Accounting and finance are concerned with more than just computational skills. Both subjects are central to the way in which management, shareholders and society at large perceive, understand and seek to change and control the nature of organisations, as well as to an understanding of how the market allocates finances to firms.
Recent graduates have gone on to work in the areas of professional accountancy, investment banking, investment analysis and management, management consultancy and financial management, as well as to more advanced academic study.
Our programme is widely regarded as being at the forefront of international teaching in this field. We are known for pioneering new approaches to the study of the modern practice of financial management in organisations. Our aim is to give you an understanding of accounting and finance that will be useful throughout your career. This means that, unlike professional courses, we do not teach accounting or finance techniques with the aim of immediate application, but to enable our students to critically evaluate their usefulness in different contexts.
Our staff includes internationally acknowledged leaders in both academic research and in professional accountancy and the financial markets.
We will encourage you to adopt a critical and flexible viewpoint and to look at the subject from a variety of perspectives, including the international dimension.
The Department of Accounting strongly supports the activities of the LSESU Accounting Society, which is a highly enterprising group of students within the School.
Home UK/EU £3,375 for the first year. Non-UK/EU £14,592 for the first year.
Not specified Start date October 2015 Credits (ECTS) 180 ECTSFirst year:
(*half unit)
Choices of these courses will depend on your previous level of mathematics.
Second year:
Third year:
First year
The first year specialist introductory course, Elements of Accounting and Finance, will bring you into contact with students from other departments who can take it as an option. The aim of the course is to introduce students to the preparation, uses and limitations of accounting information and to some issues in finance and investment. There is also a course in Economics. Your choice of quantitative methods courses will depend on your background in mathematics and statistics. You may be able to choose one of your first year courses as an outside option from a wide range taught in other departments in subject areas including anthropology, computing, economic history, geography, law, mathematics, philosophy, politics, psychology and sociology.
If you have not studied A level Mathematics, you will be required to take courses in mathematics and statistics to give you access to the full range of options in years two and three. This means you will not be able to take an outside option in your first year.
Second and third years
There are three core accounting and finance courses. Managerial Accounting focuses on planning and control in organisations, operational and strategic decision-making, and includes an assessment of emerging topics, such as comparative cost management practices, and management accounting and e-business. Principles of Finance examines companies' longer term investment decisions, and the ways in which these may be financed in the financial markets. Financial Accounting, Analysis and Valuation provides an insight into the theory and practice of corporate financial reporting to investors and other interested parties.
You take two further courses, one in accounting and one in finance, in your third year (and may also take a third course in either accounting or finance in place of an outside option). These are chosen from Management Accounting, Financial Management and Organisational Control (cost management and planning and control practices in complex organisations), Auditing, Governance and Risk Management (the framework of accountability relationships between corporate managers, investors and other stakeholders), Corporate Finance, Investments and Financial Markets (corporate finance, investments and performance evaluation, international finance, and market microstructure), and Quantitative Finance (asset pricing, risk management, financial forecasting and derivatives pricing).
In the second year you take a further course in economics and in each year you will select a course from a range of options. Management related options include Process of Management, Organisational Theory and Behaviour and Operational Research Methods. Business statistics options include Introduction to Econometrics. Alternatively, you may choose from courses offered by other LSE departments. If you wish to gain exemptions from professional accountancy examinations you will normally need to take Commercial Law as an option.
Universities in the United Kingdom use a centralized system of undergraduate application: University and College Admissions Service (UCAS). It is used by both domestic and international students. Students have to register on the UCAS website before applying to the university. They will find all the necessary information about the application process on this website. Some graduate courses also require registration on this website, but in most cases students have to apply directly to the university. Some universities also accept undergraduate application through Common App (the information about it could be found on universities' websites).
Both undergraduate and graduate students may receive three types of responses from the university. The first one, “unconditional offer” means that you already reached all requirements and may be admitted to the university. The second one, “conditional offer” makes your admission possible if you fulfill some criteria – for example, have good grades on final exams. The third one, “unsuccessful application” means that you, unfortunately, could not be admitted to the university of you choice.
All universities require personal statement, which should include the reasons to study in the UK and the information about personal and professional goals of the student and a transcript, which includes grades received in high school or in the previous university.
IELTS band : 7 CAE score : 80(Grade A) TOEFL paper-based test score : 627 TOEFL iBT® test : 107
To study at this university, you have to speak English. We advice you to
take an IELTS test. More About IELTSGCSE pass at grade A or above in Mathematics, or A level at grade B or above in Mathematics (or equivalent). No specific subjects are required at A level, but candidates will normally have an level Mathematics (or equivalent). Those candidates who do not have A level Mathematics (or equivalent) should be prepared to develop their mathematical skills and will be provided with support including tailored first year courses in mathematics and statistics.
