Intro

Accounting, finance and economics at Brighton are taught by our AACSB-accredited School of Business and Law. AACSB accreditation is achieved by fewer than 6% of business schools worldwide.

Our foundation courses are integrated with an honours degree, enabling you to spend a year developing the knowledge and skills needed before you start your degree with us. They are a great opportunity if you do not have the required A-levels or equivalent qualification, are changing career or returning to study.

As well as gaining academic knowledge of the principles of business and law, you’ll explore the fundamentals of applied numeracy and data handling, life skills, citizenship and how to prepare yourself for studying your honours degree at Brighton.

Successful completion of the foundation means that you can continue your studies with us by choosing to progress to one of our accounting, finance or economics degrees (you’ll find them listed on this page). The course team will help you to decide which degree is best for you.

Key facts

Location Brighton: Moulsecoomb

UCAS code N42Y

Full-time 4 or 5 years depending on which degree you choose to progress to

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

UCAS tariff
72 UCAS tariff points. Level 3 Key Skills and General Studies will count towards the tariff.

A-levels
DDD.

BTEC
MMP/DM.

International Baccalaureate
24 points.

Other qualifications
We will consider applicants who have completed an Access course or other type of level 3 qualification on an individual basis; relevant experience may also be taken into account.

English language requirements
IELTS 6.0 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. Find out more about the other English qualifications that we accept.

Course content

What is a foundation year? 

A degree with an integrated foundation year is designed for students who do not have the entry requirements needed to start a degree with us. This could be because you don’t have the grades or subjects that we need, you are changing career or returning to study. Upon successful completion of the foundation year, you can progress to one of our BSc(Hons) courses, depending on which foundation year pathway you choose.

This means that your course will take four years instead of three (or five with a placement year). Our foundation year is a great introduction to your chosen subject area and is an opportunity to develop valuable study and self-management skills, communication, teamwork and problem-solving techniques which help build your confidence and prepare you for the rest of your course.

At the School of Business and Law we offer three integrated foundation year courses. If you successfully pass the foundation year, you can progress directly onto your choice of degree from those listed without having to reapply through UCAS. UK students will also be able to apply for student funding for their whole course – foundation year plus either a three-year degree or a four-year degree with placement year.

Our integrated foundation courses

Foundation year syllabus

You’ll complete four modules in the foundation year which will allow you to explore accounting, finance and economics concepts and theories in a business context and develop a strong understanding of the principles. You’ll gain the transferable skills that are essential for study at degree level, and explore the relationship between theory and practice and how this relates to debates and issues in business.

Learning will be through a mixture of lectures, small group teaching in workshops and seminars, private study and course work. You’ll be supported throughout by your personal tutor.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. If you apply to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through Student View.

Group of people chatting in an office

Progress to a degree

Successful completion of the foundation year means that you’ll be able to progress to one of our finance, accounting or economics-related honours degrees.

Student in lecture

Course leader

Rageshree Sinha (Shree)

Shree is a lecturer in entrepreneurship in the School of Business and Law.

Her research studies the role of absorptive capacity to enable labour efficiency as new and emerging technologies are being implemented in the market.

Apart from being an active researcher, she also worked with the Digital Research and Innovation Value Accelerator (DRIVA) project which was a £1.3m research project funded by the European Structural Investment Fund and Arts Council England. It aimed to provide technology SMEs, creative arts practitioners and cultural organisations with supported and authorised access to Gatwick Airport’s big data. For both the DRIVA and Nuffield Project she has worked as a Research Fellow for Data Science and Visualisation.

Shree has significantly contributed to the university’s RISE project, our Help to Grow course and the Inclusivity and Partnership Project.

She brings rich and valuable experience in data analytics and business intelligence skills. Shree enjoys teaching on various modules in the School of Business and Law, alongside her active research work. She’s eager to supervise students working on management perspectives of new technologies and implementation challenges.

Rageshree Sinha

Careers

AACSB accreditation

The University of Brighton is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).  

AACSB-accredited schools lead business and management education, industry engagement and impactful research, and enable our students to collaborate with academics in other world-leading universities.

Currently fewer than 6% of business schools globally are AACSB accredited. By gaining AACSB accreditation, the university has achieved its ambition to join a group of institutions considered to be the best business schools in the world.

