BA Joint Hons Accounting & Human Resource Management
ApplyKey facts
- UCAS Code: NN46
- Accreditation: Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
Ranked: 3rd in the UK for Accounting & Finance (The Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024)
Second-year entry: may be available for suitably-qualified students
Applicant visit days: these take place in March each year
Study with us
- Accounting at Strathclyde is fully accredited for entry to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland in the majority of study combinations, as well as offering possible exemptions to other professional bodies, for example Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
- learn about the preparation, presentation and interpretation of financial information
- learn about recruitment and selection, training and development, rewards, diversity and managing conflict at work
- you'll have the opportunity to study in Europe, North America and elsewhere for one or two semesters
Why this course?
Studying accounting at Strathclyde, you'll learn about the preparation, presentation and interpretation of financial information that enables investors, lenders, management, employees, government and others to make effective decisions.
You'll also learn how to read and interpret accounting information in the annual reports of businesses and the financial information within the public sector and become familiar with the principles and practice of presenting information to those who manage all types of organisations.
Strathclyde is also widely known for offering some of the best teachings in Human Resource Management (HRM) in both Scotland and the UK.
The course covers areas such as recruitment and selection, training and developing and managing conflict at work. These are an important part of the management process in all organisations.
What you'll study
Create your own course
Modern business is too complex to be covered by a single subject. Modern managers need to have a broad outlook.
You'll follow a broad-based Year 1 curriculum which will introduce you to foundation accountancy and finance concepts, plus economics and a choice of other introductory business disciplines.
These modules will be taken alongside the Business School’s core modules for international business, business knowledge and skills (the Management Development Programme), and academic skills support. This provides you with the opportunity to try new subjects, some of which you won’t have experienced at school or college.
At the beginning of Year 2, you choose two subjects to continue studying in Years 2 and 3, along with modules required if you are following the accredited accounting pathway, plus further Management Development modules in Years 2 and 3.
Accounting
You'll study core accounting and finance subjects, along with economics. You can also complete accreditation requirements for professional accountancy bodies, if you take the required modules, such as taxation and law.
Please note: competitive progression requirements are in place for entry to the Honours year – currently this is a 55% average in the Year 2 and 3 subject modules.
Human Resource Management
Year 1: the introductory class – Managing People – provides an overview of HRM.
Years 2 & 3: Core classes cover more in-depth HRM theories and techniques. Year 2 focuses on workplace behaviour from an organisational psychology point of view. Year 3 focuses on more sociological theories. Options include classes in employee development and equality and diversity.
Year 4: you’ll study a range of specialist classes at single or joint Honours.
Study abroad
In year 3 you'll have the opportunity to study in Europe, North America and elsewhere for one or two semesters.
Student competitions
The Peter Bain Prize is awarded each year to the student with the highest mark for their dissertation.
The HRM Society
The HRM Society is run by our students, for our students. It aims to bring together all year groups into one network where they can share knowledge and practice, awareness of careers and build relationships with alumni and employers.
Course content
The Accounting programme follows a suite of accounting and finance modules, providing a grounding in these subjects, plus economics and business analysis, plus a choice of another introductory business module.
These are supplemented by the three integrating Business School modules in:
- international business
- business knowledge and skills, and
- academic skills
In Years 2 and 3 you will study accounting plus another business discipline of your choice. The accounting programme will cover:
- financial reporting
- management accounting governance taxation
- auditing and assurance
Year 4 (Honours) offers a range of modules, for example:
- Sustainability Accounting
- Sustainable & purposeful finance
- Management Accounting Theory & Practice
- Auditing Theory & Practice
- Accounting technologies
- Accounting & Risk
Accounting
Introduction to Finance and Financial Analysis
This module will provide you with an introduction to finance and accounting, covering the basic concepts and practicalities of corporate finance, the principles of valuation, financial management and business investment, the role and purpose of company accounts and their usefulness, security analysis, risk and returns from investments, and personal finance.
