...

Finance (Professional Practice) MSc

Order a Prospectus
Postgraduate Events
How to Apply
Select the year

Start Dates

21 September 2026

Duration

18 months with placement

Recent Awards For Excellence

AACSB
Find out more about these awards
About this course

Overview

Why choose Huddersfield for this course?

  • You’ll learn using industry-standard software in our Trading Room to ensure you’re well prepared to start your graduate career.
  • Study at an AACSB-accredited Business School. Globally, fewer than 6% of institutions offering business degrees achieve this accreditation.
  • Study at the Times Higher Education Business School of the Year 2023.

Accreditation and Professional Links

Recognised connections to give you an extra edge when you graduate. Read More

Looking to enhance your expertise in financial management and capital markets? Our MSc in Finance (Professional Practice) will deepen your understanding of key theories and equip you to tackle the challenges facing corporate organisations and economic systems.

Designed for international students, this course combines academic excellence with hands-on, practical experience. Alongside your studies, you’ll benefit from a 6-month placement opportunity, allowing you to apply the skills and knowledge gained during your 12-month taught course in a UK business environment.

If you're aiming to advance into corporate finance or investment banking, this course is ideal. With a strong focus on management roles in finance-related industries, the course will equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in today’s dynamic financial landscape.

To further enhance your learning, you’ll have access to our state-of-the-art Trading Room, equipped with professional software and real-time market data. This immersive environment replicates the decision-making processes in the industry, allowing you to experience what it’s like to work in the financial sector. You’ll learn how to make responsible investment decisions and manage financial data, preparing you for the demands of the industry and overall boosting your employability.

Who can apply?

Entry Requirements

Entry requirements for Professional Practice courses are normally:

  • An Honours degree (2:1 or above) or equivalent professional qualification, in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business and Management or a Quantitative Science
  • Applicants with other appropriate professional qualifications and/or experience will be considered on an individual basis

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum of IELTS is 7.0 overall with no element lower than 6.5 (a minimum of TOEFL 550 (Computer Based Toefl 213) score) or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

What will you learn?

Course Details

You will study the following modules:

This module will introduce you to the theory and practice of financial decision making. You will study the basic blocks of finance and financial management that are of primary concern to financial managers and financial analysts, and the key aspects to make financial decisions. The module builds on the concept of time value of money, risk and return, and capital budgeting aspects of investment decisions.

In this module you will aim to develop knowledge and understanding of the key financial instruments, investment strategies and risks in local and international financial markets. You'll have opportunity to develop a critical understanding of practical applications of investment theory by studying various techniques in asset allocation when creating and managing investment portfolios.

Being able to understand, interpret and analyse a company's financial statements is an essential skill for finance professionals. In this module, you'll study fundamental issues concerning the financial reporting of companies to become familiar with certain financial statement characteristics reported following the international accounting standards. You'll aim to develop an ability to critically assess and interpret corporate financial performance using financial analysis techniques that aid the interpretation of accounts and performance.

This module will introduce you to more advance topics in corporate finance with an aim of giving you a critical understanding of theories in corporate finance and of practical implications of the theories on a day to day decision making as a finance specialist.

The past decades have witnessed a rapid emergence of good corporate governance as a crucial part of running any successful corporation. The central aim of this module is to provide you with a thorough grounding in a range of advanced topics in corporate governance. In particular, the module seeks to introduce and develop you ability to critically evaluate a wide of range of concepts, principles, theories, models, systems, mechanisms, reforms, regulations and research in corporate governance.

The rise in importance and complexity of financial management in an international environment poses a great challenge for financial managers in multinational corporations. The increasing integration of global products and financial markets around the world requires financial managers working for multinational corporations to consider exchange rates, international capital and debt markets, and economic and political risks to achieve shareholder wealth maximization. This module is intended to provide you the tools needed to understand the global financial markets and the challenges and opportunities these bring to the financial managers of the multinational corporations.

In today’s highly mobile and interconnected world of business, you will undoubtedly find yourself working with culturally diverse teams, partnerships and customer bases. It is therefore essential that you are able to offer future employers, colleagues and other stakeholders an adaptable interculturally aware and responsive approach. In the light of that, this module fosters transferable skills fundamental to global employability. Your professional and personal development will be guided through the application of the eight CIPD Behaviours, University of Huddersfield’s target Graduate Attributes, and key Intercultural Effectiveness skills and mindsets. As you develop professionally through your subject studies you will increase consciousness of your individual cultural make-up and the impact of this on behaviour, relationships and worldview in order to navigate beyond the borders of your own culture. You will develop a conscious approach to effective global practice, responding positively to difference, and constructing strategies to deal with intercultural workplace encounters.

