Download the brochures below to discover more about your chosen areas of interest, what courses are available and how you can apply to attend Durham University.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

1 . Accounting and Finance

BSc Accounting

Course details

This is a single honors degree in Accounting, with an optional placement year. With maximum professional accreditation, the degree will enable you to graduate as a partly exam-qualified accountant. The degree embeds a strong employability theme and demonstrates clear pathways for you, allowing you to specialize in your final year and also complete an independent piece of research in an area related to your work experience or an area of special interest.

This degree will be taught on a semester-based basis, with new modules being introduced each term. The degree incorporates a strong employability theme throughout the course in both credit-bearing and non-credit-bearing activities

Course structure

Because this is a degree with a strong link to a professional role and a professional career following graduation, the first two years of the degree are made up of compulsory modules, with an opportunity to specialize in chosen areas and develop a research project in Year 3.

The degree has six coherent subject pillars and one theme:

  1. Financial accounting (Years 1, 2, and 3)
  2. Management accounting (Years 1 and 2)
  3. Technology (Years 1 and 2)
  4. Audit and assurance (Years 2 and 3)
  5. Taxation (Years 1, 2, and 3)
  6. Research in accounting (Year 3)
  • Employability theme (running throughout the degree)

The subject pillars build throughout the degree so that you can identify linkages between modules. The employability theme helps you to understand the link between work done and employability skills gained from both credit and non-credit-bearing activities.

Levels 1 and 2 of the degree are made up of core modules, as follows:

Level 1

  • Financial Accounting
  • Skills for the Professional Accountant
  • Management Accounting
  • Ethics in Accounting
  • Economics for Accounting
  • Business Law.

Level 2

  • Financial Management
  • Taxation
  • Financial Reporting
  • Business Strategy and Technology.

Placement Year (optional)

  • Placement Year in Accounting

Level 3 (Degree)

The core modules in Level 3 are:

  • Research Methods in Accounting

Candidates shall also study and be assessed in modules:

  • Corporate Reporting
  • Leadership
  • Advanced Audit and Assurance
  • Tax Planning for Business
  • Corporate Governance

Placement

You may be able to take a work placement. Find out more.

BSc Accounting with Placement Year

Course details

This is a single honors degree in Accounting, with a placement year. With maximum professional accreditation, this degree allows you to graduate as a partly exam-qualified accountant. The degree embeds a strong employability theme and demonstrates a clear pathway for you, allowing you to specialize in your final year and also to complete an independent piece of research in an area related to your work experience or in an area of special interest.

This degree will be taught on a semester-based basis, with new modules being introduced each term. The degree incorporates a strong employability theme throughout the course in both credit-bearing and non-credit-bearing activities

Course structure

Because this is a degree with a strong link to a professional role and a professional career following graduation, the first two years of the course are made up of compulsory modules, with an opportunity to specialize in chosen areas and develop a research project in Year 3.

The degree has six coherent subject pillars and one theme:

  1. Financial accounting and reporting (Years 1, 2, and 3)
  2. Management accounting (Years 1, 2, and 3)
  3. Information technology (Years 1, 2, and 3)
  4. Audit and assurance (Years 2 and 3)
  5. Taxation (Years 2 and 3)
  6. Research in accounting (Year 3)
  • Employability theme (running throughout the degree)

The subject pillars build throughout the degree so that you can identify linkages between modules. The employability theme helps you to understand the link between work done and employability skills gained from both credit and non-credit-bearing activities.

Levels 1 and 2 of the degree are made up of core modules, as follows:

Level 1

  • Financial Accounting
  • The Accountant in Business
  • Quantitative Business Skills and Data Analysis
  • Skills for the Professional Accountant
  • Management Accounting
  • Ethics in Finance and Accounting
  • Micro and Macro Economics for Accounting
  • Introduction to Corporate and Business Law

Level 2

  • Financial Management
  • Intermediate Management Accounting
  • Taxation
  • Financial Reporting
  • Introduction to Audit and Assurance
  • Business Strategy and Technology

Placement Year (optional)

  • Placement Year in Accounting

Level 3 (Degree)

The core modules in Level 3 are:

  • Research Methods in Accounting
  • Accounting Project.