Usual standard offer: A level: grades A A BInternational Baccalaureate: Diploma with 37 points including 6 6 6 at Higher level.
Other qualifications are considered.
Although it is not necessary to have the required grade in an acceptable English Language qualification when you make your application to LSE, if you are made an offer of a place and English is not your mother tongue, it is likely that you would be asked to obtain an acceptable English Language qualification as a condition of your offer.
The following qualifications are acceptable to LSE:
Exceptions
If students offer the IGCSE in English as a First Language or O level (other than those specified above) and have been educated in the medium of English during their five most recent years of study (prior to 1 September 2011), then we will accept the qualification as sufficient evidence of English Language proficiency.
Please note that test scores must be achieved from one sitting of the relevant qualification. We will not accept individual component scores from multiple tests
No work experience is required.
"The Academic Excellence Scholarship can provide up to a 50 % reduction in tuition per semester. These scholarships will be renewed if the student maintains superior academic performance during each semester of their 3-year Bachelor programme. The scholarship will be directly applied to the student’s tuition fees."
Bursary for UK students all subjects where the variable tuition fee rate is payable.
Alumni Bursary for UK Undergraduate students
* The scholarships shown on this page are suggestions first and foremost. They could be offered by other organisations than London School of Economics and Political Science.
The School recognises that the cost of living in London may be higher than in your home town or country. Government support, in the form of loans and grants, is available to UK and some EU students, while LSE provides generous financial support, in the form of bursaries and scholarships to UK, EU and overseas students.
The student loan for maintenance helps students pay living costs during term times and holidays. The maximum loan available for students studying in London and living away from their parents' home is currently £6,928.
The means-tested maintenance grant (currently worth up to £2,906) also helps students with living expenses during their time at university. The amount a student is eligible to receive is assessed by Student Finance England. The grant does not have to be repaid.
The special support grant replaces the maintenance grant for some students who during the course of the academic year, meet the conditions for being a 'prescribed person' under the income support or housing benefit regulations. Students who are likely to qualify include:
Other students may be eligible for the Special Support Grant. You don't necessarily have to receive or even have applied for Income Support or Housing Benefit.
Different financial support packages are available for students from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Students from these countries should refer to one of the following websites:
www.studentfinancewales.co.uk
www.saas.gov.uk
www.studentfinanceni.co.uk
Students from the EU are not usually eligible for UK Government financial support. However, EU nationals (or children of EU nationals) who have lived in the UK or islands for three years before the start of their course (ie, since 1 September 2008 for a course starting on 1 September 2011) may now qualify for a student loan and grants.
Students from outside the EU are not eligible to apply for UK Government funds. However, there is a range of funding available for overseas students from external agencies, bodies or your home government, details of which are available from your home government or nearest British Council office (www.britishcouncil.org/learning), or UKCISA (www.ukcisa.org.uk).
The LSE Bursary is available for students from low-income backgrounds (from England and Wales) and is worth up to £7,500 over a three-year programme. The value of the LSE Bursary is linked to students' (or their family's) income levels, which will be assessed when calculating the maintenance grant. The maximum LSE Bursary of £2,500 per year is awarded to those students with the lowest residual income. These Bursaries do not have to be repaid.
The LSE Discretionary Bursary is available for new LSE students (from the UK and the EU) who face exceptional financial needs, including, for example, caring responsibilities, financial need related to disability or an unavoidable requirement to live at home. The value of the award may vary according to need. These Bursaries do not have to be repaid.
Each year LSE awards a number of scholarships - funded by private or corporate donation - to UK applicants to the School. The number, value, eligibility criteria and type of awards vary from year to year. Awards are made on the basis of financial need and academic merit.
Four Stelios scholarships, currently worth £5,444 per year, are available for UK students applying for business subjects at LSE.
Registered UK students from low-income households can apply directly to LSE for Access to Learning funds. These funds are designed for students who may need extra financial support for their course, and are provided by the Government to assist with living expenses.
The LSE discretionary bursary is available to EU students. For information about this bursary and how to apply, please see the section on LSE financial support for UK students.
LSE offers a number of undergraduate scholarships of varying amounts each year to EU students.
Six Stelios scholarships, currently worth £5,444 per year, are available for EU students applying for business subjects at LSE.
The LSE undergraduate support scheme (USS) is designed to help overseas students who do not have the necessary funds to meet all their costs of study. In 2008, the School disbursed nearly £1 million in entrance awards available to self-financing students of all nationalities. This financial aid is available only for study at LSE. If you are made an offer of admission, we will advise you on how to apply to the USS online. This system is able to provide an immediate indication of an applicant's eligibility for assistance. In the first instance, you will be assessed on the basis of your financial circumstances. Awards are renewable for each year of your course. Applications will be considered between the end of February and the middle of August.
The School offers a limited number of undergraduate scholarships of varying amounts each year for overseas students.