You will also choose 1 optional module in this year. The current optional modules are:

This module will provide a comprehensive understanding of employment relations perspectives and debates, focusing not just on the theoretical, practical and legislative aspects of this constantly evolving subject area but also to manage employment relations strategies and their outcomes on organisational climate, employees and management. Through critical application of activities, knowledge and behavioural competencies learners this module aims to equip you to strategically manage employment relations practices across broad organisational settings e.g. non-union and union environments, to enable the effective management of the employment relationship.

EQ (emotional intelligence) is considered to be the ‘soft’ skill which the sharpest leaders use. This module encourages you to enhance your effectiveness in areas of EQ such as self-awareness, self management, mindset, integrity, maturity, empathy, inter- and intrapersonal intelligences, and physical context. All of this is contextualised within a framework for developing effective relationship management in team work and leadership.

As more and new corporate and trading actors emerge onto the global commercial scene, questions as to the relationship between business and human rights increasingly raise profound and intriguing problems of law and policy. This module, alert to historic developments, and drawing on principles of international law, investigates how national, regional and international initiatives to regulate the ever-changing dynamics of financial and cultural globalisation, are affecting respect for human rights in contemporary society. Your study will focus on some of the key dilemmas and opportunities arising from shifts in power dynamics towards non-state actors, enquiring as to how the UN’s negotiation and legal frameworks are adapting for the purpose of protecting rights and ensuring the viability of trading networks in the 21st century.

Businesses around the globe are becoming more aware of their role in helping to build a more sustainable future. Consequently, this module will aim to provide you with an integrative understanding of the role of business in overcoming the challenges of sustainability. Utilising both theory and practice-based frameworks related to business responsibility, corporate sustainability and sustainable development, you will have the opportunity to identify, and assess the challenges associated with the responsibilities of business. You will also be introduced to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a view towards examining how businesses could collaborate to achieve these.

Global demographics are continually changing and are now seeing an increasingly ageing population in many (but not all) countries. Put this together with changes to pension ages and age discrimination legislation and it means that in the future you will be working with many more older colleagues than has been the case to date. In this module, you will evaluate both the challenges and opportunities for business and management that come with increasingly ageing societies in the 21st Century. They will include ageing-related issues at the individual, organisational and societal levels, for example: creating novel and more flexible pension arrangements; innovative marketing to target older consumers; managing more flexible working patterns towards retirement; enabling more inclusive work environments by supporting workers with age-related health issues; and opportunities for career development in older life including starting a business. You will explore ways in which organisations and those working in them can adjust to changing needs in response to a shifting age demographic in the UK and elsewhere in the world.

Adopting a cross-disciplinary approach to pressing global challenges, the module will explore the humanitarian problems raised by challenges such as migration in the Mediterranean, the use of chemical weapons, desertification, global inequality, and issues around (de)development. By interrogating theoretical, practical, and legalistic responses to unfolding humanitarian challenges the module will draw on scholarship in disciplines including law, geography, and economics to provide a critical and engaging study of tested and innovative humanitarian strategies. You will consider and critique how problems of a transnational and global nature are being addressed by reference to a combination of technical, diplomatic, and legal initiatives.

This module aims to develop specific skills in analysing reward management practices in organisations. It considers how to strategically use reward as a mechanism for improving productivity and engagement. The module looks at contemporary reward management practices including strategic reward management, executive remuneration, equal pay and gender pay disparity.

Throughout your professional career you are likely to be confronted with debates about sustainability and managing scarce resources more effectively. It is essential that you are able to engage in these debates with future employers, colleagues and other stakeholders. This module provides an opportunity to explore the challenges of responsible resource management through circular economic thinking and solutions that enable business and society to go beyond a traditional model of linear production and consumption. You'll consider and aim to become familiar with debates about how far the adoption of circular economic principles takes us in this direction.

For more information on when and how we update our modules please see the ‘Legal Information’ section below.

An opportunity to pursue an area that interests you or which you are passionate about comes in your choice of project. You have a choice of three routes: Research Route, Consultancy Route and Entrepreneurship Route (subject to tutor approval). Please note, May starters will only be able to undertake the Research Route.

In this module you'll have an opportunity to gain a strong foundation in statistical and econometric techniques that are used in the financial industry.

