Overview
Start date: September 2025
Duration: 12 months (Full-time), or 24 months (Part-time)
Fees: UK - £20,500. Overseas - £20,500.
Application deadline: Applications are open from 14 October 2024 and applications close on 29 August 2025 at 17:00 UK time.
Entry: A quantitative undergraduate degree at 2:1 Honours (or equivalent) from a recognised university. Applicants are also required to meet the Level 2 English Language requirements. Learn more.
Location: This programme is delivered online, with asynchronous materials and weekly live online seminars, with some optional non-credit bearing extra-curricular activities occurring in-person.
Apply to MSc Strategic Accounting and Finance (online)
Programme
The MSc in Strategic Accounting and Finance (online) is a unique postgraduate programme, developed by the UCL School of Management, to provide you with the necessary skills to evaluate accounting and financial data, and use insights to drive business performance.
Whether an organisation’s focus is on new opportunities, maintaining its current standing, or simply seeking to survive, they require management teams to make strategic decisions, drawing upon a range of criteria, both financial and non-financial.
Managers who understand and are able to apply financial ideas are in high demand as employers seek their ability to synthesise financial and analytical data, to strategically advise on a range of scenarios. Whether in marketing, HR, technology, logistics or other areas – managers are expected to incorporate financial data and information into the decision-making processes. Through this online MSc Strategic Accounting and Finance programme, you will be able to apply financial expertise to a range of decision-making scenarios, blending theories and concepts with practical applications.
Whether you are an experienced professional or a new or aspiring manager looking to take the next step in your career, you will develop a broad range of financial skills in the areas of accounting, finance, and their interplay with management, and cultivate a portfolio of new insights and abilities as part of your own professional self-development, to support your career ambitions.
Beyond this, you will also learn to lead with purpose beyond financial objectives by executing strategy, managing risks and opportunities, and creating inclusive cultures.
If you’re seeking to take the next step on your chosen career ladder, you will leave this programme well-versed with the language of business through a strategic and financial lense, able to make an immediate impact wherever you choose to go.
Programme structure
The development of the programme
The programme draws on the expertise of leading educators, researchers and practitioners at the UCL School of Management and has been designed in conjunction with industry experts and employers to understand the skills they seek in future leaders of finance and accounting.
The faculty have extensive experience building and delivering engaging online programmes to global cohorts, with professors winning awards for their innovative approaches to online accounting education worldwide.
Areas you'll study
Top employers seek emotionally intelligent leaders, who have experience with financial management, corporate governance, and strategic operations, and can make difficult, but financially necessary decisions. The MSc in Strategic Accounting and Finance (online) equips you with the skills necessary to digest financial and accounting information and make serious contributions to organisational strategy.
Not only will you gain the technical know-how to evaluate organisational risks, but you will also dive into the science behind better decision-making – this will include aspects of behavioural psychology which drive people’s decisions, their biases, and their preferences to risk and reward.
The MSc in Strategic Accounting and Finance programme strategically incorporates both qualitative and quantitative modules, equipping you with a broad range of accounting and finance skills that will help you lead, or strongly contribute to, decision-making processes in any organisation.
The areas you can expect to cover on the programme include, but aren’t limited to:
- The global financial reporting landscape.
- How financial and non-financial activities are mapped, identifying what and how organisations are required to report to interested parties.
- How interested parties receive assurance that the activities reported on have been conducted in compliance with regulations and protocols.
- How accounting information is used to make sound business decisions.
- A range of approaches to determine financial performance and health – such as dissecting financial statements, predictive attributes, creative accounting, financial engineering, and forensic accounting.
- Behavioural finance and its impact on decision-making – exploring topics such as loss aversion, herding, over-confidence, anchoring, and confirmation bias.
- Techniques used to evaluate financial and business opportunities.
- Identifying, critiquing, and applying knowledge to risk-return trade-offs.
- Evaluating decision-making scenarios regarding global capital markets and investment portfolios to weigh how to generate value for organisations.
- The art of influencing and negotiating, building business cases, and presenting investment opportunities or other financial decisions.
The programme culminates in a Strategic Financial Project where your learnings on financial strategies and business research will be applied to a project of your own choosing. The project may be work-related, or an academic study. The preparation of this project is supported by online meetings with a mentor and is intended to provide you with a tangible piece of work which you can take away at the end of the programme.
