Accounting and Finance with Year in Industry

Accounting and Finance are the twin foundations of how organisations manage, report, and decide. Accounting is the systematic recording, classification, and reporting of financial transactions, the language through which organisational performance is communicated to stakeholders including investors, regulators, and managers. Finance extends this into questions of value, investment, risk, and capital allocation: how organisations and individuals manage money and plan for the future.

Together they form the bedrock of the commercial world and of public financial management.

At the School of Oriental and African Studies, this four-year full-time programme, which includes a year in industry and a foundation year, places this technical training within SOAS's distinctive global perspective. You will study the technical content of accounting and finance, including financial reporting, management accounting, corporate finance, auditing, and taxation, while also engaging with the international and development contexts that are central to SOAS's identity. This means you will think about accounting and finance not only as tools of corporate management but as systems embedded in global economic structures, with implications for development, governance, and inequality.

The year in industry gives you extended professional experience that is central to the programme and highly valued by employers.

You will develop both quantitative and analytical skills alongside a broad understanding of how financial systems work in different national and international contexts.

Graduates move into careers in professional accountancy, often continuing to professional qualification with bodies such as ACA, ACCA, or CIMA, as well as in financial analysis, banking, investment management, public sector finance, development finance, and financial consultancy. The SOAS perspective is particularly valuable in careers that span different national or regional contexts, including international development, global finance, and emerging market work. Postgraduate study in finance, accounting, or economics is also a common pathway.