This module prepares you for the Group Consultancy Project. It introduces the theory underpinning the process of consultancy in organisations. The module will analyse various models of consultancy and you will be given an opportunity to explore different stages in the consultancy cycle including: the purpose of consultancy in business context, project scoping and contracting, information gathering, analysis and report, action planning, implementation, review and exiting.

This module aims to provide you with foundation concepts of research methods to prepare you to conduct your own research. It will introduce you to different types of research approaches available to researchers, how to formulate good research questions, how to review academic literature in the research process, how to select the appropriate data collection techniques, how to carry out the data analysis and write-up. The module should provide a solid basis for you to develop your skills further in your own research project.

The Professional Practice module gives you an opportunity to reflect on your personal and professional development and put theory into practice through professional work experience. This route must be chosen at the point of application by selecting the specific (Professional Practice) route as the placement adds a further 6 months to your duration of study. Due to the competitive nature of the placement route the Professional Practice course has limited availability and places are capped. Placements are not guaranteed and are secured through a competitive process. You may be required to undertake formal application processes and interviews with placement providers in order to successfully secure a work placement. Assessment of this module is in the form of a reflective log.

    Teaching and Assessment

    Discover what to expect from your tutor contact time, assessment methods, and feedback process.

    Read more
    Interested in a placement?

    Placements

    This course offers you the chance to undertake a 6 month placement at the end of the taught element. A placement can help you build on the knowledge and skills developed on the course.

    The placement is a valuable tool that can enhance your employability and help you to develop as an individual. It is acknowledged that graduates with work experience are generally much more attractive to employers.

    Our Employability and Placements Office are available to support you in finding placement opportunities and can provide advice in areas such as interview skills and preparing CVs and covering letters.

    Where could this lead you?

    Your Career

    Previous graduates from courses in this subject area have gone on to work in a variety of roles such as Chartered Accountant, Stockbroker, External Auditor, Tax Advisor, Data Analyst and Chartered Licensed Conveyancer.*

    *Source: Prospects

    98%
    Percentage of our postgraduate students go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating.

    * HESA Graduate Outcomes 2022/23, UK domiciled.

    £38.5k
    Average salary of our postgraduate students fifteen months after graduating.

    * HESA Graduate Outcomes 2022/23, mean salary, UK domiciled, full-time UK employment as main activity.

    This course gave me skills in data analysis, visualisation, project and financial management, plus tools like Power BI and Power Automate - preparing me to bridge IT and finance and excel as a Finance Analyst at Marks & Spencer.

    - Mohammad Saifullah
    Accounting and Finance Suite MSc, currently a Finance Analyst at Marks and Spencer.

    How much will it cost?

    Fees and Finance

    £10,305 per year

    This information is for Home students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.

    Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy. 

    From January 2027 the UK government is launching a new student funding system for people starting university education. Read more about the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE).

    For detailed information please visit https://www.hud.ac.uk/study/fees/

    £19,800 per year

    This information is for international students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.

    Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy. 

    For detailed information please visit https://www.hud.ac.uk/international/fees-and-funding/

    Home

    The tuition fee for a placement year is £1000. If you go on work experience or work placement, you will need to fund your own travel and/or accommodation costs to and from the placement.  Please be aware that if your placement is outside of the UK, you will still be responsible for your travel and living expenses and may need to consider issues like health care and insurance costs.

    International

    The tuition fee for a placement year is £3,300. If you go on work experience or work placement, you will need to fund your own travel and/or accommodation costs to and from the placement.  Please be aware that if your placement is outside of the UK, you will still be responsible for your travel and living expenses and may need to consider issues like health care and insurance costs.

    Scholarships and Bursaries

    Discover what additional help you may be eligible for to support your University studies.

    Home
    International

    Tuition Fee Loans

    Find out more about tuition fee loans available to eligible postgraduate students.

    Find out more

    What’s included in your fee?

    We want you to understand exactly what your fees will cover and what additional costs you may need to budget for when you decide to become a student with us.

    Find out more

    If you have any questions about Fees and Finance, please email the Student Finance Team.

    Email us  
    What does the univsersity offer?

    Gallery

    Take a look at the Charles Sikes Building, where your lectures and seminars will take place.

