Introduction To Accounting And Business Technology

This unit covers the fundamentals of accounting and forms part of core units that are the essential building blocks of the learning journey for students studying accounting and finance. This focuses on introductory level accounting and understanding of business and the role of accounting and other functions in the business environment.  

1. To develop knowledge and awareness of business and its environment, and relevant financial systems and procedures.  
2. To develop skills in the preparation accounts and interpretation of the published accounting statements. 
3. To develop an understanding of the theories, concepts and principles underpinning the disciplines of finance and decision-making process 
4. To introduce students to the main analytical tools which are used in financial analysis of capital projects. 
5. To understand the use of technology in the preparation of accounting statements and finance models.

Introduction To Economics And Finance

The unit covers the fundamentals of Economics and Finance and introduces you to knowledge and understanding Economic and Finance concepts, definitions, and theories. The unit focuses on two main pillars of Economics (Microeconomics and Macroeconomics), and the underpinning principles of Finance. It contributes to the requisite knowledge and and skills required at a higher level in accounting, finance, and economics degrees. 
The main aim is to 

• Build understanding of how models of markets are developed and used by economists to explain the pricing of goods and services and how is the whole economy structured. 
• Provide a solid foundation for later work in both the theoretical and the applied field of economics and helps you gain an understanding of current economic events and policies.
• Develop your understanding of the fundamental theories, concepts, and techniques of finance, and the underlying principles of the field of finance
• Develop ability to solve simple finance and economics problems using relevant tools and techniques 

Applied Numeracy For Business

This unit is part of a core spine of units that all Business students will encounter as part of their learning journey. This journey takes you through the begin stage at Level 4, to the thrive stage at level 5, to succeed stage at level 6.  
This unit is designed to support your Begin stage at level 4, it develops the numeracy skills and abilities you need to succeed in your studies and in the business world. The unit is designed to support you and develop your confidence in essential mathematics and statistics techniques, it applies these techniques in business context to give you an understanding of how they are used to solve problems and make decision in business organisations.

The connected core spine of units also enables you to network with peers from across the faculty just as you will be expected to work with colleagues throughout the organisation in the world of business.¿¿¿ 

The unit aims to achieve 

• provide students with the fundamental knowledge and understanding of numeracy in business.   
• develop student confidence in a range of numerical and statistical techniques.
• enable students apply a range of numerical and statistical techniques to practical business problems.   

Beginning Your Professional Business Journey

This unit is part of a core spine of units that all Business students will encounter as part of their learning journey. This journey takes you from the Begin stage at Level 4, to the Thrive stage at Level 5 through to the Succeed stage at Level 6. This unit is designed to support the Begin/Thrive/Succeed stage by introducing you to the skills that you will require in order to develop your professional practice.

The connected core spine of units also enables you to network with peers from across the faculty just as you will be expected to work with colleagues throughout the organisation in the world of business.  

This unit will help you to begin your journey in Business and provide you with the support you will need to develop your professional practice.

In this unit you will be presented with Business challenges which will allow you to collaborate with peers, and provide an insight in to a professional Business environment. 

Personal Development And Employability

The purpose of this unit is to prepare students for the transition to the workplace by providing the transferable and fundamental job-relevant competencies necessary for success. The unit focuses on applying and practising specific skills using exercises based on real life situations. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of transferable core skills and their relevance and application to working life. The unit builds on the development of competencies established in Year 1.
In the contemporary world of business and finance, graduates need a broad range of skills as in addition to subject knowledge. They will work in a wide variety of roles, in different sectors with some going on to take professional qualifications, whilst others perhaps specialising in research.
A number of research projects have noted that employers require finance professionals to be effective networkers; to have good communication skills, to be able to work in effective teams and to have a good business overview. In other words, organisations want accounting and finance professionals who are competent in a broader range of business skills.
The central question that the unit intends to address is: What are the demands and expectations placed on finance professionals and how adequately equipped are you as an individual to meet those expectations?

Data Analysis For Finance And Economics

This unit aims to provide detailed knowledge and skills to apply and interpret the results of a variety of statistical techniques from both descriptive and inferential statistics. You will use appropriate software in order to collect, summarize, and process primary and secondary data, identify relations between economic variables and use this information to interpret the outcome in the context of economic policy or business decision making processes.
The central question that the unit intends to address is: How statistics is used in the process of asking a research question, gathering the data to address this question(s), analyzing the data, and making conclusions.

Economics

This unit builds on the knowledge you acquired at level 4, aims to introduce you to intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts and examine them in greater depth.  
 
This unit aims to achieve the following: 
Explore modern approaches of microeconomic theory in addressing several issues faced by individuals, households and firms.  
Examine the factors that determine the level of income, output, prices and employment in the economy.  
Evaluate Economic fluctuations and long run economic growth in light of the current economic crisis as well as government economic policies, their strengths and limitations. 

Financial Markets: Theory And Practice

The main aim of the unit is to examine the role of the financial markets in providing the basis for organized investment activity at both the macro- and micro- economic levels. You will become familiar with the principal markets and the instruments available for managing the financial needs and exposures of the organisation.
This will involve analysis of the core financial statements, the identification of relevant revenues and costs, managing limiting factors, performing analysis and providing solutions that assist and inform management at all levels. The unit also addresses the core finance theories and practice financial structuring, risk mitigation, long-term capital planning and short-term working capital management that augment the management accounting theories and techniques to inform management decision-making.