Programme delivery
Our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) on Moodle gives you access to a range of engaging learning content, from study materials to revision guides, and forums to connect with your tutors and fellow students, allowing you to engage in self-reflective and collaborative experiences. You will also have access to the UCL online library which features access to a variety of journals, databases and other resources.
The asynchronous materials for each module cover a 10-week period within each term and will consist of conducive online teaching and learning mediums, including: videos, readings, problem-based learning challenges, case studies, quizzes, peer forum discussions, presentations and team-based activities, supported by live online weekly seminars. This blend of learning mediums ensures that your learning experience is highly interactive.
You will work individually and in groups ahead of and during online seminar activities, and sometimes in summative assessment to foster a collaborative working style, learn from your peers and help build lasting connections within your cohort.
You will be given guidance on how to achieve effective group interactions, and tutors will facilitate these interactions as appropriate. Having launched a successful online MBA over 5 years ago, the School's faculty are experts in delviering online peogrammes and fostering a collegial and collaborative community.
The programme’s online delivery makes it globally accessible for you to study at a top 10 global university (QS 2025) from wherever you are in the world. It offers a full-time (12-month duration) and part-time (24-month duration) study option.
The content is delivered each week through asynchronous (pre-recorded) videos totaling up to 90 minutes (covering a different topic on the given module), selected readings from textbooks and/or articles, reinforcement and development activities, and a live 90-minute online seminar in small groups.
No more barriers. Drive your career forward, from wherever you are in the world.
This programme is specifically designed to be delivered online, giving you the flexibility to enhance your career prospects from the comfort of your home or office. The flexibility of the programme means there is no need to put your career on hold, and you can put your learnings into practice immediately.
Collaboration and relationship-building are central features of the programme's online delivery structure. The small seminar class sizes and interactive features ensure you can engage in rich discussion and build lasting connections with other members of the UCL School of Management community.
Optional extra-curricular activities and events
Each term we will organise a series of optional non-credit bearing online webinar events focusing on areas of topical interest in the accounting and finance arena with speakers from the faculty, industry leaders, and the School’s community.
Optional, in-person Immersion Weekends
The programme team will arrange optional non-credit bearing Immersion Weekend events throughout the year. Their location will depend on the geographical concentration of the student cohort in your year of study.
These events will involve learning and development activities, as well as guest talks from academics, alumni, and industry experts. It is also an opportunity for you to network with your classmates in person, and further enhance the relationships you’ve developed with your global, online community of future leaders.
The locations will be determined and announced once the cohort has enrolled. Whilst those opting to attend in person will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs, it is likely that many will reside in the geographical location. If you do choose to travel, the Programme Team will advertise dates well in advance.
For those unable to travel but wishing to participate in these optional events, online provision and recordings will be made where possible to ensure that all on the programme can be involved in and benefit from these events.
MODULES
Full-time programme across one year
| Term One | Term Two | Term Three |
|
Compulsory Accounting for Business Decisions The Financial Reporting Landscape Applied Managerial Finance Behavioural Finance in Decisions |
Compulsory Strategic Management Accounting Financial Statements: Dissection and Analysis Analytics and Financial Decision Making Global Financial Markets |
Compulsory Constructing and Managing Investment Portfolios Influence, Negotiations, and Persuasion Strategic Financial Project |
Part-time programme across two years
| Term One | Term Two | Term Three |
| Year One | Year One | Year One |
|
Compulsory Accounting for Business Decisions The Financial Reporting Landscape |
Compulsory Applied Managerial Finance Behavioural Finance in Decisions |
Compulsory Strategic Management Accounting Financial Statements: Dissection and Analysis |
| Year Two | Year Two | Year Two |
|
Compulsory Analytics and Financial Decision Making Global Financial Markets |
Compulsory Constructing and Managing Investment Portfolios Influence, Negotiations, and Persuasion |
Compulsory Strategic Financial Project |
In a constantly evolving world of business, finance, and accounting, business managers are dealing with more information and complexities than ever before.
These modules are designed to provide you with the skills necessary to use that information to build convincing business cases, negotiate and persuade effectively, and perform qualitative trade-offs in uneasy and ever-changing circumstances. In Term 3, you can apply your learnings into practice with the design, execution, and delivery of a Strategic Financial Project.
Teaching Methods and Typical Contact Hours
Full-time structure
Those on the full-time programme will typically study 4 compulsory modules in each of Term 1 and Term 2, and 2 compulsory modules in their third term alongside working on the Strategic Financial Project for submission at the end of September.
