Our one-year MSc Financial Management programme will equip you with the core skills to pursue a highly successful career at top employers in the financial management industry as well as in a variety of finance-oriented roles in other sectors.
Our programme will enable you to study a wide range of innovative topics that will give you a competitive edge in the job market, including the knowledge of corporate finance, financial markets, financial reporting, AI and cyber security, sustainability, and climate finance.
During the programme, you will receive job market training and have the opportunity to use your newly acquired skills in a market simulation and final dissertation.
Course outline
In the first term, from October to December, you will take four core modules (Quantitative Methods for Financial Management, Financial Markets and Institutions, Financial Reporting, Foundations of Corporate Finance).
During the second term, from January to March, you will take four modules (AI and Cyber Security for Business, Sustainability Accounting and Climate Finance, Corporate Financial Strategy, Management Accounting and Control) with the option of replacing up to two of them with electives.
Between May and July, you will engage in a market simulation and work on your Master's dissertation with guidance from your academic supervisor. You will continue to work on your dissertation throughout the remainder of the summer, submitting your dissertation in September, at the end of the Master's programme.
Throughout this programme, you will be enrolled in a careers development module and have access to the Management School’s dedicated career support. Advisers will help shape a one-to-one plan to play to your strengths and help your advancement.
For many students, the desire to boost their career prospects and move more quickly into senior roles is a key reason for acquiring a Master's degree. That's why we integrate careers support into our MSc programmes and offer a range of facilities to help you in your career development and job search process.
LUMS Careers Team
You will benefit from our specialist careers support throughout your studies and beyond graduation. We host more than 100 careers events every year, providing you with the opportunity to network with top graduate employers within the UK and overseas, and supporting you to achieve your future career aspirations.
Financial Careers Coach
To give you extra industry-specific job-hunting skills, we have partnered up with a financial markets specialist who has worked for several leading investment banks and financial technology institutions. As a financial careers coach still working in the financial market, his role is to make you aware of opportunities within the sector, giving you a clear picture of the particular skills required and, crucially, an insider view of what employers will be looking for. To help you differentiate yourself in a fiercely competitive market, he provides guidance on writing CVs and cover letters for the financial market, interview skills, and performing well at assessment centres.
Employer events
You will be able to take part in the many workshops and other employer events provided throughout the year by the Careers Team at LUMS. Many of the workshops are run by major companies, allowing you to find out what companies look for when recruiting at this level and to improve skills that employers regard as essential in good candidates.
Where do our graduates go?
Our MSc graduates go on to work for many different kinds of organisations in roles such as treasury managers, financial analysts, investment managers, regulators and policymakers, consultants, etc. Some have used their finance expertise to set up their own companies, and other have gone on to accounting or finance-related academic careers. Companies that have recruited our Master's graduates in recent years include: Bangkok Bank, Bank of China, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, EY, Grant Thornton, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, PwC, Standard Chartered and UBS.
Scholarships for 2025 entry
We are delighted to offer a selection of scholarships for Master’s programmes at Lancaster University Management School for 2025 entry.
International students
Your qualifications
Programme cost without scholarship
Management School Scholarship
Lancaster Global Scholarship
Total Scholarship amount
You pay
1st class degree
£32,760
£8,300
£5,000
£13,300
£19,460
2:1 degree
£32,760
£5,000
-
£5,000
£27,760
2:2 degree
£32,760
£3,000
-
£3,000
£29,760
Home students
Your qualifications
Programme cost without scholarship
Scholarship amount
You pay
1st class degree
£16,270
£5,000
£11,270
2:1 degree
£16,270
£5,000
£11,270
We also offer an additional 10% discount on fees for Lancaster University Alumni. Alumni Loyalty Scholarship.
Scholarships will be applied automatically if you meet the criteria.
2:2 (UK Hons) degree or equivalent in Finance, Accounting, Economics or other business-related subject. We are looking for marks consistently at 2:2 level throughout your undergraduate studies.
We may also consider non-standard applicants, please contact us for information.
If you have studied outside of the UK, we would advise you to check our list of international qualifications before submitting your application.
English language requirements
We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously.
We normally require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 6.5, and a minimum of 6.0 in each element of the test. We also consider other English language qualifications.
Delivered in partnership with INTO Lancaster University, our one-year tailored pre-master’s pathways are designed to improve your subject knowledge and English language skills to the level required by a range of Lancaster University master’s degrees. Visit the INTO Lancaster University website for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.
Course structure
You will study a range of modules as part of your course, some examples of which are listed below.
Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, but changes may be necessary, for example as a result of student feedback, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes, and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.
Core
core modules accordion
The module aims to provide you with an understanding of crucial advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), its application in corporate settings, and a comprehensive overview of cyber security within a digitised business landscape. It provides an overview of AI and discusses its current trends and future implications. Several case studies of the application of AI in finance, marketing, and customer service link the learning to real-world experiences.
The module further discusses the ethical considerations of using AI for business, including privacy concerns, copyright issues, and potential biases. It then builds a strong foundation in understanding the basics of cyber security, including types of cyber threats and the importance of cyber hygiene. It discusses strategies for safeguarding businesses and their digital assets, including encryption, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems. It introduces best practices for developing resilient cyber security systems, as well as familiarises students with risk management principles and compliance with regulatory requirements related to data protection and privacy.
