business Computing up to the start of Level 2, then, should you wish, to choose a specialism up to the start of Level 3.

We know that when you graduate, you’ll be working on large projects. That’s why one third of each year of our programmes is project-based. On Levels 1 and 2, you’ll build a software solution in a team, and in your final year you’ll carry out an individual project. You’ll also have the opportunity to showcase your projects at the annual Made in Brunel (Software Innovation) event, with awards presented by the likes of Cisco, Sky and Xerox.

As part of your degree course, you’ll have the chance to take a year-long work placement between your second year and third year. We’ll support you in finding that all-important paid professional experience, in the UK or abroad. The feedback we’ve received is that those who have taken a placement are much more likely to find a job for which their degree was a formal requirement as it gives you a competitive advantage. Recent graduates have gone on to work for well-known names such as Accenture, Toshiba, Microsoft, British Airways, O2, and Barclays.

Our programmes are accredited by the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute for IT, for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered IT Professional (CITP), and on behalf of the Engineering Council, for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for Incorporated Engineer (IEng) and partially meeting the academic requirement for a Chartered Engineer (CEng). 

The accreditation also allows you to apply for professional membership of the BCS after you have successfully completed your degree.

The department has been awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze, recognising our dedication to the advancement of gender equality in STEM subjects. We now have an ongoing three-year action plan to further implement strategies and improve our practices. As part of this endeavour, Brunel’s Women in Engineering and Computing mentoring scheme provides our female students with invaluable help and support from the industry.

Politics and Sociology at Brunel is a dynamic combination of high level study in both subjects. Your politics studies will help you address critical questions like: Who has political power? Why do they have it? And in whose interest do they exercise it?

Meanwhile, your studies in sociology will look at subjects like sociological theory, social identities, the sociology of everyday life and the changing nature of modern societies. You’ll be studying people, societies and how people live, and on the other how they are governed or want to be governed.

Both subjects will help to demonstrate your intellectual acumen and understanding of world affairs and real life issues, which will be an asset in so many fields of work.

Whether you’re studying modern world politics or the development of social change and transformations, you’ll not just learn about them, you’ll be analysing them using the tools of political science and social science to help deepen your understanding and critical thinking.

Opt for a placement year and you'll gain valuable experience to help give you the edge in the job market when you come to graduate. Past students have secured placements in the Home Office, HM Treasury, the House of Commons, and the Competition Commission, but the list of possibilities is endless.

It’s a competitive world out there, so you’ll get plenty of support from your lecturers and the University’s Professional Development Centre to help prepare you for your placement year and the world of work.

But why not increase your career options with an accredited journalism course, a free modern language course, or a social media internship? You can even opt to study part of your degree abroad in one of our partner universities in Europe, or participate in an exchange programme to China or the USA.

It’s all available at Brunel to help you make a difference in the world – now and in the future.

Brunel graduates of this subject enter diverse careers. Some go into politics and the civil service, some are at GCHQ and military intelligence, and some go on to further study or into research.

Others go into the public sector – the NHS, social or care work, education or in local authorities, while others go into the private sector working for international banks, business consultancy, law, NGOs, the media and marketing. The opportunities are endless.

The Brunel Banking and Finance MSc is designed to give graduates the knowledge and advanced skills needed for careers in the complex and rapidly changing banking and financial services industry.

Your studies will cover key subjects including financial economics, the economics of banking, international financial markets and quantitative methodology, as well as financial regulation at national and international levels and matters arising in private banking.

Crucially, you’ll develop your problem-solving skills and ability to critically evaluate and deliver midterm and long-term strategic solutions. 

Throughout the course you’ll have access to a variety of professional databases used in business and finance including Datastream, Bloomberg, Bank Scope, Osiris, Reuters 3000 Xtra and Thomson One Banker.

You can choose to study one year full-time, two years full-time with a year's work placement or 16 months full-time with a 6-12 week work placement.

While you study for your Banking and Finance MSc you can take advantage of the opportunity to follow the CFA Program (Chartered Financial Analyst) specialist pathway and gain the skills required to complete the Level I CFA Program exam.  The CFA Program has become the most respected and recognised professional qualification in finance in the world. Find out more on our  Level I CFA® Program Pathway page. 

As the worldwide financial services industry grows, so does the demand for professionals with specialist skills and competencies in banking and finance. Your Brunel Master's will give you that and make you a preferred job candidate to employers across the sector.

Take your knowledge of culture and society to the next level and equip yourself with a big range of practical and analytical skills for a changing world with our Anthropology and Sociology BSc.

Anthropology is concerned with contemporary issues such as multiculturalism, identity politics, racism and ethnic nationalism, changing forms of the family, religious conflict, gender, and the political role of culture. It also addresses fundamental questions about human nature, such as: ‘What do we have in common with each other cross-culturally?’ and ‘What makes us different?’

Sociology, its sister subject, looks at the foundations of social life and the big issues in contemporary society such as inequality, racism, globalisation, and migration.

In particular, your sociology studies at Brunel will be closely related to the central and ever-increasing importance of the communications media in our culture, for example, how poverty is portrayed and the powerful influence of celebrity.

Brunel is a great choice for this combined study with lecturers from both subjects producing cutting edge research alongside their teaching, on both global issues and local problems.

This research expertise filters down into what you will learn. In anthropology students have learnt about youth and motorcycles in Rwanda, and in sociology, about cosmetic tourism.

Choose this course and you can do fieldwork on any subject, anywhere in the world, whether it’s learning about refugees in Athens or mother and toddler groups in inner London.

Around half of Brunel anthropology students carry out a placement or fieldwork abroad, in places as wide ranging as India, Nepal, Australia, South Africa, Papua New Guinea and Jamaica.