Each taught module in Terms 1, 2 and 3 is delivered over 10 weeks through asynchronous (pre-recorded) videos totalling up to 90 minutes (each week/topic on a module), selected readings from textbooks and/or articles, reinforcement and development activities, and a live 90-minute online weekly seminar.
In addition, students spend approximately 7-12 hours a week for each module on assessment and independent study to further develop the skills and knowledge covered in lectures and seminars.
The preparation of the final project is supported by online meetings with a mentor.
Part-time structure
In Year 1 of the Part-time study mode, you will complete up to 30 credits (two modules) in each of Terms 1, 2 and 3. In your second year of study, you will continue with two modules in Terms 1 and 2 before embarking upon your capstone project in Term 3, completing by the end of September.
The teaching methods and additional study requirements remain the same for the Part-time programme and the total number of weekly hours will vary according to the module and the weekly activities being undertaken.
How is this programme unique?
The MSc Strategic Accounting and Finance programme has been developed to address the need for talented managers to understand financial data to make informed strategic decisions to improve an organisations' performance within and across an array of functions.
The School has an established and continually growing network of connections with industry and has particularly strong relationships with practising accountants and finance professionals, and with professional accountancy bodies, some of whom are directly involved in professional standard setting with such bodies. This knowledge and expertise have been at the forefront of the building of the programme and in developing the curriculum.
The programme has been developed for a global cohort and designed to be delivered online from the outset with many of the teaching team having extensive experience building and delivering successful online programmes. The programme offers a dynamic learning environment with technological integration, to provide engaging live sessions and dynamic online resources as well as ample opportunities to facilitate peer-to-peer collaboration online and in-person.
Optional non-credit bearing Immersion Weekends and a series of online networking events and industry talks to connect with peers, academics and industry leaders and further build your global professional network.
Upon successful completion of the MSc in Strategic Accounting and Finance (online), you will be able to apply financial ideas and models appropriate for solutions to management challenges in the context of effective financial decision-making.
You will develop a deep understanding of financial frameworks and have practical experience working with financial data to effectively communicate complex situations and analyses regarding organisational challenges and opportunities to improve organisational performance. You will be able to demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving abilities in the context of accounting and financial management, skills widely sought out by employers across all industries and corners of the globe.
The option to study full-time or part-time over 12 or 24 months allows you to balance your studies alongside work or other commitments and apply your new knowledge and skills to your current role right from the start.
Student experience and teaching quality at the UCL School of Management
For over ten years, UCL has ranked in the top 10 universities globally and currently holding the 9th spot in world rankings (QS World University Rankings, 2025). UCL is proud to hold the title of University of the Year 2024 judged by the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024.
The teaching staff on this programme draw upon vast industry and academic experience. They collaborate with global companies to research and implement best-practice approaches to accounting and finance, which they then use to inform their teaching, ensuring the programme and its modules are innovative and reflect the latest leading research and practice in the field.
UCL School of Management offers carefully designed programmes to prepare future leaders in the next generation of innovation-intensive organisations. The majority of the research carried out in the UCL School of Management was rated as “world-leading” and “internationally excellent” in the 2021 Research Excellent Framework (REF), placing us second in the UK for business and management.
LIST OF SELECTED FACULTY PROFILES
Alan Parkinson, Deputy Director (Education), Professor (Education), and Lead (Finance, Accounting, and Economics Teaching Team) at UCL SoM
Lynsie Chew, Professor (Education) and Programme Director at UCL SoM
Danusia Wysocki, Lecturer (Education) at UCL SoM
Michael Manlangit, Associate Professor (Education) and Director of International Programmes at UCL SoM
Barry McCarthy, Associate Professor (Education) and Programme Director at UCL SoM
Leila Pinto Campillo, Associate Professor (Education) at UCL SoM
Daphne Sobolev, Associate Professor and Honorary Research Fellow at UCL SoM
Susan Smith, Professor (Education) and Deputy Director for Student Experience at UCL SoM
Global network and perspectives
UCL is London’s Global University, with students from over 150 countries, providing you with a global network and perspective.
Not only will your online programme cohort be immensely international and diverse, but the content of the programme also considers the nuances of accounting and finance customs and practices in an international context.
By joining our global network on this online programme and across wider UCL, you will develop a mindset able to manage and understand the complex issues facing international businesses through the lens of accounting and finance.
