Strategic Professional Accounting and Finance

MSc

Find out more about our courses by joining a live master's webinar

Start dates: January 2025 / September 2025 / January 2026 / September 2026

Full time: 1 year or 2 years in sandwich mode which includes one year's full-time paid supervised work experience (a work placement). Sandwich mode is only available for September entry.

Part time: 24 months

Location: Headington

Department(s): Oxford Brookes Business School

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Overview

Take your accounting career to the next level. Our specialist course is perfect if you’ve studied accounting before but want to move forward to qualify as a professional accountant in the UK, while developing your wider management skills and the attributes employers value.

If you have passed or have equivalent learning for ACCA Applied Knowledge and Skills papers, you can benefit from our 2 for 1 approach. By gaining a master’s degree while at the same time preparing you for the 4 ACCA Strategic Professional exams.

Our expert team will also encourage you to look at finance’s role in relation to world issues. Their research covers areas such as the relationship between finance and growth, stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility.

Plus, you’ll strengthen your practical decision-making skills through interactive learning with discussions, role-play exercises and workshops.

After the course, you’ll be ready to take on new challenges in the sector, whether that’s becoming a member of the accountancy profession or working towards a chief financial officer role.

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Female MSc Accounting and Finance student on campus at Oxford Brookes University

Why Oxford Brookes University?

  • Unique link with ACCA

    Our modules are aligned to the 4 Strategic Professional ACCA papers. By the end of the course you’ll be ready to take the external exams to qualify as a chartered accountant.

  • Expert lecturers

    Our specialist team provides up-to-date technical knowledge as well as practical experience from industry. We also have regular guest speakers from places like KPMG and Jaguar Land Rover.

  • Bloomberg Trading Suite

    Gain access to data in real time from companies, industries and markets with our brand-new Bloomberg Terminals.

  • An international experience

    See global business in practice by signing up for an international study trip to somewhere like Boston. Visit major companies and exchange ideas with local representatives.

  • Boost your employability

    As well as increasing your financial knowledge, you’ll build up a broad set of professional and digital skills to help you stand out from the competition.

  • Accreditation(s)

    Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

    • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

Course details

Course structure

Over the year you’ll cover four compulsory taught modules. These cover similar content to the relevant ACCA papers. 

In the Advanced Audit and Assurance module, you’ll look at engagement issues and review best practice. While in Advanced Performance Management, you’ll assess strategic management accounting techniques in different business contexts.     

The Strategic Business Leader module is designed to develop your leadership and consultancy skills by working through detailed case studies. Plus, in Strategic Business Reporting, you’ll examine the concepts behind the preparation of corporate reports.   

Optional modules include Financial Modelling and Corporate Social Responsibility. Learn how to improve your spreadsheet skills or take the opportunity to critically evaluate the world of sustainable investing. 

A key part of your master’s degree is either a traditional dissertation or a structured research project where you choose a specialist area to explore in depth. We’re on hand to give you guidance at every stage, from picking a topic to writing up your final piece. 

Male student studying

Learning and teaching

During the course you’ll strengthen your practical analysis and decision-making skills. Lectures, discussions, role-play exercises and seminars link with selected case studies and assessments.

Much of the teaching takes place in interactive workshops. Our teaching staff have in-depth knowledge of accounting practices and issues. We also invite visiting speakers from business and research bodies to share their insight and provide further input.

This is an intensive course. Many of your modules will include two taught classes each week.

You can also opt to take the Business in Practice study trip module.

Students on our Accounting, Finance and Economics courses can gain certification and experience of trading on the financial markets by making mock transactions using real-world financial market data. Read our in-depth news story to find out more.

Bloomberg Trading Suite News Article

Assessment

Assessment will include a range of activities including:

  • examinations 
  • case studies 
  • reports
  • presentations 
  • group projects.

Field Trips

The International Business in Practice Study Trip module allows you to experience ideas and practices of global business. During the trip you will have direct interaction with management executives and practices. You will: attend presentations from local management executives and experts go on site visits to major corporations and agencies. This study trip is voluntary and you will need to fund all costs associated with the trip. It is not linked to university assessments in any way.

We also run a study trip to Chengdu, China. If you choose the study trip (which runs in July), we will give you all the details by March so that you can make your decisions ahead of the trip in July.

If you successfully complete this non-credit bearing module, it will be recorded on your transcript as P58335 International Business in Practice: Study Trip.

Start this course in January or September

You can start this course in January if a September start doesn't suit you or is not currently offered for this course.

If you start in January you will study a range of modules between January and May. During the summer months of June, July and August you will study further modules and begin work on your dissertation. Between September and December you will complete your final modules and focus on your dissertation.

