Management and Finance - MSc
Currently viewing course to start in 2025/26 Entry.
Want to study a Master’s in finance management? Our MSc Management and Finance degree is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Our Management and Finance course teaches you the fundamental skills and attributes you need to become a successful international manager in the finance sector....
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Full Time
- Award MSc
- Start date September 2025, January 2026
- Fees View course fees
- Subject
- Location City Centre
This course is:
Open to International Students
Overview
Want to study a Master’s in finance management? Our MSc Management and Finance degree is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).
Our Management and Finance course teaches you the fundamental skills and attributes you need to become a successful international manager in the finance sector. You’ll become adept at strategic and tactical business decisions, developing core skills in managerial finance and managing and motivating staff in businesses on an international scale.
Professional Placement option
For our Management Master's degrees, you will have the opportunity to take the Professional Placement version of the course, which is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.
This will allow you to complete a credit bearing, 20 week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability and transferable skills. The placement experience will allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.
You will be responsible for finding and securing your own placement. The University, however, will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study, with support from our Careers+ team as well as advice and guidance from your School.
Please note that placements will only be confirmed following a competitive, employer-led selection process, therefore the University will not be able to guarantee placements for students who have registered for the ‘with Professional Placement’ course.
For full details, please click here.
What's covered in this course?
Initially in the first stage, you will examine the key challenges faced by global businesses to fully appreciate the complexity and dynamics of leadership and management practice. This will see you broaden your skills in organisation, communication and working with others, particularly within an increasingly diverse cultural context.
During the second stage of your course, you will explore international financial management, including international investment strategies, Capital Asset Pricing and the financial aspects of national and international merger and acquisitions. You’ll learn how to navigate the risks of foreign exchange rates and the intricacies of dividend policy theory and practice for international firms.
You’ll be taught international business strategy while also developing your research skills in preparation for your major project. In addition to the Major project, you will also study both personal and institutional portfolio management, covering key areas such as shares, bonds, property chattels and commodities, and fund management principles and issues.
The final core Major Project module is tailored to your career aspirations. The module provides three project options:
- A work-based study route enabling you to relate the project to a current employer;
- A consultancy project option, where you find a client who has an international business problem that you feel you can solve;
- A traditional dissertation involving an in-depth exploration of both the theory and practice of international business using primary research.
Whatever route you choose, it will give you the opportunity to identify a topic and industry of your choice related to your specialist area of finance, tailoring your degree to enhance your employability for your final chosen career destination.
You will work in internationally diverse student teams, collaborating to deliver effective and professional reports, reflecting the professional practice of international management. Throughout the course, the course team will give you the support you need to realise your potential, and we look forward to working with you to develop your knowledge, understanding and skills for the career of your choice.
Why Choose Us?
- You will develop fundamental skills in business management while having the opportunity to gain enhanced and specialist expertise to help you enter the complex and challenging field of finance.
- On graduating you will receive an industry-recognised professional qualification from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).
- You will work alongside a diverse range of international students giving a real experience of what it is like to work and collaborate with your peers from a range of diverse cultures from Europe, Nigeria, India, China, Vietnam and North America.
- You will have the opportunity to visit a leading financial services organisation such as the London Stock Exchange to gain insight into the complexity of real world global financial operations.
- You will be supported with Business English language diagnostics and tutor support to help improve you in the international language of business.
- Following graduation, you will have the opportunity to apply for STEAMhouse Business Incubator membership.
Find out more
OPEN DAY
Join us for an Open Day where you'll be able to learn about this course in detail, chat to students, explore our campus and tour accommodation. Booking isn't open for this event yet, register your interest and we'll let you know when booking goes live.
Next Event: 15 November 2025
Entry Requirements
Essential requirements
For entry to stage one, applicants are normally expected to have one of the following:
- A minimum of a 2:2 honours degree, or equivalent
- An equivalent graduate level qualification from an overseas university or equivalent institution (minimum 2:2)
- A Pre-Master's programme approved by Birmingham City University
- A Pre-Master's programme with a minimum of 55% average
For entry to stage two, applicants are normally expected to have:
- A Postgraduate Certificate (level 7 or equivalent, minimum value of 60 credits) in a business subject aligned with the chosen pathway (international business, finance, marketing or entrepreneurship). Candidates will be required to submit an extended application to evidence how their Postgraduate Certificate meets the programme learning outcomes at the equivalent stage.