Applications
This programme is designed for individuals across all educational and career backgrounds, whether that be your undergraduate degree, your level of work experience, or your career location aspirations. For example, you may be a recent graduate, or a junior or middle manager seeking to make the jump to a more senior role within your organisation. This programme would also be beneficial if you are an aspiring entrepreneur seeking to acquire a comprehensive understanding of business practices that will enable you to create the right business structures and processes. We encourage a variety of unique applicants to apply.
As this programme is delivered online by the UCL School of Management faculty, we anticipate a widely diverse and global cohort of students who are inquisitive, critical and creative thinkers, resilient, collaborative, and possess sound global and cultural awareness.
We’re looking for applicants who want to move forward and excel in their careers and aspirations by making an immediate difference applying theory to practice, who can weight evidence and make difficult decisions when necessary, and strongly appreciate the need for sound accounting and finance competences in management decision-making.
Teaching and faculty support is available to you throughout the entire duration of your programme. However, as a global top 10 university, we expect a great deal from our students, so if you choose to study with us, you can expect to be working hard, challenging yourself as we challenge you, and regularly finding yourself out of your comfort zone.
Application Process
Applications are open from 14 October 2024 and applications close on 29 August 2025 at 17:00 UK time. You are advised to apply as early as possible due to high competition for places.
Strategic Accounting and Finance (online) Full-Time
Strategic Accounting and Finance (online) Part-Time
Entry Requirements
When we assess your application, we are looking for students with drive, intelligence, passion, and the right aptitude and attitude. To ensure we enrol students who meet those four criteria, we use the following methods to assess applications:
- Students who go above and beyond in their interests, education, and can provide tangible evidence of working towards their aspirations.
- Students who seek to be the future leaders of global organisations
- Students who wish to make a difference in the business and management world, domestically and/or internationally.
Academic Entry Requirements
A quantitative undergraduate degree at 2:1 Honours (or equivalent) from a recognised university. International students can find their international equivalency on the UCL international students website.
There are no requirements for a specific undergraduate background. We welcome all subject backgrounds, as long as you can cogently outline why you want to study this programme, critically evaluate how it will help you excel in your career trajectory and provide tangible evidence of your commitment to your goals.
GMAT/GRE
• GMAT/GRE are not required for MSc Strategic Accounting and Finance (online)
• Applicants who took such tests are however encouraged to submit their results if they have scored well and think it would add weight to their application.
English Language Requirement
• The English language level for this programme is Level 2.
• Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.
CV
You are required to submit a CV. Please make sure to provide all relevant and accurate information (exact degree title, beginning and end dates, location for professional experience, etc.).
Personal Statement
A professional statement is a key component of the application process and must accompany the initial application. The statement should capture and articulate your motivation to pursue the MSc Strategic Accounting and Finance (online), demonstrating a clear interest in finance and accounting, leadership, and people management. This should feed into a statement of well-researched and grounded, short and long-term professional and personal objectives. We also require a copy of your CV.
Please ensure that your statement covers aspects around:
- Your professional aspirations and a critical analysis of your past experience in line with the content of this programme, i.e. why this programme, and why you?
- How you will apply the skills learned on this programme to your future career and/or study aspirations.
- What tangible steps have you taken to prepare yourself for this online programme?
- Why UCL, why the School of Management, and why this online mode of study?
Interview
Applicants who meet the entry requirements and provide an appropriate professional statement will be reviewed. Some may receive an offer based on a combination of academic qualifications and personal statement. Others may be invited to an online video interview.
Tuition fees and scholarships
Tuition Fees
The 2025-26 fees will be £20,500. Learn more about tuition fees.
Scholarships and Funding
All full-time students are required to pay a fee deposit of £2,000 for this programme. All part-time students are required to pay a fee deposit of £1,000 for this programme.
Additional Costs
This programme does not have any compulsory additional core costs apart from any monies you may choose to spend on stationery, printing or photocopying. As a student, you are required to have a laptop or computer to be able to complete this online programme. UCL students can obtain a copy of Office 365 at no cost from UCL. Any other software that may be prescribed as part of your studies will also be provided at no extra cost.
Students who wish to attend optional non-credit bearing immersions or in-person extracurricular activities/events are responsible for all travel, accommodation and spending fees associated. These costs will vary depending on personal travel, incidental preferences, and prevailing exchange rates.
Contact
For further information regarding the MSc Strategic Accounting and Finance (online) programme, please contact the Postgraduate Team via: mgmt-saf@ucl.ac.uk
For further queries regarding admissions please see the UCL Postgraduate Admissions Webpage.