Study modules

Be industry ready when you graduate

By undertaking an optional work placement you can gain valuable and relevant industry experience and develop transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, networking and problem solving. A work placement can help you decide on your long-term career objectives and may lead to a job offer after graduation (would require visa sponsorship for international students).

The WAVES (Work and Voluntary Experience Service) or Careers Office will provide you with support and advice to get ahead in your career, and help you with your CV and applications. The team has access to a wide range of small, medium and large employers that offer postgraduate student work placements.

If you wish to pursue a placement at a particular company, our WAVES team can support you in making an approach to the company. Our Careers Office can also provide you with advice on how to use professional social media channels to pitch yourself to prospective employers.
 

Taught modules

Compulsory modules

  • Advanced Audit and Assurance

    Aligned to the ACCA paper, in this module you will analyse, evaluate and conclude on the assurance engagement and other audit and assurance issues in the context of best practice and current developments.

  • Advanced Performance Management

    Aligned to the ACCA paper, in this module you will apply relevant knowledge, skills and exercise professional judgement in selecting and applying strategic management accounting techniques in different business contexts to contribute to the planning, control and evaluation of organisational performance.

  • Strategic Business Leader

    Aligned to the ACCA paper, in this module you will demonstrate organisational leadership and senior consultancy or advisory capabilities and relevant professional skills, through the context of an integrated case study.

  • Strategic Business Reporting

    Aligned to the ACCA paper, in this module you will discuss, apply and evaluate the concepts, principles and practices that underpin the preparation and interpretation of corporate reports from a diverse range of stakeholder perspectives.

Final project

Compulsory modules

  • Research Project

    You will incorporate research methods and a research project; key components of the master's degree. The project provides you with an opportunity to explore a specialist area in depth. You have a choice to undertake a traditional dissertation or follow a structured research project which incorporates both theoretical and applied research. You will be provided with guidance and advice throughout the process.

Work Placement

Optional modules

Enterprise Work Placement

You'll expand your enterprise skills in the context of the workplace. The focus will be on building your intrapreneurial mindsets during your placement, helping you to develop the curiosity, creativity, vision and resilience to be successful in a variety of organisations. You'll draw on the OBBS Golden Thread and Brookes attributes embedded within your degree, for you to be a change agent on your placement, so you drive innovation in one or more of the following areas: ethical business behaviour, inclusivity, responsible management, sustainability, digitalisation and internationalisation. Drawing on on your research skills you'll propose evidence based innovative solutions to your placement organisations’ challenges.

Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from those shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.

Research

There are two main areas of research related to this subject:

  • Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Social Responsibility and Governance
  • Applied Economics, Finance and Development.

The Accounting cluster focuses on how accountability and responsibility is achieved, explored from a range of perspectives and methodological approaches.

The Economics cluster comprises applied macro- and microeconomics as well as finance, environmental sustainability and development.

Careers

Our course strengthens your accounting and finance expertise so you can pick from different routes. You are most likely to follow a professional accountancy path, whether with an accountancy firm, or in an accounting role in an industry such as an energy or software company. Alternatively your qualification can take you into a role in the finance or charity sector.

Roles you could consider include:

  • accountant
  • auditor
  • tax official
  • banking operations officer
  • financial analyst.

Previous students from our accounting and finance courses have gone on to work with prestigious organisations both in the UK and abroad such as PwC, Deloitte, Oxfam, the Civil Service and Huawei.

By the end of the course, you’ll have developed much broader skills, such as quantitative analysis, digital literacy, communication, presentation and team working.

Related courses

Entry requirements

International qualifications and equivalences

How to apply

Application process

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
Home (UK) full time
£11,350

Home (UK) part time
£5,675

International full time
£17,650

Home (UK) full time
£11,950

Home (UK) part time
£5,975

International full time
£18,950

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

Tuition fees

2024 / 25
Home (UK) full time
£11,350

Home (UK) part time
£5,675

International full time
£17,650

2025 / 26
Home (UK) full time
£11,950

Home (UK) part time
£5,975

International full time
£18,950

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 534400

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Fees quoted are for the first year only. If you are studying a course that lasts longer than one year, your fees will increase each year.

The following factors will be taken into account by the University when it is setting the annual fees: inflationary measures such as the retail price indices, projected increases in University costs, changes in the level of funding received from Government sources, admissions statistics and access considerations including the availability of student support.

How and when to pay

Tuition fee instalments for the semester are due by the Monday of week 1 of each semester. Students are not liable for full fees for that semester if they leave before week 4. If the leaving date is after week 4, full fees for the semester are payable.

  • For information on payment methods please see our Make a Payment page.
  • For information about refunds please visit our Refund policy page

Additional costs

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.

Funding your studies

Financial support and scholarships

Featured funding opportunities available for this course.

All financial support and scholarships

View all funding opportunities for this course

Programme changes:
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our changes to programmes page.