The ifs School of Finance and the School of Management at the University of Surrey have agreed to a partnership to offer a combined academic and professional qualification in financial services.
The dual award will combine a BSc (Hons) in Financial Services Management from the University of Surrey with the professional Associateship (A ifs) of the ifs School of Finance.
The four-year qualification will include a professional training year in the third year when students will be spending a year with an employer in the financial services industry.
The qualification will combine theory with practice whereby the student will be given the important conceptual abilities of an academic programme as well as the essential professional skills required of the practitioner.
Students will attend the University of Surrey based in Guildford, but will be taught by full-time faculty from both the School of Management and the ifs School of Finance.
European research recently highlighted that by 2014 the financial services industry in the UK will rely more heavily on high-level skills than any other industry, except education. This new dual award will undoubtedly help to meet the need for higher-level skills.
“This unique dual award is a tremendous opportunity for anyone aspiring to do well in the financial services industry. It is also particularly exciting for the ifs as it will be the organisation’s first full-time students. The tens of thousands of students doing ifs qualifications worldwide have traditionally studied through distance learning supported by the ifs’ extensive academic community, or they have been supported by a range of international educational partners. Employers in the financial services industry increasingly need graduates with a mix of skills and experience and this course, which blends the academic with the vocational, delivers both,” says Martin Day, director of higher education, ifs School of Finance.
“The University of Surrey and the School of Management have a long history of combining Academic and Professional Education at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In particular, the University has an internationally renowned reputation for excellence for its ‘Professional Year Training’ which is incorporated into all Undergraduate programmes. It has one of the highest records for graduate employment of any UK university,” adds Terry Desombre, head, School of Management.