Master of Arts (Hons) in Accountancy and Finance

at Heriot-Watt University - Edinburgh Campus United Kingdom

Commercial Management and Quantity Surveying at Heriot-Watt is designed to meet the needs of the financial management and quantity surveying sectors. The degree offers a solid theoretical base, combined with a strong focus on industrial relevance.

To enhance your career prospects and international experience, we are now offering our established and standard one year Commercial Management and Quantity Surveying Masters over two years through offering a ‘with Industry Placement’ alternative.

This Commercial Management and Quantity Surveying with Industry Placement option offers a practical experiential element over the traditional one-year degree structure, allowing students to reflect on theory in practice.

Our BSc Computer Systems degree is designed for students looking for a sound foundation and applied skills in computing in addition to other professional skills which will enable them to communicate clearly, work independently and co-operate effectively.

This programme imparts the understanding and skills to develop advanced software systems to professional standards.

The programme has a flexible structure to suit graduates with a wide spectrum of degrees from those in IT to those with rather less academic computing content. The MSc covers core skills in Information Technology (IT) at MSc level while allowing students to study specialist advanced courses in topics such as animation, databases, e-commerce, games programming, intelligent robotics and network applications.

Graduates can expect to find employment with software houses, IT companies, research and development divisions of companies, financial services organisations, defence contractors or government IT agencies, and as researchers or research students within universities.

This exciting 2-year MSc programme is designed to kick-start your career as an actuary, preparing you to take a leading role in managing risk in financial institutions worldwide.

Entry to the actuarial profession is by a demanding series of examinations, but the rewards after qualifying are great. Students that enrol onto this programme will follow the syllabus of MSc Actuarial Science in their first year and the MSc Actuarial Management programme in their second.

Taking our MSc in Actuarial Science and Management is a great way to speed your progress to this most prestigious of careers - it's designed to take you almost all of the way to qualification.

Our MSc International Business Management with Project Management programme is aimed graduates who have little or no business or management background in their first degree and who wish to gain a broad based business qualification to enhance their future career prospects, or at those looking to develop business management knowledge and skills to allow them to change or further their careers.

This is a Conversion MSc
MSc International Business Management with Project Management is a conversion degree programme led by academics from Edinburgh Business School. It introduces the study of business and management to graduates and professionals from non-management backgrounds who wish to enhance their careers.

This degree introduces vital business knowledge to those with limited academic experience in the subject and provides an opportunity to develop versatile management skills in just one year of study. Coupled with specialist learning in the area of project management, it develops modern management skills to complement existing knowledge and prepare graduates for a career shift or management role.

MSc Intercultural Business Communication develops skills that will allow you to communicate and work with people from all around the world. 

This degree develops intercultural business skills which are increasingly required by businesses and organisations with globalised workplaces and international stakeholders. 

Throughout this Masters degree, you will learn about key issues related to culture, society, and communication, and apply your understanding to authentic business contexts with a strong emphasis on practical intercultural business communication skills.

You will be taught and assessed entirely in English, which makes it suitable for those who would like to adapt their English language skills for a professional context and develop understanding of intercultural issues in international business.

Professional communication skills

MSc Intercultural Business Communication will give you the opportunity to study culture and communication in an academic setting and apply your learning directly to intercultural business contexts, relevant to international organisations and teams.

Embedded in Heriot-Watt University's highly respected Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies, this programme develops advanced corporate communications skills alongside a broad range of professional transferable skills, so you will be ready to thrive in dynamic workplaces where the ability to communicate, summarise and present information is extremely important

You will learn alongside students from all over the world and find yourself working in multicultural teams to apply your learning in real time. As a result, you will be uniquely prepared for a career in international business and global leadership by the time you graduate.

This Construction Project Management course equips you with the theoretical knowledge and practical and technical skills to manage people and projects within the construction industry.

Construction Project Management at Heriot-Watt University is one of the longest-running courses of its kind in the UK, equipping graduates with the theoretical knowledge and practical and technical skills to manage people and projects within the construction industry.

A range of core modules covering management, procurement and technology-related subjects will give you a foundation in management principles while providing practical skills relevant to professional practice in construction.

You will also choose an optional module from a range of subjects drawn from our built environment courses, providing you with a broader understanding of built environment issues and an opportunity to tailor your studies to fit your interests and professional needs.

This is one of the few dedicated Applied Mathematics MSc programmes in the UK. For over 40 years Heriot-Watt has been exceptionally strong in Applied Mathematics and we have world-leading researchers in many related areas and very good links with industry.

Our flexible programme is designed to equip students with the modern, transferrable mathematical and statistical skills to prepare them for careers in industry and research.

Students will gain a solid, theoretical and practical foundation through a diverse range of taught courses and applications oriented projects.

The Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree aims to develop students’ understanding of the area of Business Administration and Management and develop practical skills appropriate for careers in this area. Theory and practice are given equal emphasis to give a holistic understanding of the role of Business Administration as well as knowledge of and skills associated with business start-up, growth and innovation.

Data science today is becoming increasingly important within the actuarial field, and Heriot-Watt has developed this unique new programme to meet this growing actuarial demand.

Taking our MSc in Actuarial Management with Data Science is a great way to speed your progress to this most prestigious of careers - it's designed to take you almost all of the way to qualification. Our MSc in Actuarial Management is an established and successful programme covering the more advanced actuarial subjects.The MSc in Actuarial Management with Data Science introduces exciting new opportunities for actuaries of the future.

Entry to the actuarial profession is by a demanding series of examinations, but the rewards after qualifying are great. The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in the UK has four levels of examinations to qualify. The first level, the Core Principles (CS, CM and CB) subjects, are taught in our BSc or MSc in Actuarial Science and lead to exemptions from subjects CS1, CS2, CM1, CM2, CB1 and CB2. Students will typically study CP1, CP2, CP3, two SP subjects (two SP subjects are needed to satisfy the profession's requirements) and two courses on data science applied to insurance.

Actuarial data science combines advanced statistical modelling and analysis with modern computational techniques in order to analyse potentially large datasets arising in insurance and finance. These analyses have the ability to improve forecasts and enhance decision making in an uncertain environment where rapid advancements in technology and data availability are transforming fields of actuarial work. Additionally, they are building synergies with new sectors such as medical and healthcare. This is an area of science and technology that is attracting significant interest and that will continue to grow for the foreseeable future, as more and more industries adopt data-driven and data-centric approaches.

Students graduating from the MSc will have excellent employment prospects that are not restricted to any one narrow sector of financial services. By their choice of IFoA subjects, they may target the life, pensions, asset management, investment and risk management sectors. They will be in demand in quantitative risk management roles in both banks and insurance companies, as well as fund management companies, hedge funds, consultancies, software vendors and regulatory authorities. The market for graduates with actuarial qualifications complemented with data science skills is growing fast and we expect that it will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.