Careers Brief - Finance & Law FdA

Overview

The Finance and Law Foundation degree can provide you with the knowledge and skills relevant to jobs across the financial and business sectors. There are a wide variety of opportunities with entry at all levels of academic qualification, as well as prospects for mobility and career change. However, the advantages of being an Honours graduate can be significant.

Key finance occupations include: Chartered accountant; Chartered certified accountant; Chartered management accountant; Chartered public finance accountant; retail banking and personal financial services; financial management; insurance and pensions; taxation; management consultancy; investment management.

Most finance careers require professional qualifications for career progression, usually taken through further study part-time whilst in relevant employment.

The employment rate is high from finance and business Honours degree courses, though some career opportunities are conditional on achieving a good Honours degree qualification.

Be aware that many of the multi-national companies start their recruitment programme for graduate trainees from the Autumn Term of your final year. If you plan to continue onto a one-year top-up honours degree or final year honours degree, you should be prepared for job-hunting before you start your final year.

In the legal sector, opportunities are substantially more limited. There are very few openings for non-graduates and the professionally unqualified.

Competition is keen to become a solicitor or barrister from good Honours graduates, for both the compulsory professional training courses (The Legal Practice Course or The Bar Vocational Course) and practical legal experience (training contract or pupillage). Training in professional law is very expensive with any financial support going to the most able. There is no guarantee that even if you do complete the hurdles to qualify, that you will be able to make a successful career as a lawyer.

Other related non-professional careers include: the Civil Service (eg The Lord Chancellor's Department, Inland Revenue, Customs and Immigration Service); tax adviser; personnel officer; insurance loss adjustor; Trading Standards; police; prison service; probation officer; patent agent; accountancy technician.

For an overview of related industry sectors, go to National Guidance Research Forum for 'LMI Future trends' and 'Sectors covered'.

Go to the website links below to find out more.

Further Study

You will be able to apply for a Top-up degree. Top-up degrees are designed for direct progression from Foundation degree to achieve an Honours (or Ordinary) degree, though entry may be selective.

Alternatively, you could transfer onto a related Honours degree. Entry point would depend on your grades, experience and overlap between courses but could be the final year.

Go to http://onlineservices.bournemouth.ac.uk/courses/ for information on the BA (Hons) Finance and Law Top-up degree at Bournemouth University, designed as progression for this course. This is a unique course.

Other possible Top-ups with Law: University of Huddersfield 'Law'; University of Lincoln 'Legal & Administrative Studies'; University of Wales, Newport 'Law & Business'; Nottingham Trent University 'Youth Justice'; University of Sunderland 'Business Law'.

Alternatively, you could consider a Business administration or Business with Finance Top-up degree.

To search degree courses go to www.ucas.com/ (UCAS - Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for the UK). Use the university/college links for course details.

You will need to use UCAS to apply for courses. Contact the Course Tutor of your chosen course to find out your position, before you make your formal application.

Find out how much this will cost you. Where is the funding coming from? Go to the university/college links for information on costs and finance and to the section on Financial support for additional help.

Alternatively, you could consider 'topping up' your Foundation degree to Honours through distance learning with the Open University. You could be awarded up to 240 credits and then only need 120 credits of OU study to achieve an Honours degree. This would also give you the opportunity to take up employment. Go to www.open.ac.uk/ to search undergraduate courses and credit transfer.

With a good Honours degree (First or 2.1), you may progress onto an appropriate higher level Masters and/or PhD doctorate. This could be to develop your area of study to a more in-depth practical and/or academic level or to gain other specialist training.

For information on postgraduate study and finance, go to the national online directory at www.prospects.ac.uk/study.htm .

Go to the main section Further Study in this Guide for more information and help.

Useful Links

http://mycareerhub.bournemouth.ac.uk/

Bournemouth University Graduate Employment Service - job news, campus events, part-time work, placement, graduate job, ask a question, book an appointment

www.prospects.ac.uk/starting_out.htm

Graduate Prospects - national careers site for HE students studying in the UK:

Drop down 'Careers advice' for 'Options with your subject'

Drop down 'Jobs and work experience' for 'What jobs would suit me?' using Prospects Planner.

http://nextstep.direct.gov.uk/

Next Step careers site - go to sub-heading 'Planning your career' and 'Job Profiles' for useful summaries of related job roles within section links 'Financial Services' and 'Legal Services'

www.directions.org.uk/careers

FPS (Financial Skills Partnership) the Sector Skills Council for finance, accountancy and financial services - check out careers in accountancy, banking, finance, financial planning, insurance, investments, pensions and 'Getting In'

www.prospects.ac.uk/links/lawmagazine

Graduate Prospects Law - Explore a career with law

www.lawsociety.org.uk/

The Law Society - go to side-heading 'Careers in law'

http://juniorlawyers.lawsociety.org.uk/

The Law Society Junior Lawyers Division

www.justice.gov.uk/

The Justice system - drop down sub-heading 'Organisations'

www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/

Careers site for aspiring lawyers

www.acca.co.uk/ukgraduates

ACCA - Association of Chartered Certified Accountants for 'Careers in Accountancy'