For entry to stage three, applicants are normally expected to have:
- A Postgraduate Diploma (level 7 or equivalent, minimum value of 120 credits) in a business subject aligned with the chosen pathway (international business, finance, marketing or entrepreneurship). Candidates will be required to submit an extended application to evidence how their Postgraduate Diploma meets the programme learning outcomes at the equivalent stage. Candidates will be required to have passed a research methods module (level 7 or equivalent, minimum value of 20 credits) and will be required to submit an original Dissertation Proposal that has been passed by the Programme Team prior to admission approval.
Other qualifications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Applying with international qualifications
See below for further information on applying as an international student.
If you have a qualification that is not listed, please contact us.
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MSc
Starting: Sep 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 Year
- £10,820 in 2025/26
- Full Time
- 18 Months (Professional Placement)
- £11,900 in 2025/26
Award: MSc
Starting: Jan 2026
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 Year
- £10,820 in 2025/26
- Full Time
- 18 Months (Professional Placement)
- £11,900 in 2025/26
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MSc
Starting: Sep 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 Year
- £18,600 in 2025/26
- Full Time
- 18 Months (Professional Placement)
- £20,460 in 2025/26
Award: MSc
Starting: Jan 2026
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 Year
- £18,600 in 2025/26
- Full Time
- 18 Months (Professional Placement)
- £20,460 in 2025/26
Application deadlines
If you are starting your studies in September:
- The application deadline for international students is Monday 4 August 2025, to allow time to arrange CAS and visas where required. International students are invited to arrive from Monday 8 September 2025.
- Applications will remain open until the end of September for UK students, but please note that Welcome Week begins on Monday 15 September 2025, and teaching begins on Monday 22 September 2025.
If you are starting your studies in January:
- We advise you to apply by Friday 5 December to allow sufficient time to prepare for your studies.
To find out more, see our application timeline.
Personal statement
You’ll need to submit a personal statement as part of your application for this course. This will need to highlight your passion for postgraduate study – and your chosen course – as well as your personal skills and experience, academic success, and any other factors that will support your application for further study.
If you are applying for a stand alone module, please include the title of the module you want to study in your Personal Statement.
Not sure what to include? We’re here to help – take a look at our top tips for writing personal statements and download our free postgraduate personal statement guide for further advice and examples from real students.
Course in Depth
Modules
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 160 credits):
This module aims to develop your understanding of the main financial objective of the firm i.e. wealth maximisation and how it is achieved through alignment of financial decisions under constraints from within and outside the organisation. The module covers topics such as financial statements analysis, budgeting, cost-benefit analysis, time value money, investment appraisal, working capital management, sources of capital and choice of capital structure.
The aim of this module is to provide you with the key knowledge and understanding of the integrated nature of business functions focusing specifically on marketing and operations. It will give you both a foundation in what business is and how it operates using these two key functional perspectives whilst also highlighting leadership and financial implications of managerial decision making in these areas to provide an integrated and holistic view of business in a variety of contexts.
This module will provide you with an opportunity to engage and consider contemporary issues in leadership from both UK and international perspectives and how leaders address these within organisations. The module will enable you to develop a critical insight and outlook in order to explore relevant solutions for organisational effectiveness and success.
International Strategic Management is a core module for all MSc business pathways. Strategy is a field that breaks you out of a functional perspective and integrates the functional Stage 1 themes of finance, marketing, leadership and operations to offer a holistic view of an organisation, be that a small or medium sized business or a large corporation in an international context. The focus of this course is on the business unit level or competitive strategy, not corporate level strategy.
The purpose of the Research Project module is to provide a framework for you to undertake a substantial piece of disciplinary-relevant research. It is founded upon Birmingham City Business School’s teaching and learning philosophy which integrates theory and practice.