At all times the module content will be linked with financial behaviour and events in the real world.
Accounting Technologies
This module will introduce students to the study of management and financial accounting. It's designed to provide an introduction to accounting for those students who intend to study accounting in subsequent years. It assumes no prior knowledge. It ensures that, in combination with other modules, the accreditation requirements of Professional accountancy bodies are met.
Introduction to Finance & Financial Statistics
This module provides an introduction to finance for accounting students who require a finance stream for professional accreditation. The module will cover an introduction to financial management and statistical applications in finance.
The module provides an introduction to finance, covering the basic theories of financial markets, corporate finance and investment, financial management, personal finance, security analysis and statistical applications in finance.
Introduction to Tourism Studies and Managing People
This module includes two thematic parts which run in parallel across the semester. One part, Introduction to Tourism Studies, introduces tourism management as both, international business and as a global cultural phenomenon.
It provides insights into key concepts and theories to understand the intricacy of this industry in commercial, cultural and environmental terms. The other part, Managing People, focuses on the contemporary and practical issues of how people are organised and managed in the workplace and examines different theoretical perspectives which help our understanding of the complex relationship between the employer and the employee in the contemporary business environment.
Introduction to International Business
This module introduces learners to the field and practice of international business and management.
Drawing on classical and recent debates in theory and practice including, but not limited to commercial concerns, learners will be equipped with an understanding of the foundational principles and developments of the subject.
In the module, we consider how international business and management is researched, and facilitate a critical understanding based on real-life case studies in international contexts. This module gives learners the capacity to look at the past, present and future in organisations and provides the foundations for intellectual progression in the subject, and broadly, for year two and beyond.
Introduction to Economics and Business Analysis & Technology (20 credits)
The module will provide you with a balanced introduction to economics which will be based on a programme of systematic directed reading, supplemented by experiments and exercises undertaken in tutorials.
The module uses the innovative CORE (Curriculum Open-Access Resources in Economics) Econ resources, which provides a complete introduction to economics and the economy. CORE Econ teaches about the economy and economics by starting from a question or a problem about the economy - why the advent of capitalism is associated with a sharp increase in average living standards, for example - and then teach the tools of economics that contribute to an answer. This innovative approach ensures that students understand how the tools of economics can help us understand the modern economy.
The second half of the module is the study of how analytical thinking, scientific method and associated tools can be used to help decision making. This Business Analysis element of the module will provide an overview of where methods and tools are widely used across a large range of industries including the manufacturing, retail, healthcare, financial services, travel, and electronics industries, as well as in local and national government.
Examples of where Business Analysis is put into practice are:
- the management of new building projects
- the design of efficient transport systems and plant layouts
- personnel scheduling
- allocation of resources and financial modelling and forecasting
This area of expertise can help to reduce costs, increase revenues, improve customer service, increase efficiency and can even save lives.
Management Development Programme 1
The ICE Pathway - “Innovation, Commercialisation & Entrepreneurship”, where you'll learn about the Foundations of 'What is Business’. Alongside:
- Personal & Professional Development: Who am I? How Do I learn? How do I lead & work in a team?
- Knowledge & Practice: What is a business/organisation? Why does this matter? How does this affect society?
- Experiential Learning: Real-world cases & clients; team-based and student-centred Learning approaches
Academic Skills
This class aims to support you in developing key skills that are important to both your academic and future career. These include skills associated with:
- research
- data analysis
- critical writing
- team working
- communication
Accounting
Management Development Programme 2
Topics
Semester 1 topics include:
- Working in Business Organisations
- Working Business Research & Consultancy
- Working Internationally
- Working in the Third Sector
- Rhetorics & Oratory
Semester 2 is about developing the proposal of Management Development Programme 3; with a presentation and a final report.
Class description
The second year concentrates on developing understanding through industry-specific contextualisation. Sessions are weekly and three hours in length.
The sessions are thematically linked to the pathways for individualised experience in third year whilst also drawing on the theoretical knowledge developed in Management Development Programme 1. In order to develop understanding, organisations will deliver a half-day session. This consists of a one hour plenary introduction where the company and case study are introduced. This is followed by the group sessions where you undertake activities in relation to the case study set by the company.
Course summary
Students develop skills in financial and management accounting and have the opportunity to study taxation.
Human Resource Management
Work Psychology
Work Psychology for Human Resource Management
Accounting
Management Development Programme 3
The third year of centres on individualised experience in an organisational context through one of the following pathways:
- Internship/Charities - gain practical experience in a private or third sector organisation. You need to negotiate and locate your own organisation and experience – this is one of the key learning points of the pathway.
- Research and consultancy - a facility for local small businesses to gain from the experience and expertise of those within Strathclyde Business School. You work on two live business consultancy projects (one in each semester) and, as a team of six, develop solutions and strategic initiatives for the local SME economy.
- International experience – only available for students who are undertaking an international exchange for either one semester or full year.
- Vertically Integrated Projects - working on a cross-faculty basis to research longitudinal projects (including the ‘Bill Gates Toilet Challenge, Solar Panels for Gambia and Enterprise in Schools) you work with a team of students from all levels of study (first year undergraduate to final year PhD) to further the work of the project.
In addition, you’re required to undertake a social responsibility element (this accounts for one quarter of the overall workload).
These have been designed to provide support to the Curriculum for Excellence and the Widening Access to Higher Education programme. There are no formal classes for Management Development Programme 3 although there is pathway support with the pathway leads and tutor support.
Course summary
Students study advanced topics in financial and management accounting and auditing. By the end of this year, you'll normally have completed the accreditation requirements for professional accountancy bodies, provided you have taken the classes prescribed for the accredited pathway.
Human Resource Management
Work, Employment & Society
Employment Relations
Accounting
Course summary
Honours classes include:
- Management Accounting Theory & Practice
- Accounting Information Systems
- Sustainability Accounting
- Theory & Practice
- Strategic Accounting & Financial Management in Entrepreneurial Firms
- Public Sector Accounting
- Accounting Theories
- Accounting & Risk
- Corporate Governance
- Contemporary Issues in International Financial Reporting
- Understanding 21st-century Accounting Technologies & Institutional Structures
- Integrative Studies in Management & Accounting
- Accounting Ethics
- Auditing Theory & Practice and Taxation
Human Resource Management
Advanced Organisational Behaviour
HRM & Employment Relations in Public Services
The aim of the module is to provide you with a critical understanding of the context and content of ‘New Public Management’ and alternative public management reform strategies. There's particular reference to impacts on HRM and employment relations.
The module will enable you to compare how different countries’ reform trajectories have impacted on changes in HRM and employment relations.
Human Resources in the Global Economy
Perspective on Work & Employment
Triple-accredited business school
Learning & teaching
Teaching is over two semesters in blocks of 12 weeks. Classes are taught through lectures, tutorials, and seminars alongside team-based projects, online materials, and interactive sessions using personal response systems.
External contributors from partnership corporate organisations are involved in teaching and/or assessment of student presentations.
The innovative and highly acclaimed Management Development Programme (MDP) is at the core of our undergraduate degrees in the Business School and comprises a series of classes which you take throughout Years 1 to 3.
You develop knowledge and skills in key areas of management, and team-working, communication and decision-making skills, all of which are highly sought-after by employers.
Major employers and alumni from all sectors are involved in the MDP, participating in group sessions, observing student presentations, and providing feedback. Organisations involved include Barclays, Deloitte, Procter & Gamble and Ernst & Young. In first year the best teams are selected to present to senior staff in one of the sponsoring organisations, and there are prizes for the best projects.