The aim of this module is to equip you with the necessary skills to understand and apply the relevant financial practices in a real world setting to make efficient business decisions.
The syllabus will address the practical application of business functions related to holistic financial management. The workshops will cover topics such as:
Accounting software training
Simulated trading training
Excel
Research for business consultations
Communication skills fo accounting and finance professionals
Business simulation
The aim of this module is to equip you with an understanding of key aspects of a firm’s financial strategy, such as ways of raising capital, valuing financial and real assets, trade-offs associated with capital structure choices, managerial incentives, risk management and corporate restructuring.
Building on the insights that you will have gained during the programme, you will complete an Individual reflection and business analysis report which will form the basis of the dissertation. As such the dissertation is designed both to enable you to integrate knowledge and skills acquired across the degree programme and to assess your ability to analyse a complex issue or problem within a management context.
The aim of this module is to provide you with an introduction to the concepts used in financial markets, including definitions of key assets and market types as well as recognising the economics of financial markets with a focus on their functions, participants and organisational forms.
This module will also provide you with an appreciation of fundamental theories and techniques in finance that are of concern to all financial market participants, such as bond markets and term structure of interest rates, economics of derivatives markets, forward and future contracts, and swap agreements.
The aim of this module is to equip you with tools to understand and interpret financial statements at a fundamental level. To that end, you will gain a basic understanding of the purposes of financial reporting and the context within which financial reporting occurs, as well as of financial accounting concepts and main components of financial statements. Much of the module focuses on analysing and interpreting financial statements, including what can be learned from the financial statements about the underlying business operations and strategy, given the quality of reporting data and management incentives to convey a certain narrative about company performance.
This module aims to equip you with the basic building blocks of finance that are of primary concern to corporate managers when making financial decisions. The emphasis is on the three key financial decisions of firms: investment, financing and payout decisions.
This module presents the basic insights in corporate finance theory and links them to real business decisions. This course covers the time-value of money, emphasising present and future value calculations, their role in capital budgeting, and their applications in valuing financial securities. You will also learn to measure and analyse risk and return and apply these concepts to capital budgeting to evaluate investment opportunities for firms.
Financing decisions are explored through discussions on debt and equity financing, cost of capital, and capital structure theories such as Modigliani-Miller, trade-off, and pecking order theories. Payout policies, including dividends and share repurchases, are examined, with an emphasis on the factors influencing these decisions and relevant theoretical frameworks. Practical applications of these concepts are demonstrated through real-world case studies, allowing you to bridge theory and practice. By the end of the module, you will be proficient in applying financial theories to practical scenarios, preparing you for advanced studies and careers in financial management.
This module will provide insights into both planning and decision-making and performance evaluation and management control. You will develop an appreciation of the main approaches to measuring, analysing and reporting information to support management decisions. We will examine the major aspects of management accounting and facilitate the development of skills for and knowledge of management accounting in the organisation.
Skills that will help you navigate the job market via dedicated career and professional training, including CVs and cover letters, commercial awareness, assessment centres and an alumni insight panel.
The aim of this module is to equip you with the key skills to carry out empirical financial data analysis and provide you with the knowledge you need to become a stronger analyst for future managerial positions. You will be introduced to various statistical methods, ranging from estimation to statistical inference. More specifically, you will learn to collect, organise and interpret data to build confidence intervals, test hypotheses, analyse variance, run linear regression analyses and interpret the results for decision-making and making informed business decisions.
The aim of this module is to equip you with key concepts in sustainability accounting, including environmental, social, and governance considerations for corporations, as well as an overview of the latest challenges in climate finance.
Investors, business executives, regulators, and accountancy and finance professionals have increasingly recognised that ongoing societal and environmental degradation poses significant risks to the financial resilience of businesses while tackling their causes provides many novel business opportunities. They also regard accountancy and finance as having a significant role to play in the effective management of these risks and opportunities required to build resilient businesses. This is an exciting area of growth for the accountancy and finance profession, requiring innovative solutions and thinking.
There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.
Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.
College fees
Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small College Membership Fee which supports the running of college events and activities. Students on some distance-learning courses are not liable to pay a college fee.
For students starting in 2025, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses.
Computer equipment and internet access
To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.
The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.
For most taught postgraduate applications there is a non-refundable application fee of £40. We cannot consider applications until this fee has been paid, as advised on our online secure payment system. There is no application fee for postgraduate research applications.
For some of our courses you will need to pay a deposit to accept your offer and secure your place. We will let you know in your offer letter if a deposit is required and you will be given a deadline date when this is due to be paid.
The fee that you pay will depend on whether you are considered to be a home or international student. Read more about how we assign your fee status.
If you are studying on a programme of more than one year’s duration, tuition fees are reviewed annually and are not fixed for the duration of your studies. Read more about fees in subsequent years.
Scholarships and bursaries
You may be eligible for the following funding opportunities, depending on your fee status and course. You will be automatically considered for our main scholarships and bursaries when you apply, so there's nothing extra that you need to do.
Unfortunately no scholarships and bursaries match your selection, but there are more listed on scholarships and bursaries page.
Lancaster is ranked 13th in the UK and joint 75th in the world for Accounting and Finance according to the QS World Rankings by Subject 2024, one of 11 subjects at Lancaster to be featured in the top 100 in these prestigious listings.
The information on this site relates primarily to 2025/2026 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.
The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.
More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.
Our Students’ Charter
We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. View our Charter and other policies.