Careers
The UCL School of Management’s MSc graduates are highly in demand by employers and starting salaries are very attractive. Visit our UCL Graduate Outcomes Tableau to view our latest graduate employment data at UCL.
There is a growing recognition that professionals with a comprehensive grasp of business operations as well as a robust accounting and finance foundation, play a pivotal role in steering organisations through both challenges and opportunities. Therefore, demand to recruit individuals with a unique blend of accounting, finance management, and leadership skills continues to surge.
As an MSc Strategic Accounting and Finance graduate, you will demonstrate to employers that you can apply financial ideas to practice and develop the appropriate models for solving management challenges and help future-proof organisations.
You will therefore be well-equipped to succeed in roles which require you to:
- Become a financially literate business partner and collaborator at the heart of decision-making in organisations
- Deliver trust and confidence in the governance and leadership of organisations by driving the right conversations to ensure business resilience and build strongly evidenced business cases
- Use critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity as the basis for driving organisational transformation
- Uncover new areas of opportunity and risk
During your time on this programme, you will have access to careers advice and opportunities through from the UCL School of Management’s Bespoke Careers Team and services, as well as the UCL central Careers Team. Employer events will cover a range of companies and sectors, with some specialist to certain PGT programmes and others more general across the School. Our Careers Team will work closely with you to enhance your employability, provide tailored individual career support, and facilitate connections with employers globally.
The nature of this programme is such that graduates would feel at ease in a diverse range of types of organisations and roles, including large multinational corporations, SMEs, start-ups, and public sector organisations. The programme will also help you to prepare for job applications and interviews.
In addition to career development in general and functional management, the degree will provide pathways into a range of areas including financial reporting, treasury management, and management accounting.
Upon completing the programme, you will be able to demonstrate that you can apply financial ideas and models appropriate for solutions to management challenges in the context of effective financial decision-making, through the assimilation and critical appraisal of data for those financial decisions, reflecting appropriate research applications. This will lead to alumni of the programme being able to think critically about a range of scenarios for diverse business cases and contribute to economies around the world through the generation of monetary and qualitative value added.
Alumni connections
Our dedicated Alumni Relations team at the UCL School of Management are committed to cultivating meaningful connections for our students through strong alumni relations.
Through a wide spectrum of networking and employer events, you can engage with accomplished alumni representing the diverse portfolio of School of Management programmes. These interactions provide invaluable insights, mentorship opportunities, and potential career pathways.
Our Alumni Relations team strives to bridge the gap between current students and successful graduates, fostering a vibrant community where experiences are shared, networks are strengthened, and professional aspirations realised.
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FAQs
You may apply now for a place on a programme without a current English test as long as you send your qualification as soon as you receive it. If you are offered a place, it will be conditional on you providing evidence of meeting UCL's English Language Requirements before the start of the programme. For more information on English Language test deadlines, and other postgraduate admissions queries, please contact the Graduate and Teacher Training Admissions team using their contact form.
My referees are not able to provide references electronically; can I provide hard copy reference letters?
Real-time discussions and activities: You will be expected to participate in weekly live classroom sessions hosted on the Microsoft Teams video conferencing platform. You will engage in dynamic discussions and activities with other students and academics, share what you learned from required asynchronous work and learn from one another’s diverse financial and business experiences and perspectives.
Collaborative classroom features: In addition to lively discussions and activities, students may use chat, breakout rooms and presentation-sharing options to communicate with others while mastering important concepts.
Recorded content: Weekly live online seminars are recorded, which means you can review concepts and discussion points at length after class has ended.
Tutor support: You will receive ongoing support from your module leaders and online seminar tutors, and particularly so through office hours.
The MSc in Strategic Accounting and Finance (online) benefits from its unique flexibility, accessibility, and the innate diversity stemming from its online delivery model, as well as its openness to applicants from all undergraduate disciplines and backgrounds.
The UCL SoM MSc Finance and MSc Finance with Data Science programmes are very quantitative in nature, leaving students well placed to pursue a wide range of technical careers in the finance industry. Therefore, they require a strong background in a quantitative undergraduate degree. Please view their respective pages for more information.
The MSc Strategic Accounting and Finance (online) programme has a very different grounding as its focus is to help you craft the key financial management skills necessary to succeed in any future leadership role. You will graduate from the programme with the skills and confidence to make difficult decisions, evaluate risk, and apply strong financial management capabilities.