The programme builds your confidence, entrepreneurial capabilities and promotes awareness of globalisation and ethical issues in personal and business decision-making. In Year 3, you develop your own pathway from internships, involvement with business projects, engagement in interdisciplinary activities and business clinics.
Assessment
The majority of classes involve a final unseen exam which is normally at the end of the semester. This is typically supplemented by individual and/or group coursework.
Students normally have one opportunity to be re-assessed for a failed class. Exam resits usually take place during the summer.
A range of assessment techniques are used including business reports, case studies, essays, presentations, individual and group projects, learning journals and peer assessments.
Entry requirements
Required subjects are shown in brackets.
| Highers |
(English B, Maths A)
(Maths A, English B) |
|---|---|
| A Levels | AAA (GCSE English Language 6/B or Literature 6/B, or an essay-based A Level B may be considered in lieu of English; A Level Maths A) |
| International Baccalaureate | 36 (no subject below 5 and including English SL5, Maths/Maths Studies HL5) |
| HNC/HND | Relevant HNC/HND, A in Graded Units; for advice on entry to Year 2, contact Business School Admissions: |
| International students | View the entry requirements for your country. |
| Deferred entry | Not normally accepted. |
*Standard entry requirements
Offers are made in accordance with specified entry requirements although admission to undergraduate programmes is considered on a competitive basis and entry requirements stated are normally the minimum level required for entry.
Whilst offers are made primarily on the basis of an applicant meeting or exceeding the stated entry criteria, admission to the University is granted on the basis of merit, and the potential to succeed. As such, a range of information is considered in determining suitability.
In exceptional cases, where an applicant does not meet the competitive entry standard, evidence may be sought in the personal statement or reference to account for performance which was affected by exceptional circumstances, and which in the view of the judgement of the selector would give confidence that the applicant is capable of completing the programme of study successfully.
**Minimum entry requirements
Contextual Admissions for Widening Access
We want to increase opportunities for people from every background.
Strathclyde selects our students based on merit, potential, and the ability to benefit from the education we offer. We look for more than just your grades. We consider the circumstances of your education and will make lower offers to certain applicants as a result.
University preparation programme for international students
We offer international students (non-UK/Ireland) who do not meet the academic entry requirements for an undergraduate degree at Strathclyde the option of completing an Undergraduate Foundation Programme in Business and Social Sciences at the University of Strathclyde International Study Centre.
Upon successful completion, you can progress to your chosen degree at the University of Strathclyde.
International students
We've a thriving international community with students coming here to study from over 140 countries across the world. Find out all you need to know about studying in Glasgow at Strathclyde and hear from students about their experiences.
Fees & funding
All fees quoted are for full-time courses and per academic year unless stated otherwise.
Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.
All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.
Annual revision of fees
Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that the majority of fees will increase annually. The University will take a range of factors into account, including, but not limited to, UK inflation, changes in delivery costs and changes in Scottish and/or UK Government funding. Changes in fees will be published on the University website in October each year for the following year of study and any annual increase will be capped at a maximum of 10% per year.
