New BSc Hons degree in Financial Services Management

Monday 14 January 2008

The Dual Award will combine a BSc (Hons) in Financial Services Management from the University of Surrey with the professional Associateship (Aifs) of the ifs School of Finance.

The four-year qualification will include a professional training year in the third year when students will be spending a year with an employer in the financial services industry.

The qualification will combine theory with practice whereby the student will be given the important conceptual abilities of an academic programme as well as the essential professional skills required of the practitioner.

Students will attend the University of Surrey based in Guildford, but will be taught by full-time faculty from both the School of Management and the ifs School of Finance.

European research recently highlighted that by 2014 the financial services industry in the UK will rely more heavily on high-level skills than any other industry, except education. This new dual award will undoubtedly help to meet the need for higher-level skills.

Martin Day, Director of Higher Education at the ifs School of Finance, said: "This unique dual award is a tremendous opportunity for anyone aspiring to do well in the financial services industry.

It is also particularly exciting for the ifs as it will be the organisation’s first full-time students. The tens of thousands of students doing ifs qualifications worldwide have traditionally studied through distance learning supported by the ifs’ extensive academic community, or they have been supported by a range of international educational partners.

Moreover, the ifs’ 129-year history of providing education to the financial services industry means it is ideally placed to offer these undergraduates a one-year placement in the financial services industry, gaining valuable first-hand experience and having an opportunity to put into practice what has been learnt in the first two years of the Award.

Employers in the financial services industry increasingly need graduates with a mix of skills and experience and this course, which blends the academic with the vocational, delivers both."

Professor Terry Desombre, Head of the School of Management, said: "The University of Surrey and the School of Management have a long history of combining Academic and Professional Education at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In particular, the University has an internationally renowned reputation for excellence for its ‘Professional Year Training’ which is incorporated into all Undergraduate programmes. It has one of the highest records for graduate employment of any UK university.

Adding this unique offering to the undergraduate portfolio of programmes in the School of Management further confirms the School’s commitment to educating students for working in the real world."

Further information about the BSc (Hons) in Financial Services Management/Associateship (Aifs) can be found at http://www.ifslearning.ac.uk or http://www.surrey.ac.uk/undergraduate/fsm

Media Enquiries

Peter La, Press Office at the University of Surrey, Tel: +44 (0)1483 689191, or Email mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk