Master of Science in Finance

at University of Bath United Kingdom

Explore the mechanisms of policymaking to understand the key dilemmas and challenges around social rights, equality and the distribution of resources.

On this course, you’ll learn about the social and political underpinnings of key policies affecting our lives. Understand the implications social policy has for questions of identity, political organisation, social justice and human rights.

You'll learn about the origins and transformations of the institution of the state and how it interacts with the economy and third sector in the UK and beyond. You'll relate these changes to societal, technological and economic developments in Britain and around the world.

Your first year will introduce you to social policy, sociology, and research methods, where you'll explore how social issues become constructed as policy problems. You'll learn about the major social, political and economic factors shaping equality and welfare in 21st century Britain. Through tutorials focused on developing key academic skills in these areas, you’ll also learn how to evaluate data and information to develop your own arguments tailored to different audiences.

In your second year you'll focus on key policy areas such as the family, poverty, social inequality and analysis of the policy process. You'll be able to choose from a range of social science options and explore international perspectives on social policy including European perspectives and examples from further afield. This will help you locate social policy debates critically within global policy challenges.

In your final year you’ll carry out a year-long, supervised dissertation in social policy, explore policy evaluation and study social protection and welfare reform, alongside options that allow you to undertake advanced analysis of specific policy areas.

Study across the discipline with a focus on biological, cognitive, developmental and social psychology with options including clinical and health psychology.

This is a science degree that offers you insights into many aspects of psychology recognised by the British Psychological Society (BPS). You’ll gain a solid grounding across the discipline with a focus on biological psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology and individual differences. You will gain a critical appreciation of different theoretical perspectives and extensive training in research methods and project work.

In your first year you'll gain an understanding of basic concepts, methods and theories in psychology including individual differences, biological, cognitive, developmental and social psychology and their applications.

In your second year you'll advance your knowledge in the core areas of psychology, such as cognitive neuroscience, social psychology and developmental psychology. You'll extend your research methods skills and project work.

In your final year you’ll complete a research project and choose from a wide range of optional units relating to the current research expertise of academic staff. These cover areas that are not always found in other psychology degrees.

You’ll have the opportunity to apply for peer mentoring, research apprenticeships (working with a member of research staff), summer internships and peer assisted learning and leadership roles.

Start a new language or achieve fluency in a language you’ve already studied. Gain the skills to understand the international political environment.

This degree enables you to combine the study of a language at either ab initio (beginner) or advanced level with the study of international politics. In the course, the language and politics strands carry equal weighting. You will gain a strong competence in both your chosen language and in relevant issues of international politics.

You can choose your language of study from either advanced French, German or Spanish (intended for those who have studied to A level standard) or any beginner language (which you do not need to have studied before): French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Russian or Spanish.

Year abroad

This course includes a compulsory year abroad when you will spend time in a country of your chosen language. You could spend your time on a study placement at a foreign university, as a language assistant in a school, or on a work placement. You may also have the flexibility of a combination of any of these options.

Learn the practical, the analytical and the critical skills you need to become a business leader. Get real professional experience with two placements.

This flexible business and management degree is different. You will complete two six-month placements with separate companies rather than 12 months with one. Experience of two roles will help you decide on your future career direction and expand your professional network.

You’ll also work with businesses through applied research including the Final Year Project.

Whatever your career goals, you’ll be able to customise your degree with optional units.

Placement Year

Placements are real jobs and usually paid. The highest UK salary in 2019 was £50,000. The average salaries were £18,878 (Year 2) and £22,539 (Year 3). Salaries shown are pro-rata annual rate.

Average salaries are based on data provided by the 125 Year 2 and 132 Year 3 students that went on placement in 2019. Recent employers include BMW, Ferrero and BNY Mellon.

Gain specialist knowledge in pure and applied mathematics with a particular focus on statistics.

Mathematics enables us to reason logically, to understand structure and formulate scientific principles. Statistics is the collection, analysis and interpretation of data central to everything from scientific progress to medical research and the work of government.

This course is for you if you would like to study statistics and have a significant interest in mathematics. You’ll be trained how to analyse problems and interpret patterns in data to make careful predictions about the future.

