Master of Science in Accounting and Financial Management

at Keele University United Kingdom

With increased regulations around financial reporting and an unstable global economy, accounting and financial management is undoubtedly one of the most important aspects in any business. Long-term success requires the ability to?think both strategically and critically, skills we build in our students through?creative and innovative teaching and learning practice.

This master’s course is accredited by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), which means that with further relevant study and professional experience, you could go on to become a fully qualified certified accountant or management accountant. Alternatively, you can pursue a PhD or a variety of careers in almost any industry in financial advice, management, auditing or risk.

Combining the rigorous examination of core accounting and financial management with a wide range of practical applications, you will learn to work confidently with both numerical quantitative and qualitative financial analysis and reporting. You’ll draw on real-life data and case studies in our state-of-the-art Bloomberg Suite, which features industry-leading technology.

Studying alongside a diverse international body of students from a wide range of national and social backgrounds, you’ll develop as a global citizen, vital in today’s globalised world of work. You’ll expand your professional networks and learn to appreciate different cultural backgrounds and personalities.

The theoretical and technical knowledge and skills required to become a professional accountant means that you can choose to transfer to this career from a range of different disciplines, especially since accounting and financial management is needed in every industry – from sport and leisure, the arts and entertainment to social work, engineering and the natural sciences. Each year, we welcome applicants from a wide range of undergraduate disciplines, some already working, who either want to divert to a financial career and/or recognise the benefits of gaining a postgraduate education in a subject which will improve their contribution to businesses. Past students have joined us having studied subjects as diverse as chemistry and history, as well as business.

Explore contemporary issues in international relations and diplomacy, international business and international law and develop a genuinely international mindset. You will analyse the major political, business and legal aspects of how international processes work and study the relationships between national governments and other international players. transnational corporations, international governmental organisations (e.g. the United Nations), and non-governmental organisations, such as businesses, charities and pressure groups. 

The goal of medicinal chemistry is to support the search for new drugs to treat conditions such as heart disease and cancer. You’ll work in well-equipped laboratories, and learn to conduct effective independent research, and explore complex chemical and biological processes involved in the design and manufacture of drugs and other therapies for treating disease. You’ll develop essential skills for employment, such as problem solving, presentation and communication.

Taking Physics as part of a Combined Honours degree, will allow you to explore the subject fundamentals, including quantum mechanics, relativity and electromagnetism, and apply this knowledge to solve problems, plan investigations, analyse results and to report and present your work.

You’ll use mathematics to describe the physical world, and learn to plan and conduct investigations before reporting your results. Your course will be informed by the research interests of your teaching staff and laboratory sessions will enable you to investigate unfamiliar phenomena and acquire specialist techniques.

International Business will help you to appreciate the diversity of international work cultures and acquire the skills to help manage them. You’ll learn about the global business environment, international business strategies, supply chains and cross-cultural management. In Marketing you will learn how to plan and implement successful marketing strategies. There are exciting opportunities to explore branding and digital marketing and how to implement these in the context of international business. There’s also a firm grounding in the wider social context of organisation and a broad reflection on the ethics of business and marketing. The variety of optional modules available on this course will also enable you to further develop your skills and insights. 

This highly interdisciplinary course provides you with a strong theoretical and practical background in human geography giving you the understanding and professional geographical skills to explore an array of world issues from different perspectives. You will develop problem-solving skills and the ability to research, evaluate and synthesise information from diverse sources.

Our staff's diverse research interests and creative methods reflect modern human geography that can develop your skills to address contemporary societal issues such as climate change, sustainability, health and migration from political, economic, social and cultural perspectives. What you learn here will equip you for future employment and for a lifelong appreciation of the world around you.

Studying Sociology will enable you to think independently, critically, and imaginatively about the issues that shape our everyday lives and our futures. You will gain a solid understanding of the key areas which make up this discipline such as inequalities, social theory, and research methods. Our programme also covers a wide range of topics including families, activism and protest, social media, globalisation, and belief systems.

This course includes training in professional and research skills, and opportunities for either a module or a whole year of work placement.

For the Computer Science element of this course, you will learn the underpinning theories of software, hardware and computing techniques – and how to apply them in the real world. You’ll learn to use technology to create new opportunities and to solve a wide range of problems, benefiting every aspect of society from the home to business, government and beyond. Our teaching is informed by our research, and we also reflect what’s happening now in industry.

You'll have the opportunity to explore topics linked to a range of specialisms which may include information systems, evolutionary systems, or creative computing. You’ll have access to our own computing labs, based on Microsoft Windows and Linux, plus a wide range of software.

Studying Neuroscience, you’ll explore a range of topics which may include how we learn and remember, how the brain controls the body, and how the brain can be targeted by disease but in some instances can repair itself. Within the course are interesting related disciplines such as neuroanatomy, neuropharmacology and neuropathology. 

Working in diverse ways, including in our well-equipped labs, you’ll develop your independent research skills as you learn to acquire, interpret and analyse data from multiple sources. You’ll also understand how neuroscience can help us understand medical problems and improve the quality of life.

Philosophy and politics share a range of contemporary concerns, including environmental matters, genetic engineering, and relationships with the  developing world. In addition to Political Philosophy, Philosophy also introduces you to more general problems about knowledge, the nature of the world and the mind, and to questions about beauty, consciousness and religion. You will study these from both historical and contemporary perspectives, critically considering the work of philosophers from around the world as well as developing your own views. The clarity and precision provided by a training in philosophical analysis complements the wide-ranging scope of political concerns, many of which have profound ethical implications of the kind dealt with in moral philosophy. You will be encouraged to formulate and defend your own ideas, as well as to understand why others disagree, and to present your position in a variety of ways.

This course is aimed at developing your programming skills from a very basic level, using Python, so you can move onto more advanced programming concepts used in other modules. Our experienced lecturers will help you develop an advanced knowledge of software engineering methodologies, as well as data analytics and databases.

You will develop and extend the practical skills that are necessary for the designing, building, deployment and evaluation of distributed information systems and enterprise applications over the Internet, with a focus on security issues.

The M.Res. (Master of Research) degree is a combined taught and research degree, in which you take an advanced taught module in ‘Metaphilosophy’ (the study of the nature of philosophical inquiry) which is jointly taught by various staff on the programme. You will write a dissertation (about 20,000 words) and also undergo research training, which is assessed by portfolio. The focus on metaphilosophy is unique to Keele, and makes for a fascinating course of study, since the various staff who will teach you have very different views about the nature of philosophical inquiry. This degree is ideal for students who want the freedom to write a dissertation on a topic of their choice, while also receiving the guidance expected from a taught masters. 

Topics currently or recently researched at Keele at M.Res., M.Phil. or Ph.D. level include:

• Collingwood’s Philosophy of History
• Davidson, Rorty, and the Problem of Mental Causation
• Panpsychism in Contemporary Analytic Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophical progress: its possibility and nature
• Kant's transendential idealism and laws of nature

Ecology and conservation field and lab skills are taught comprehensively across the programme, including extensive use of our green campus. Fieldwork and residential field courses are an integral part of the programme throughout, as are employability skills.