Studying Accounting, Finance and Economics at Salford

Your weekly timetable will vary from term to term and from year to year depending on what modules you are studying. Classes can be scheduled for any day of the week between 9am and 6pm, however, we do as much as we can to groups classes together and the University does not schedule teaching on Wednesday afternoons so that students can participate in clubs, societies and extracurricular activities. Most students are in three or maximum four days a week.

You also need to schedule in personal study time when you will be reading, writing assignments or working with your fellow classmates on group work.

You will get your timetable at the start of each year.

Contact time with your tutors varies by course but you will have a minimum 10 hours per week of required attendance. You'll study three modules per semester, each with three hours of classes per week (a one-hour lecture and a two-hour seminar) plus one hour of course-specific guided study to make up your 10 hours of attendance.

Large group lectures provide an opportunity to introduce key concepts before you explore these in more detail in smaller group classes (seminars).  The small group classes take an interactive approach to ensure your learning can be applied in a real world context. If you want further help from your tutors with that week's work, there are also opportunities for one-to-one sessions with them.

While students are responsible for finding their own work experience and industry placements, the dedicated Business School employability team will guide and support you through the process. Industry experience not only enables you to apply your knowledge in real-world situations but allows you to form those vital connections early on in your career. We have links with a range of leading organisations and will help you in securing your placement with support such as CV writing and interview skills.

There is a Business Society run by students based in the Business School. In addition, the Salford students Enactus group gives you opportunities to develop your skills by working on community projects. The University of Salford Students’ Union is home to a huge range of societies and teams you might be interested in; they’re a great way to meet people and make friends.

The Accounting and Finance programme at Salford Business School is accredited by the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (CIPFA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Our relationships with these professional accounting bodies ensure the modules you study are closely aligned with current best practice. These partnerships mean that you benefit from exemptions from professional accountancy exams as well as the opportunity to join the ACCA Accelerate programme and become a student member of CIMA, taking you closer to achieving your professional goals.

On successful completion of the course, you will have exemptions from:

9 ACCA exams
8 CIMA exams
7 ICAEW exams
6 CIPFA exams

Salford Business School works closely with industry partners. They provide feedback about our modules and course, so what will be taught will be very close to demands from the job market and what is expected from an Accounting graduate. There are job fairs on campus in November. Different companies will be on campus, so students have the chance to talk to them and get more information about placement, internship and graduate jobs. Also, students will have networking opportunities with professional accountants at Guest Talk/Lectures, and at different events such as the ‘Pizza with Professionals’ event.

Some useful advice for new students would be to listen to/read business news, it helps to keep up-to-date with current developments in business. The course is structured in a way where you will learn the basics from the first day, and receive the reading list at the beginning of the trimester. You will also be given a hard copy booklet for each module, particularly for core accounting modules, which includes lecture notes, in-class exercises and tutorial exercises. It is produced by Salford Business School and students will receive one free copy for each module.

There are different extra-curricular free courses available like eLearning of Xero accounting software, for which students will get a certificate. One of the modules in trimester two of year one is called Accounting Information Systems. As part of this module, students learn how to work with Sage 50 Accounts; this is Accounting software that will be taught and practiced in computer rooms and if students get an assignment mark of 80+, they will get Sage certificate. Being Sage certified is a really good add-on to your CV.