Key information
Our MSc Accountancy degree focuses on the practical skills you’ll need to succeed in any sector that requires expertise in accountancy.
- Level
- Postgraduate Taught
- Delivery type
- Full Time
- Degree qualification
- MSc
- Mode of delivery
- On-Campus
- Duration
- 1 year
- Location
- Edinburgh
- Start date
- September, January
During this master's degree, you’ll gain in-depth knowledge of theoretical and practical accounting and be able to combine this knowledge with analytical techniques, to advise and act as consultants in key decision-making. The MSc will provide you with the skills to identify the risks in a business management context and recommend ways to mitigate such risks.
The programme offers specialised modules in areas such as accounting, auditing, and tax. You’ll learn about, and evaluate, a comprehensive range of research techniques, and understand how they are put into practice to create and interpret knowledge. You’ll also carry out your own research as part of your independent research project.
You’ll focus on real-world problems and explore ways accounting can help to address them. You’ll explore a range of organisational contexts and practices which will set you up for a professional accountancy career. Accredited and approved by several accountancy bodies and taught by professionally qualified staff you’ll gain professional qualifications in any accounting-related field with a focus on grant exemptions in the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Qualification or Foundations in Accountancy awards.
Your student experience
Our MSc Accountancy programme is taught with a clear industry focus by experienced professionals and respected academics. They are accredited by professional bodies and will introduce you to professional-standard software in our state-of-the-art Bloomberg Trading Room.
Go Global
There are currently no Go Global opportunities for this particular programme. However, other Go Global opportunities may be available. Please contact studywithus@hw.ac.uk for more information.
Course content
September Intake - Edinburgh
Mandatory September
- International Accounting Standards
- Taxation
- Financial Analysis
Optional September
- Corporate Governance and Sustainability
Mandatory January
- Research Philosophy and Practice
- Auditing, Assurance and Professional Ethics
- International Managerial Accounting
Optional January
- Comparative Financial Reporting
- International Accounting Theory
Mandatory May
- Accounting, Banking or Finance Dissertation
January intake - Edinburgh
Mandatory January
- Auditing, Assurance and Professional Ethics
- International Accounting Standards
- International Managerial Accounting
Optional January
- Comparative Financial Reporting
- International Accounting Theory
Mandatory September
- Research Philosophy and Practice
- Financial Analysis
- Taxation
Optional September
- Corporate Governance and Sustainability
Mandatory Second January
- Accounting, Banking or Finance Dissertation
Fees and funding
| Status | Full Time |
|---|---|
| UK | £10,528 |
| International | £21,192 |
- Status: Your residency status is usually defined as the country where you have been ordinarily resident for the three years before the start of your course.
- International: 'International' includes applicants from European Union countries who do not hold Pre-Settled or Settled status in UK. (This does not include students from the Republic of Ireland - see above).
Scholarships and bursaries
Postgraduate scholarships and bursaries
We aim to encourage well-qualified, ambitious students to study with us and we offer a wide variety of scholarships and bursaries to achieve this. Over £6 million worth of opportunities are available in fee and stipend scholarships, and more than 400 students benefit from this support.
Entry requirements
We have standard entry requirements for all of our courses that you will have to meet.
A minimum of honours degree at 2:2 or non-UK equivalent in a relevant subject such as Economics, Accountancy, Finance, Business Management, or an unrelated degree demonstrating numerical ability.
Why Heriot-Watt
We're the top university in Scotland for graduate outcomes which means that more of our graduates are employed or in postgraduate education than any other institution in the country and we ranked 5th in the UK.
We're also rated number one in the UK for CEO or MD roles, meaning more of our graduates go on to become CEOs or MDs than any other university in the whole of the UK. On top of that, we have beautiful campuses, across the globe, so you'll get a truly international education. Our Edinburgh Campus is home to Oriam, Scotland's National Sports Performance Centre combined with plenty of wellbeing resources, prioritising fitness and mental health for all students. Our Global Research Institutes look at solving real world issues such as climate change and saving our oceans as well as working on the next medical technological breakthrough and the future of AI and robots.
Employability
We’re delighted that Edinburgh Business School has the highest percentage of graduates in the UK who are appointed to a CEO or MD role (Novuna Business Cash Flow, 2023). We’re also first in Scotland for graduate employability (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2023). Typical careers for Accountancy graduates include finance professionals and business, research and administrative professionals.
Student life
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