AACSB accredited

Career prospects 

Successful completion of the foundation year means that you can progress to one of our degree courses.

Many of our graduates go on to complete professional exams with the major accountancy bodies and, in time, to be chartered accountants. Others pursue careers as bankers, corporate treasurers, financial advisers, traders, investment analysts and stockbrokers.

Our courses also open up career options in non-financial organisations that rely on experts in accounting and finance. The skills learned on your degree can be used to move into roles such as general management, banking and insurance, where financial expertise will give you an advantage.

Graduate careers 

Recent graduates have joined companies in roles such as:

  • Client relationship manager, Union Bank of Switzerland

  • Tax accountant, Grant Thornton
  • 
Financial analyst, Experian

  • Business analyst, American Express

  • Auditing associate, PricewaterhouseCoopers

  • Payroll assistant, Swandean Hospital

  • Accounts assistant, Aegis

  • Operations manager, IVS.

 

Work-related experience 

Our dedicated Placements and Employability team provide a huge portfolio of employers offering business-related placement opportunities. The team will help you to find a placement, support you throughout your placement and act as referees.

They also offer several services to improve your employability, including CV and cover letter reviews, mock assessment centres, fast-track interviews and interview practice sessions.

Careers Connect

You will also have access to our Careers Connect portal where you can book careers appointments and events, look for part and full-time jobs and find placements/ internships.

Placement and recruitment events
Placement fairs are held twice a year involving companies from well-known names such as Enterprise-Rent-a-Car, Nike, BMW and IBM, through to smaller and more local businesses.

Our regular Employability Weeks offer activities designed to enhance your employability, including LinkedIn workshops, sessions on working abroad, advice from the university’s volunteering service and support from the Careers team.

 

Careers advice and support 

Careers Service
Our Careers Service provides help and advice from the very start of your studies, on subjects including careers counselling sessions, CV checking, mock interviews and advice on setting up your own business. Find out more on our careers service website.

Mentoring
Momentum is our award-winning mentoring scheme. It pairs students with professionals who wish to share their experience. Students and their mentors meet regularly to exchange ideas. The scheme helps students to develop new skills and enhance their career prospects.

Students at Placement Fair

Starting your own business 

Beepurple is the university’s entrepreneurship support network. They offer free support for any student or graduate with their business ideas, freelance plan or social enterprise project.

Beepurple run events throughout the academic year, designed to equip you with skills that will improve your employability and help you grow a successful business.

By taking part in beepurple activities, you will meet like-minded people, hear how other recent graduates have set up their own businesses and gain key enterprise skills that will help you stand out from the crowd.

For more information visit beepurple.

Beepurple

Fees and costs

Course fees

UK (full-time) foundation year 5,760 GBP

International (full-time) 17,250 GBP

The £5,760 fee applies to the integrated foundation year only. For UK students the fee for each year of the rest of the course will be the undergraduate honours degree regulated fee, currently £9,535.

Students applying for this course will be eligible to apply for student funding for their whole course – foundation year plus either a three-year degree or a four year degree with placement year.

Location and student life

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Local area

Maps

Support and wellbeing

Your course team

Your personal academic tutor, course leader and other tutors are all there to help you with your personal and academic progress. You'll also have a student support and guidance tutor (SSGT) who can help with everything from homesickness, managing stress or accommodation issues.

Your academic skills

Our Brighton Student Skills Hub gives you extra support and resources to develop the skills you'll need for university study, whatever your level of experience so far.

Your mental health and wellbeing

As well as being supported to succeed, we want you to feel good too. You'll be part of a community that builds you up, with lots of ways to connect with one another, as well having access to dedicated experts if you need them. Find out more about how we support your wellbeing.

Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition. 

Find out more about Sport Brighton.

Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

Brighton Cricket Academy

Develop your cricketing skills in the UK’s largest indoor cricket facility alongside studying for a degree. Whether you can already play or you’re new to the game offers the opportunity to train with top coaches in our world-class training environment. 

Find out about the Brighton Cricket Academy.

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Take a tour of sport facilities on our Falmer campus

Stay in touch

School of Business and Law
01273 642151
undergrad.business@brighton.ac.uk

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