Applied Economics

This unit aims at applying the principles of economics to a variety of specific economic topics. It will contribute to your independent thinking when it comes to analysing current economic affairs. It discovers how economics can be applied to design, guide and interpret commercial and economic policies. It also develops the ability to discuss and analyse government policies and to evaluate the performance of the UK and other economies.
The central question that the unit intends to address is: How the economic theory can be used in an applied context to examine the effects of economic decisions, government policies etc.

Financial Management

The main aim of the unit is to provide a thorough knowledge required for financial and investment decision making. At the same time, you will cultivate personal skills and attributes essential for discharging your responsibilities as a finance professional.

Financial Management is the process of putting available funds to the firm’s best advantage given its long-term business objectives. However, since the array of decisions is wide and varied, the study of Financial Management focuses on those economic strategies and decisions that have a direct financial impact on the maximisation of the firm’s net present value and the allocation of scarce capital resources between competing opportunities.

The content of this unit is informed by the curriculum of the ACCA’s paper FM: Financial Management.

The central question that the unit intends to address is: What is the role of financial management in the allocation of scarce financial resource and the maximisation of shareholder wealth?

Economics Of Globalisation

This unit builds upon the knowledge you have acquired in other units and aims at providing you with a deeper understanding of the Economics of integration. It uses the instruments of the economic theory to discuss and analyse major economic issues currently faced by EU countries and their effects on businesses. This unit develops a systematic understanding of international trade theory and policy and international monetary theory and policy, in conjunction with an in depth examination of varied economic environments and market conditions in which firms operate.

The central question that the unit intends to address is: What are the main effects of international trade and monetary policy on the economic environment and market conditions in which firms operate?

Specialist Project Unit (Accounting, Finance And Economics)

This Unit aims to develop your knowledge and skills to conduct sound academic research and/or a practical project in accounting, finance and economics using a range of methodological tools and approaches.
Working independently as well as in a group setting, it aims to equip you with the technical skills to critically review prior research as well as plan your own research or practical project in accordance with both academic and ethical standards.
Through the research process you will develop the qualities and transferrable skills required for continued research and future

Introduction To Econometrics

The aims of this unit is to develop a systematic understanding of quantitative analysis judgments in an economic phenomena setting, in conjunction with an in depth examination of varied environments and economic conditions in which firms operate.
The unit is relevant as it explores the world of published numerical information from an economical perspective and provides participants with fundamental theories of interpretation and substantial in depth econometrical skills from statement of theory or hypothesis to forecasting or predicting.
The central question that the unit intends to address is: What are the main quantitative and analytical judgements that can be drawn from a representative dataset of various economic environments?

English Language Foundation

This unit focuses on your ability to understand and use the English language accurately when you read, speak, listen and write. We will concentrate on the English you need for undergraduate level study in your chosen subject area, covering grammar, subject area vocabulary and the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

A key element of the unit is the grammar of the language, and particularly the verb tense system in English, because your ability to use the verb tense system accurately will be extremely important when you come to write essays and reports. This unit will focus in particular on the grammar of the language.

We will also focus on reading, listening and speaking skills in the context of your chosen subject area. Beginning with short texts, we will practise each skill and practise it again, so that gradually you will see, hear and feel that your command of the language is improving. 

A recurring focus of the unit will be your acquisition of 'learner autonomy'. This means your ability to acquire the language yourself, without needing a teacher's help. This is important because from next year you will not have an English teacher to help you. So we will consider and practise strategies to help you gain confidence in your own ability to increase your knowledge of and ability to use the language, including for instance guessing meaning of difficult words, deciding which words are important in a text, recognising differences between formal and informal language, and other strategies, so that as the first semester continues, you begin to feel more confident in your use and experience with the English Language.

Academic Skills Foundation

When you begin your undergraduate level studies, you will be expected to have knowledge of and ability to use a large range of 'study skills'. You will also be expected to have some knowledge of the subject area you will  be studying. This unit deals with both of these aspects of your preparation for undergraduate level study. 

All of the academic skills are practised in English, so you will use your developing acquisition of the language from the partner unit 'English Language Foundation' to practise and gain mastery of these skills. You will also use your language and study skills as you learn the foundation of your subject area, putting the skills into practice as you learn.

Developing English Language Skills

This unit builds on the progress you made during its partner semester 1 unit 'English Language Foundation' and increasing your level from that which you had achieved by the end of semester 1. 

We will recycle the tense system in English and other elements of the grammar system, but you will  now learn how to use other aspects of the grammar, including the passive voice, as well as linking words and phrases and devices which enable you to write longer sentences but retain grammatical accuracy. 

You will notice that we gradually introduce more specialist language that you need in preparation for your degree and we will expect you to use and develop the skills that you gained in the previous units so that you are able to work more independently.

Academic Skills Development

This unit builds on the skills learnt and practised in its partner semester 1 unit 'Foundation Academic Skills'. We will add more skills to the list, including summarizing and synthesising, argumentation, critical thinking and referencing and citation skills, as well as several others and practise and test them in the same way as with the semester 1 unit.

We will also investigate the research skill and you will learn how to prepare a research proposal and conduct a literature review, and how to plan a research project, learning about the research tools available and how they can be used to conduct research in your chosen field. 

You will continue to broaden your knowledge of key current issues and theory in your chosen subject area, and apply the critical thinking and argumentation skills you acquire in this unit to argue for and against propositions you have studied in the form of in both essays and presentations and in seminar situations, ensuring that you are ready to step up to your chosen undergraduate course with a base level of subject area knowledge from which to continue your academic development as you progress to level 4 study.

Professional Practice Year (Accounting, Finance And Economics)

The aim of this unit is to provide the opportunity to undertake career-related experience which will allow you to understand and undertake responsibilities in the work place at an appropriate level and use the opportunity to assess your readiness to undertake a career in your chosen field.