| Scotland | To be confirmed. Fees for students who meet the relevant residence requirements in Scotland are subject to confirmation by the Scottish Funding Council. Scottish undergraduate students undertaking an exchange for a semester/year will continue to pay their normal tuition fees at Strathclyde and will not be charged fees by the overseas institution. |
|---|---|
| England, Wales & Northern Ireland | To be confirmed subject to confirmation by the UK government. |
| Republic of Ireland |
If you are an Irish citizen and have been ordinary resident in the Republic of Ireland for the three years prior to the relevant date, and will be coming to Scotland for Educational purposes only, you will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status. For more information and advice on tuition fee status, you can visit the UKCISA - International student advice and guidance - Scotland: fee status webpage. Find out more about the University of Strathclyde's fee assessments process. |
| International | £21,550 |
| University preparation programme fees | International students can find out more about the costs and payments of studying a university preparation programme at the University of Strathclyde International Study Centre. |
| Additional costs | International studentsInternational students may have associated visa and immigration costs. Please see student visa guidance for more information. AccountingCourse materials & costsTextbooks do vary in price from around £40 to £100. The majority are provided free in the library or via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) platform. For budgeting purposes, we recommend allowing £200 per academic year for books. Other costsStudents may be required to make hardcopy submissions for some assignments and will cover the cost of printing. Students are required to print and bind their dissertation. The cost will depend on the length of dissertation but an average cost would be in the region of £40. Graduation gown hire. Study abroadTypically, the cost of one semester abroad could be between £6,500 to £8,500 depending on the destination, currency exchange rates and lifestyle choices. Tuition fees are not paid to the exchange institution but continue to be paid to Strathclyde University in the usual way, however students are responsible for their own travel and living expenses i.e. flights, insurance, visa application, vaccinations/associated medical costs, accommodation, food, textbooks etc. Students are eligible to apply for a student loan as usual but must let the award agency (e.g. SAAS) know that they will be studying or working overseas on a compulsory exchange. Students may be eligible for external funding however this is not guaranteed; the University of Strathclyde will continue to participate in the Erasmus programme until May 2023 however are also participating in UK’S Turing Scheme. The Turing Scheme offer contribution towards living costs for students undertaking work or study abroad as part of their degree and is calculated based on length of placement and living costs at destination. Students with an exchange place outside Europe are eligible to apply to the Neil Hood Memorial Fund for a scholarship. Full details of the application process are provided to all eligible students. Other scholarship opportunities may be available through the Alumni & Development department. Human Resource ManagementCourse materials & CostsStudents are encouraged to purchase the core textbook for each HRM module but copies are also available in the University library. (Approximate cost £40-50 per textbook) Other costsStudents are responsible for costs of printing and binding of final project (approx £50). |
| Available scholarships | Take a look at our scholarships search for funding opportunities. |
Please note: All fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year. Find out more about fees.
How can I fund my studies?
Students from Scotland
Fees for students who meet the relevant residence requirements in Scotland, you may be able to apply to the Student Award Agency Scotland (SAAS) to have your tuition fees paid by the Scottish government. Scottish students may also be eligible for a bursary and loan to help cover living costs while at University.
For more information on funding your studies have a look at our University Funding page.
Students from England, Wales & Northern Ireland
We have a generous package of bursaries on offer for students from England, Northern Ireland and Wales:
You don’t need to make a separate application for these. When your place is confirmed at Strathclyde, we’ll assess your eligibility. Take a look at our scholarships search for funding opportunities.
International Students
We have a number of scholarships available to international students. Take a look at our scholarship search to find out more.
Glasgow is Scotland's biggest & most cosmopolitan city
Our campus is based right in the very heart of Glasgow. We're in the city centre, next to the Merchant City, both of which are great locations for sightseeing, shopping and socialising alongside your studies.
Careers
The majority of study combinations of this course leads to a fully-accredited degree, allowing you to train for membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
Many of our accounting graduates go onto qualify as Chartered Accountants through one of the major accounting bodies (ICAS, ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA and CIPFA).
Accounting graduates find jobs as trainee accountants, auditors and tax trainees. Employers include Santander, Ernst & Young and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, HBOS, KPMG and Morgan Stanley.
A degree in Human Resource Management from Strathclyde is greatly valued by employers. Our HRM graduates find jobs in insurance, retail, manufacturing, recruitment consultancy and in the public sector. Some are employed in jobs such as HR trainee, HR assistant and recruitment consultant whilst others are employed in general administration and management.
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Accounting & Human Resource Management (1 year entry)
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Accounting & Human Resource Management (1 year entry)
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Accounting & Human Resource Management (2 year entry)
Start date: Sep 2025
Accounting & Human Resource Management (1 year entry)
Start date:
Accounting & Human Resource Management (1 year entry)
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