Candidates shall also study and be assessed in modules in the Michaelmas Term to the value of 40 credits from List A:

List A:

  • Corporate Reporting
  • Advanced Management Accounting
  • Data Analytics and Intelligence for Accounting.

Candidates shall also study and be assessed in modules in the Epiphany Term to the value of 20 credits from List B:

List B:

  • Advanced Audit and Assurance
  • Business Tax Planning ††
  • Fundamentals of Corporate Governance and Accountability.

Placement

You may be able to take a work placement. Find out more.

BA Accounting and Finance

Course details

Throughout the BA in Accounting and Finance, you will study a breadth and depth of accounting and finance subjects giving you the opportunity to take your knowledge to a new level. Areas of study may include accounting information, the legal, regulatory and social context within which accounting operates.

What’s more, if you choose the relevant modules, you may gain exemption from some of the ACA, ACCA and CIMA examinations once you’ve completed your degree. Just another small step that will help make your way up the career ladder a little easier.

Year 1

In the first year, compulsory modules will provide you with an introduction to accountancy and the key fundamentals to examine and evaluate modern financial markets. Typical modules may include introductions to financial and management accounting, economics, finance and mathematics and statistics. This compulsory core will be complemented by an optional module from the areas of business, global economics or foreign languages.

Year 2

In the second year, compulsory modules allow you continue your studies in accounting and finance with a choice of optional modules considering the broader financial context including economics, taxation and law and the opportunity to study a foreign language.

Year 3

Moving to a more research-led teaching orientation in the third year, you are required to produce a double module Dissertation in an area of accounting and finance. Additionally, you will study two compulsory modules exploring the world of accounting. You will have the option to choose two modules from a range of business, accounting and finance options. You may also choose to continue your study of a foreign language.

Placement

You may be able to take a work placement. Find out more.

BSc Finance

Course details

Our specialist BSc Finance degree places considerable emphasis on the key quantitative and analytical skills needed to pursue a career in finance and financial markets. The degree prepares you for a career in the financial environment by providing a technical curriculum to strengthen the link between academia and practice.

The BSc Finance enables you to acquire a critical understanding of theories, empirical evidence and practical application whilst maintaining a rigorous academic underpinning. In particular, you will learn about corporate finance, investments, financial institutions and the vast array of sophisticated financial products traded in today’s global financial markets. Furthermore, you will develop the quantitative techniques needed to analyse, in depth, financial data and financial securities.

Year 1

In the first year, you will study five compulsory modules that provide the key fundamentals to examine and evaluate modern financial markets, including introductions to financial and management accounting, economics, finance and mathematics and statistics. These will be complimented by an optional module from the areas of business, global economics or foreign languages.

Year 2

In the second year, you will study three compulsory finance modules to allow you to be able to examine financial issues and the institutions, markets and securities that facilitate the vast array of financial transactions that occur continuously across global markets. Furthermore, you will acquire numerous quantitative tools which enable you to interpret financial data and price financial securities. The finance modules are complemented by one compulsory economics module – macro – and an optional module from the areas of law, accounting, tax or foreign languages.

Year 3

In the third year, you will study one compulsory finance module to develop skills in the theory and applications of investment and portfolio management. You will also complete a dissertation which will allow you to analyse, in great depth, your choice of research question in finance. You will also choose three optional modules to facilitate the development of your theoretical and empirical knowledge of core and topical issues in specific areas of finance, depending on your interests.

The course is founded in the disciplines of Finance and Economics and has significant application to practice whilst maintaining a rigorous academic underpinning.

Placement

You may be able to take a work placement. Find out more.

2 . Business and Management

3 . Business and Marketing

4 . Economics

POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

Whatever your reasons for thinking about postgraduate study, at Durham you’ll find an atmosphere that is supportive, enabling, and challenging.

Whether you’re interested in a taught course offering lectures, seminar-based and practical study, want to undertake your own studies under expert academic supervision as part of a research degree, or a professional doctorate that combines taught modules with an extended research thesis, we’re confident Durham has what you’re looking for.