BA (Hons)

Accounting and Finance including Foundation Year

This foundation year will help you to build your confidence and lay the foundations for you to successfully complete a full degree in accounting and finance. 

How to apply Apply through UCAS Book an Open Day Chat to Us

Key Course Details

  • UCAS Code

    N43F

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £5,760*

  • International students

    £16,800*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
Make an Enquiry

The Accounting and Finance Foundation Year introduces core business and finance concepts while helping you develop key academic, personal and professional skills. Through practical tasks and reflection, you’ll gain confidence and prepare for degree-level study. 

DESIGNED FOR

Students who do not currently meet the admissions criteria for direct entry onto a degree course or students returning to education who wish to build confidence, and the academic skills needed to progress onto their chosen degree program.

Career paths

  • Chartered Accountant in the profession
  • Financial Planning
  • Company Accountant
  • Tax Accounting
  • Auditing
  • Management consulting
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Trader or stockbroker

Skills taught

  • Critical thinking
  • Evaluation skills
  • IT skills
  • Independent learning
  • Communication skills

We make a difference in practice, not just on paper. Our courses are designed by people who offer jobs - and taught by people who have real work experience.

an image to use with the media slider to vary sizes
Senior lecturer, Simon McCarthy, smiling at the camera
A close up of a student laughing at friends whilst sat on beanbags in the accommodation hub.
Two people studying together at a table, surrounded by books and papers.

Course Highlights

Gain key skills

Develop a range of skills and qualities that will enrich your learning in year one and beyond.

Taught by experts

Learn from industry experts with real-world business experience.

Focused on your success

Supportive teaching to help you succeed in your foundation year and beyond.

Module Overview

The Accounting and Finance Foundation Year builds academic confidence and core business understanding through practical learning, reflection and collaboration, preparing you to progress into degree-level accounting study with focus, resilience and purpose. 

Starting your University Journey 
Develop academic, personal and professional skills for university study. You’ll reflect on your progress, build confidence, and create an evidence-based portfolio to support your future learning.  

Business in Action
An introduction to how businesses work, covering key areas like marketing, finance and people. You’ll apply ideas to real scenarios while building confidence, teamwork, communication and study skills. 

Institutional Power Dynamics
Explore how people think, feel and act at work. You’ll learn about teamwork, leadership and motivation, apply ideas to real challenges, and build academic and professional skills. 

The Impact Challenge: Shaping Real World Solutions 
The Impact Challenge is a Foundation Year project module where students work in teams to tackle real-world issues, developing solutions through research, curiosity, teamwork, and responsible problem-solving. 

For details of the modules you will study after successful completion of the Foundation Year, please see the main course page.

Course Highlights

How you’ll learn

You will learn through active, real-world learning experiences that encourage curiosity, collaboration and independent thinking. Teaching helps you understand how learning works at university, while building academic confidence, critical thinking and self-reflection. You’ll work independently and with others through discussions, practical activities and guided reflection, supported by digital tools. Regular feedback helps you recognise progress and plan next steps, supporting wellbeing, resilience and a strong sense of belonging as you prepare for a higher level of study.

How you'll be assessed

You’ll be assessed in different ways, including short tasks, coursework, presentations, and group work. Early assessments are designed to support your learning and help you understand what is expected at university. Most assessments are coursework-based and help you develop key skills such as research, academic writing, teamwork, and communication. You’ll also reflect on your progress and use university systems and digital tools. Clear, timely feedback will help you understand how to improve and support your next steps. 

Placements and work experience

Our Accounting and Finance degree actively encourages internships and employability. After progressing from the foundation year onto the undergraduate degree, you’ll have the opportunity to apply for a one-year work placement after the second year of the degree, or a shorter placement of up to three months between the second and final year of the degree. It’s a great option if you want a mixture of academic and practical learning, teaching and assessment. 

Recent work placements have included work at one of the world’s largest credit insurers, Atradius, global communications leader Alcatel-Lucent, and the Welsh Government. Having the opportunity to work at companies like these will help your CV stand out from the crowd. 

Facilities

Our accounting students get access to a financial Trading Room with state-of-the-art computer hardware, software, and live data from the city. This practical way of learning means you’re exposed to a working environment as you learn how to navigate the financial world. You’ll learn first-hand the complex strategies associated with buying and selling and understand the volatility and fluctuations of the market and the uncertainty of risk. All lectures and classroom sessions will be held at the Pontypridd Campus in Treforest, just a 20-minute drive from Cardiff.

Student Stories

Lowri Connick sitting in front of a red background smiling off camera
Working towards becoming an accountant

Lowri Connick

Accounting and Finance student

Choosing the Right Path: From Numbers to Deloitte

Rhys Jones

Accounting and Finance student

Accounting student, Nicolas, looks off camera during a photoshoot
Following my father’s footsteps into Accounting

Nicolas Laurian

Accounting and Finance student

Accounting student Joelle, smiles at camera with her arms crossed, in front of a red backdrop
Finding my place in a diverse and inspiring environment

Joelle Sanou

Accounting and Finance student

Accounting student, Kee Hau, looks off camera during a photoshoot
Building my future in professional accountancy

Hau Kee Chun

Accounting and Finance student

A view of the front of the Business School building at Treforest.
Building a future in Finance

Kavan Shah

Accounting and Finance student

Careers and Employability

Graduate Careers

Our Accounting and Finance graduates have gone on to apply their transferrable skills in interesting and engaging careers around the world. Recent alumni are now working at KPMG, GE Aviation, PwC, Ernst & Young, JK Accountancy, and Audit Wales. Other popular routes for our graduates include the charity sector, local authorities, and global blue-chip companies. A degree in Accounting and Finance will also open the door to careers in all other sectors due to its versatility and sought-after skills. Many of our graduates also progress to postgraduate study or research.

Industry Partners

Not only can you work on placement in one of our prestigious partner organisations throughout your degree, but studying the course with us also means you’ll work towards industry accreditation with leading finance bodies such as the ICAEW and ACCA. As you gain accreditations towards these professional qualifications throughout your studies, you can choose which one best suit the role you’re most interested in.

Careers support

You’ll have access to advice from our careers and employability service throughout your studies and when you graduate. This includes one-to-one appointments with career advisers either in person or virtually through video call or email. We also have online resources to help explore career options and ensure you present yourself well to employers. These include psychometric tests, career assessments, a CV builder, an interview simulator, and application help. We also have over 2,000 registered employers targeting business graduates, so we’ll sign you up to receive weekly email alerts for jobs that match your interests too.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

UCAS Points: 48 (or above)

Typical qualification requirements:

  • A Level: DD
  • BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma Pass Pass Pass or BTEC Diploma Pass Pass
  • Access to HE: Pass the Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 48 UCAS Tariff points
  • T Level: Pass (D or E)

Additional Requirements:

The University normally requires a minimum 3 GCSEs at Grade C or above, including Mathematics (Numeracy AND Mathematics in Wales) and English Language. For those taking GCSEs in England, a Grade 4 is considered equivalent to a C.

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 4 overall and a minimum of 4 in each component or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

Foundation Year Tuition Fee

Where applicable, the Tuition Fee for international students is as listed in the fees section above

Further Information

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

Fees and Funding

Additional Costs

Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of stationery, printing, or equipment during your foundation year.  For costs after you progress to year 1 of your degree programme, please see the list below.

The exact cost of attending any placement is dependent upon the its location in relation to the student's place of residence, mode of transportation etc. and therefore cannot be determined at this moment in time. Furthermore, depending upon the placement the student may need to purchase suitable attire (e.g. a suit or formal clothing).

Cost: Up to £300

Reduced fee membership of ACCA "Accelerate" scheme. Normally £79 but we have a special fee of £20.

Cost: £20

Some additional text books may need to be purchased.

Cost: £300

Placement Year. Travel costs depend on placement location.

Cost: Up to £300

student sat on campus in treforest

Future Ready Fund

We are offering eligible full-time students £1,000 paid directly to them in their first year of studies. Check the details today!

Future Ready Fund

University Quality Assurance

At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.

If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.

How to apply

All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS. You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time).

Advanced entry

If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.

Applicants accepted through advanced entry may study a different combination of modules to those advertised, as they will be joining a course already in progress. You will be contacted and advised about these modules once your application has been processed and an offer made.

International admissions

International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.
 

Life at USW

Halls are a big part of your student experience and there’s accommodation at all three of our locations. If you don’t want to live near the campus, there are great transport links to keep you connected.

A student sat smiling and talking to friends off camera in Treforest Student's Union
Student Life
The University's Ty Crawshays building at Treforest, Pontypridd.
Pontypridd Campus, Treforest
A double room at our Pontypridd accommodation featuring a large window.
Accommodation

Next Steps

How to apply
Apply Through UCAS
Book an Open Day
Chat to Us