Become an innovative computing professional with the skills needed for a career in the fast-growing field of AI.

This course is for you if you’re keen to learn about current Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, specialising in this field from the start of your degree whilst still gaining a broad grounding in computer science. AI is becoming an ever more important part of a wide range of sectors from medicine to marketing, so this course will help prepare you for continued demand in the job market.

You'll gain the skills and knowledge to apply the latest AI technologies and methods to a wide range of problems, studying topics such as machine learning, algorithms and complexity, and visual computing.

Tailor to your interests

In the first year, you’ll learn the basics of computer science, including mathematics and programming skills, along with an introduction to the theory and practice of AI. In the second year, you’ll continue to develop your AI skills, with a focus on machine learning. In the final year, you’ll choose optional units alongside an individual project in a specific area of AI. You can specialise in areas such as robotics, natural language processing, intelligent agents or computer vision. You’ll regularly meet with an academic who’s an expert in your chosen field.

Placement Year

Going on placement gives you the opportunity to apply your skills and knowledge during a year working in industry. You’ll be employed full-time in a role to match your future career ambitions, broadening your experience and transferable skills. This could give you a competitive edge when applying for graduate jobs.

We have links with some of the industry’s leading companies. Recent placement employers include Accenture, Imagination Technologies, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft and Google.

Develop an in-depth knowledge of the financial system. Use your quantitative skills and graduate ready for a career in finance or banking.

This course is for graduates who have little or no business experience and want a finance or banking-related career.

Receive a solid theoretical foundation in finance and banking. You’ll learn to analyse financial decisions and the motivations of people making them, and how to apply this knowledge in the real world.

Take a first step towards a career in forensic psychology settings on this BPS accredited course, with a compulsory placement and focus on counselling skills.

This degree provides the background psychological knowledge, professional skills and relevant experience you need to move confidently into working psychologically within the legal, criminal and civil justice systems.

You will gain up-to-date knowledge of psychological theory and practices, and develop the insights and skills to carry out research and development projects in forensic services, looking at governance, ethical, organisational issues.

You will also be introduced to the foundation skills of forensic psychology practice and spend time developing basic skills in counselling that can be applied in a variety of forensic settings.

The counselling element of the course, and a year-long placement, will help you acquire skills and experience which, compared with other forensic psychology courses, can greatly enhance your employability prospects.

This course is for graduates in psychology, who are interested in progressing to careers in the forensic services as practitioners, researchers or managers. It is also for those currently working in the criminal justice or forensic mental health systems, wishing to learn more about the theory and practice behind forensic psychology.

Explore the challenges of ensuring sustainability in management decision-making and the importance of managing relationships with communities, society and the environment.

This course is for graduates who want to develop key managerial skills with an emphasis on sustainability.

Business isn’t separate from society; companies need to consider their impact on the wider world. This course will develop your understanding of corporate social responsibility issues and of core business disciplines.

Apply the full breadth of physics to a wide range of astrophysical phenomena from star formation to black hole growth and the expansion of the Universe.

Physics with Astrophysics at Bath will give you a strong grounding in physics, along with in-depth specialist knowledge of astrophysics. You’ll learn how to combine evidence from stellar and extragalactic astronomy to build consistent theoretical models of the evolution of galaxies.

Topics covered include exoplanets, galaxies, cosmology, stars and stellar evolution, general relativity and high energy astrophysics. There'll also be opportunities for you to carry out both observational and computational astrophysics projects alongside our astrophysics research group.

Placement Year

As an MPhys student, you’ll be able to undertake a research placement in the final year of the course. You’ll spend six months (July to December) working in a research organisation of international standing, before returning to the University for the final semester. We have links with leading research organisations, including CERN, NTT Basic Research Laboratories (Japan), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (France) and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

Year Abroad

Broaden your horizons by spending a year studying at a university abroad. You’ll experience another culture whilst studying a course that complements your studies at Bath.

We currently have links with universities in North America, Australasia, Asia and Europe, including Purdue University, the University of Queensland, National University Singapore and the University of Helsinki.