    Charles Sikes building from above, on a sunny day with staff and students walking on the attached bridge

    Charles Sikes Building Exterior

    Three students in a lecture

    Diamond Jubilee Lecture Theatre

    Students walking inside the Charles Sikes building

    The Street

    trading room

    Trading room

    Students making notes on table

    Seminar room

    Students speaking across a table

    Breakout space on The Street

    Explore More

    Discover Postgraduate Study

    Hear from students and staff at Huddersfield Business School about what makes our programmes unique and why Huddersfield is a great choice for your postgraduate journey.

    'The awards 2023' Huddersfield won Business school of the year

    THE Business School of the Year

    We were named Business School of the Year in 2023 by Times Higher Education for our clear purpose, regional impact, job creation, and strong engagement benefiting students and the local economy.

    Learn more

    Sign up for Emails

    Find out more about postgraduate study at Huddersfield and stay updated with the latest news and events.

    Sign up for emails
    students laughing

    Postgraduate Student Blogs

    Discover what it’s like to study for a postgraduate degree at Huddersfield. Hear from our students and graduates as they share their experiences of life at the University of Huddersfield.

    Find out more

    Why Hud

    Explore the unique opportunities and resources that make our institution a top choice for students seeking a well-rounded and future-focused education.

    Decorative
    01

    Explore Huddersfield

    Make Huddersfield your home. A Yorkshire town, surrounded by beautiful countryside, with easy access to neighbouring cities; Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield. You’ll find plenty of places to eat, drink, shop and socialise, there’s ambitious plans for future development. Our campus is situated next to the town centre - making your commute a breeze.

    Find out more
    Decorative
    01

    Your Student Experience

    Get involved in great opportunities helping you to make friends from all across the world and create lifelong memories. Join one of over 100 societies with the Students’ Union, experience new cultures through global events, earn whilst you learn and build your skills via our Global Professional Award.

    Learn more
    Decorative
    01

    Budget Friendly

    Huddersfield is not only one of the friendliest towns, it also offers you a lower cost of living than most big cities. This means you could have more money to spend, making your uni experience even better. On campus you’ll also find plenty of facilities and services to help you budget and make your money go further.

    Find out more
    Decorative
    01

    Sustainability Matters

    We’re committed to sustainability and aim to be carbon neutral by 2030. Our plan includes reducing emissions, enhancing biodiversity, and improving wellbeing through sustainable buildings. We’re investing in digital solutions, low-impact travel, and embedding sustainability into teaching and research, investing over £1m in carbon reduction.

    Find out more
    Decorative
    01

    Committed to Your Future

    Since 2015, we’ve invested £198 million to create spaces where you can learn, collaborate and thrive. We’re continuously investing in our campus with your wellbeing in mind—adding features that make our buildings healthier, more supportive and better places for you to succeed.

    Read more
    Need more details?

    More Info

    Careers support

    We know you’re coming to university to study on your chosen subject, meet new people and broaden your horizons. However, we also help you to focus on life after you have graduated to ensure that your hard work pays off and you achieve your ambition.

    Find out more about careers support

    Student support

    At the University of Huddersfield, you’ll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you’ll soon discover that you’re never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey.

    See our support services

    Teaching Excellence

    Great teaching is engaging and inspiring — it helps you reach your full potential and prepares you for the future. We don’t just teach well — we excel — and we have the awards and recognition to prove it.

    Find out more

    Inspiring Academics

    Our researchers carry out world-leading work that makes a real difference to people’s lives. Staff within the Huddersfield Business School may teach you on this course.

    Find out more about our staff

    Research Excellence

    You’ll be taught by staff who want to support your learning and share the latest knowledge and research.

    Find out more

    Accommodation

    Looking for student accommodation? Huddersfield has you covered. HudLets has a variety of accommodation types to choose from, no matter what your preference. HudLets is the University’s approved accommodation service, run by Huddersfield Students’ Union.

    Take a look at your options

    Further Study

    Many of our graduates stay at Huddersfield to complete postgraduate research degrees at Masters or PhD level.

    Discover research degrees

    Legal information

    When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

    Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons:

    Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

    If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment. We may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and if you are unhappy with the change we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

    Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

    Changes to option modules

    Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. We will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

    Major changes

    We will only make major changes to non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes the outcomes, or a significant part of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum. For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff being unable to teach due to illness, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to pandemics, other disasters (such as fire, flood or war) or changes made by the government.

    Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will consult with affected groups of students and any changes would only be made in accordance with our regulations. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you let us know before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for any additional tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so and you may be eligible for an exit award depending on how far through your course you are.

    In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed in accordance with the student protection plan.

    The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

    Ask us a question