The module interprets Business and Management research broadly (based on the guidance of the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, https://www.ref.ac.uk/). Fields include, but are not limited to: accounting; banking; business analytics; business and industrial economics; business ethics; business history; consumer behaviour; corporate governance; corporate social responsibility; critical management studies; employment relations; entrepreneurship; finance; human resource management; information systems management; innovation management; international business; leadership; management education; management science; marketing; operations management; organisational psychology; organisational studies; project management; public policy; public sector management; risk management; service management; small firms; strategic management; supply chain management; sustainability; technology management; third sector management; and any other field or sub-field aligned to business and management.
This module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of the core issues relating financial principles and practice of an enterprise. The module contextualises the complexities of the firm objectives, agency theory and derivation of the separation theorem; it links theory to practice and explores the financial decisions of the firm from a strategic perspective.
The aim of the module is to provide you with a critical understanding of the principles and practice of personal and institutional portfolio management. The characteristics of the main types of investment asset are critically analysed in the context of wider investment portfolios.
Professional Placement Year
In order to qualify for the award of MSc Management and Finance with Professional Placement, a student must successfully complete Level 7 modules listed above, totalling 180 credits, as well as the following Level 6 module.
This module is designed to provide you with the opportunity to undertake a credit bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.
Download course specification
Download nowFor more information on attendance requirements, course contact time and suggested self-study hours, download the course specification.
Employability
Enhancing employability skills
You’ll have the opportunity to:
- Take part in a funded company visit to a leading company, such as Jaguar Land Rover, one of the most successful and lucrative businesses in the world.
- Choose to deliver a work-based study project or consultancy project in the final stage of the course using a current employer or a client you find yourself.
- Seek support and engage with events and activities provided by Birmingham City University’s careers service.
- Take part in Birmingham City University’s Graduate Plus scheme.
- Receive employment advice and support via your Personal Tutor.
Our graduates have obtained employment in management positions, or have set up their own successful businesses. Former students are employed in managerial positions across the globe, including land management (Kenya), manufacturing (China), HR (Germany), finance (Canada), insurance (France) and teaching (India, UK and Sri Lanka). You’ll learn new perspectives on a changing business world, enabling you to provide employers with relevant and cutting-edge information. The research skills you develop doing your Major Project will also look good on your CV.
A postgraduate qualification can really help you stand out from the crowd in today’s competitive job market. By becoming a specialist in your field, you’ll have the chance to advance thinking in that subject and lead, rather than follow, the latest developments.
Facilities & Staff
Our Facilities
We are constantly investing in our estate and have spent £500 million on new learning facilities.
The Curzon Building
This course is based in the Curzon Building, a £63 million development, located on our City Centre campus.
The building offers students a unique social learning space, including a dedicated student hub incorporating student support services, in the heart of Birmingham’s Eastside development.
The Business floors house an extensive number of IT facilities, breakout areas, and specialised rooms. The Marketing Link Agency is designed to replicate a modern marketing firm, allowing students to get real-life experience of working in the marketing sector. There is also the City Trading Room, which features state of the art stock market tracking equipment, keeping you up to date with all the financial comings and goings of the London Stock Exchange and Wall Street.
The Curzon building is also conveniently close to Birmingham’s business and financial centre, allowing for strong links between your studies and the real world.
The Curzon Building also features:
- An impressive library with access to over 65 million full text items and stunning views of Eastside City Park
- Your Students’ Union which is located in a beautifully restored 19th century pub, The Eagle and Ball
- A modern 300-seat food court with space to study and socialise
- Accessible IT facilities with full Office365 for all students for free
- Shared facilities with the wider campus including the Parkside Building and Millennium Point
Our staff
Dr Md Ashikul Khan
Program Director MSc Management Suite (January Cohort)
Prior to joining Birmingham City University (BCU) Ashik worked as a research assistant for Engineering Analysis Simulation and Tribology (EAST) research group (2017-2018) at ARU and as a technician in proactive control, quality, and evaluation protocol design for manufacturing SMEs and HEIs collaboration towards a common PhD path for the European...
More about Ashikul