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2024/25
2025/26

BSc Finance with Placement Year

  • UCAS code
    N303
  • A level offer
    ABB
  • Year of entry
    2025/26
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  4 Years
  • Year of entry
    2025/26
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  4 Years

Prepare for a career in the fast-paced financial industries – and gain valuable real-world experience – with our BSc Finance with Placement Year degree.

Recent changes in finance – including the emergence of financial technology and the focus on sustainability – have necessitated changes throughout the industry.

This four-year course develops the key skills and knowledge to meet these changes head-on, as you gain a deep understanding of finance and the financial services industry. An integrated Placement Year provides a fantastic opportunity to put your skills into practice in preparation for your future career.

Experts from Henley Business School will introduce you to the:

  • fundamental principles of accounting, finance and economics
  • quantitative techniques of finance
  • role of finance in business and society
  • ethics required to work in the finance industry.

As your studies progress, you’ll gain deeper knowledge of the core concepts in:

  • portfolio management
  • financial modelling
  • corporate finance.

You’ll learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, practical workshops, and self-guided study. This will provide the opportunity to discuss subject materials in an in-depth way with your lecturers and fellow students.

Choose BSc Finance with Placement Year at Henley Business School

Henley Business School is recognised as one of the top institutions in the UK for finance and accounting. We are:

  • top 25 in the UK for overall subject (ranked 23rd in The Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 and 24th in the Guardian University Guide 2024)
  • top 20 in the UK for graduate prospects outcomes (ranked 16th in the Complete University Guide 2025)
  • top 20 in the UK for student experience (ranked 20th in The Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024).

All of our finance degrees are affiliated with the CFA Institute. Within this partnership, a number of scholarships are offered towards CFA exams (partial fee reduction) for which students can apply.

Flexible study options

After the first year of your BSc Finance with Placement Year degree, you will have the option to transfer to any of our specialist pathways:

Each pathway is designed to help you understand particular challenges within finance and how to respond to them.

If you choose to remain on the general degree course, you’ll still be offered a wide range of options in your second and final years – allowing you to tailor your learning to your individual interests.

We also offer two other variations of this course: BSc Finance, a three-year course; and BSc Finance with Study Year Abroad, a four-year course with a year of overseas study instead of a placement.

Dedicated industry facilities with BSc Finance with Placement Year

Put your understanding of financial systems and capital markets into practice in our state-of-the-art dealing rooms, featuring computer trading simulations and financial modelling.

Placement Year in industry

In your third year, you’ll have the opportunity to gain valuable experience in a real-world setting with our Work Placement module.

We will support you to find and secure a placement that’s right for you.



New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,535 per year for 2025/26 then fixed per year at this fee for the standard duration of your course.

New international students: £29,950 per year for 2025/26 then fixed per year at this fee for the standard duration of your course.

Tuition fees

To find out more about how the University of Reading sets its tuition fees, see our fees and funding pages.

Additional costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Placement year fees

If you spend a full year on placement, you will only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee for that year. For more information, please see our fees and funding pages or contact placements@reading.ac.uk.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Careers for BSc Finance with Placement Year graduates

The skills and knowledge you acquire from your degree in finance will be applicable to, and provide a route into, many areas:

  • Asset management
  • Multinational firms operations
  • Financial technology
  • Banking and investment banking
  • Consultancy
  • Finance
  • Start-ups
  • Financial analysis
  • Trading
  • Brokerage
  • Hedge funds
  • Sustainable fund management
  • Environmental project management
  • Corporate governance.