Recent UK placement destinations include the Royal Anthropological Institute, Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, Amnesty International and the Department of Health.

Alternatively, could choose a placement that’s more sociologically focussed. Either way, you can choose to take it as two six month placements or one year-long placement.

Take advantage of real-life work experience to gain a competitive advantage on your anthropology degree.

• You have the option to undertake two six-month placements, or a year-long placement whilst studying one of our anthropology degrees.
• If you opt to go on two six-month work placements, then you can use the first one to help determine an area of interest to you in the future. You have the freedom of choice when looking for placements and can be based locally for one and go abroad for the second one.
• You’ll have support from day one of your anthropology course from your personal tutors and the Professional Development Centre in finding a suitable work placement according to your interests. They can range from working in a church, in a museum to supporting charities on-sites and studying a local community within a village.
• This invaluable experience will not only build your confidence but also provide you with a platform to showcase your project management, organisational and creative skills in the workplace.
• Some of our students have completed their placements in Guatemala, London, Malaysia and Morocco which really gives a global perspective.
• Fieldwork can also be conducted as volunteering to give you a real insight into cultures and communities. For example, one of our students did charity work in Cambodia and enjoyed experiencing different cultures and working with a range of people from different backgrounds.

Mathematics is a fundamental subject that is critical to our understanding of the world. Through the study of mathematics you’ll advance your problem solving skills, develop your reasoning and increase your analytical thinking. Mathematical models underpin engineering, the applied sciences, computing and many aspects of management today. With the MMath you’ll study for a further year and bring your BSc degree to master’s standard. This means you’ll be able to get that competitive edge when you apply for jobs without having to go through the application process again after Level 3.

You’ll study many aspects of pure and applied mathematics, together with general concepts of mathematical modelling. When it comes to the application of mathematics, we cover finance, statistics, operational research (how maths can be applied to commercial and industrial problems), numerical analysis (the approximate solution of very hard problems) and mechanics.

In your final year you’ll be able to specialise in areas of mathematics that you’re particularly interested in. You’ll produce a substantial research project under the guidance of a tutor in Level 3 and have the opportunity to build upon this as a MMath student.

Follow the five-year ‘Professional Placement’ degree programme and you‘ll benefit from our extensive experience in helping students to find well-paid work placements with blue-chip companies. Our sandwich students find that their mathematical and transferable skills are in demand in many sectors, both in the UK and abroad.

Areas recently offering placements include: accountancy, aviation, banking, defence, finance, insurance, IT (software development, network management and design), management (public and private sector), marketing and telecommunications.

This programme will meet the educational requirements of the Chartered Mathematician designation, awarded by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, when it is followed by subsequent training and experience in employment to obtain equivalent competences to those specified by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for taught master's degrees.

The Brunel Automotive Engineering BEng gives students with a passion for motor vehicles the specialised expertise they need to become professional engineers in the fast-moving automotive industry.

Along with a solid grounding in the fundamentals of mechanical engineering, including maths, engineering science and design, you’ll gain an in-depth knowledge of the technical workings of current and future automotive systems.  

You’ll study all aspects of automotive development and manufacture from vehicle design and performance to engine and transmission systems to materials, structures and safety.

You’ll also get hands-on practice troubleshooting engineering problems that inevitably arise during the construction and testing processes.

Your education will profit, too, by your access to the work done at our Centre for Advanced Powertrain and Fuels (CAPF). One of the largest and most active engine research groups in the UK, CAPF focuses on minimising pollutant emissions and improving fuel efficiency while maintaining performance levels.

In your final year, along with studying specialist topics taught at master’s degree level, you’ll take part in a major group project to design, manufacture and test an automotive product, typically aimed at low-carbon use. This will give you valuable experience working in a team-based environment and on-the-job opportunities to develop your leadership and management skills, competencies sought by employers.

A current project concerns the use of mechanical kinetic energy recovery to help eliminate the feel of turbocharger lag in future fuel-efficient road vehicles.

Throughout your studies you’ll have use of our modern, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, which comprise our motorsport workshop, and 24-hour access to industry standard specialist software for engineering design at dedicated computer clusters on campus, so you’ll have the opportunity and equipment to explore ideas and tackle problems.

Our automotive engineering BEng course is accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). We offer two study options. You can choose three years full-time or four years full-time with a one-year professional placement that will allow to put what you’ve learned to use in real-world situations.

If you start on the full-time course, you can transfer to the professional development option, which includes the placement, at any time before the end of Level 2.

In the rapidly evolving automotive industry, demand for engineers with the technical and managerial skills to excel is on the rise. Your Brunel BEng will give you these and equip you to play leading roles in industry and public service.

This course can be studied 4 years full-time or 5 years full-time with placement, starting in September.

Mechanical and Automotive Engineering students have the opportunity to take part in a work placement and get first-hand professional industrial experience – a great advantage in the workplace.

• Students are encouraged to take the sandwich course and benefit from a high-quality, paid, work placement which develops both academic and work-related skills. Your placement will give you valuable experience and help you to understand the industry.
• The placement in industry is taken between Levels 2 and 3 for at least 44 weeks. This time will help you to gain professional competencies and can count towards becoming an Incorporated or Chartered Engineer (CEng). Our students have experienced placements in government departments, the motor and automotive industries, and multinational manufacturers.
• Each student has a mentor from the Mechanical and Automotive Engineering department, and an Industrial Tutor from Brunel’s Professional Development Centre. They are on hand to ensure that the placement yields the best possible experience for your personal and professional development. You also benefit by learning from a mentor with industry experience and a tutor who regularly checks that you are properly supported.