University of South Wales
UCAS Code: N421 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
Pass the Access to HE Diploma and obtain a minimum of 112 UCAS tariff points.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
The University normally requires Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C/4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
T Level
Pass (C and above)
UCAS Tariff
Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (last awarded Summer 2024)
We accept the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate in lieu of a third subject.
About this course
This multi-accredited degree offers you the chance to develop and practise your technical knowledge, skills and expertise, while gaining professional recognition from the world’s leading accountancy bodies. You will gain a solid grounding in the core elements of accounting and finance, ensuring you are well prepared for a variety of accountancy careers. Topics covered include financial reporting, management accounting, corporate finance, taxation, audit, and computerised accounting systems. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has fully accredited this degree, so you will gain maximum exemptions from a professional qualification when you graduate. We are also a recognised Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) ‘Partner in Learning’ and, depending on your module choices, you can gain exemptions from ICAEW, with further exemptions offered towards Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) examinations. National Student Survey 2015: 100% of our BA Accounting and Finance students were satisfied with their course
Modules
Year one modules include: Financial accounting, Introductory management accounting, The business environment for accountants, Business and corporate law, Quantitative methods for accounting and finance, Introduction to finance. Year two modules include: Financial reporting, Management accounting and performance measurement, Fundamentals of financial management, Taxation, Auditing and assurance, Accounting and audit software and simulation. Year three modules include: Year Three The final year explores advanced aspects of accounting and has specialist optional modules, including forensic accounting, international taxation, Islamic finance, and the theory and practice of securities trading, where you can use our simulation trading room on campus. Advanced financial reporting, Global governance, risk and ethics, Business analysis for accountants. You will also study two option modules.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Pontypridd
School of Law, Accounting and Finance
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Business and management (non-specific)
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Accounting
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Finance
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Business and management
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
As only a small number of students take courses in this subject area, there isn't much information on what graduates do when they finish, so bear that in mind when you review any stats. Management, finance and business roles are common, but it's a good idea to ask tutors what previous graduates taking specific courses went on to do when you're at an open day.
Accounting
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
You don't have to be an accountant if you take this degree, but over half of graduates take a look at the rewards on offer for accountancy trainees and go into the job. Many others go into other parts of the finance industry as advisors or book-keepers, and some go into management or marketing. London is very popular for accountancy graduates going into their first job, but it's also quite common to work in Scotland, with Glasgow a perennial hotbed of Scottish accountancy recruitment. If you want to find a job in finance as an accountancy graduates, recruitment agencies were particularly important last year, so try to get in touch with one as soon as you can to improve your chances.
Finance
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Over 2,000 students graduated with a degree in finance in 2015, and a sign of the strength of the finance industry, numbers are on the up. Over half of finance graduates go into the finance industry, with accountancy and financial advice roles particularly popular. It's also quite common for finance graduates to go into jobs which require you to take more training and gain professional qualifications — finance graduates who take further study are more likely to be studying accountancy than finance. About a third of graduates start their careers in London - but Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham are other popular locations for finance graduates to work.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Business and management (non-specific)
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£20k
£23k
£26k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Accounting
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£20k
£23k
£26k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Finance
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£20k
£23k
£26k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Explore these similar courses...
This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
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Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here




