MSc Finance

Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.

• Accounting and Finance
• Business and Management

We require a First or Upper Second class honours degree (2:1, with 60% average) from a UK university or the overseas equivalent. 

You need a degree in finance or economics. You must have taken a significant number of finance and quantitative courses during your degree (accounting is not considered to be finance). You must be taking a major or specialisation in finance in your final year and need to achieve top-level results in final year finance subjects. You must also demonstrate a solid background in quantitative skills, econometrics or maths.

Applicants studying degrees in business administration can be considered but must be able to demonstrate a very strong background in finance throughout their degree and a final year major or specialisation in finance (as outlined above). Due to competition for places, we give preference to applicants with a bachelor degree in finance or economics. Applicants studying degrees in mathematics, statistics, physics, engineering, actuarial or decision sciences might wish to consider our MSc Quantitative Finance course. You will need to submit a new application for this programme online.

A GMAT/GRE is not required to apply for this course but in some cases The Admissions Team may request this after the initial review of your application if your degree does not contain enough relevant quantitative modules.

For the latest information on demonstrating your English proficiency for those whose first language is not English, please see our language requirements . 

Some English Language test results are only valid for two years. Your English Language test report must be valid on the start date of the course.

We accept a range of qualifications from different countries. For these and general requirements see entry requirements for your country .

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £22,600
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £37,800

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

Learn more about - student finance options for UK students.

Learn more about - fees and finance for international students.

Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

We operate a staged admissions process for this course, see more information on how to apply and our deadlines.

Tuition fee deposits

If you are successful in receiving an offer, you will be required to pay a tuition fee deposit of £2,500 by the deadline stated in your offer letter to confirm your place. We ask for the deposit as competition for places is high and there is limited availability. The deposit amount is then deducted from your tuition fees when you register on the course.

We can only process applications with the following documents:

• valid English language qualification
• first and second year transcript (scanned copies are accepted at the time of application)
• list of final year modules (where possible this should be included within the same document as your first and second year transcript)
• statement of purpose (this is included as part of your application form, you do not need to email your statement of purpose directly to the Admissions Team) 

To defer your offer to the following year, you must contact your admission officer for a copy of the deferral form.  You can only defer your offer for one year.

If you applied in the previous year and your application was not successful you may apply again. Your application will be considered against the standard course entry criteria for that year of entry. In your new application you should demonstrate how your application has improved. We may draw upon all information from your previous applications or any previous registrations at the University as a student when assessing your suitability for your chosen course.

During the course you will be taking 180 credits in all.The eight taught units during semester one and twototal 120 credits and consists of both compulsory and optional taught units which can be viewed in the list below.

Over the summer period, you will carry out your Research Dissertation, worth 60 credits. Examples of recent Finance dissertation project topics include:

• Financial reporting regulation
• Debt IPOs, adviser switching, contracting, governance, performance and venture capital backing
• Can exchange rates forecast macroeconomic fundamentals?
• Over-allocation and stabilisation of initial public offerings (IPOs)
• The Risk-return Tradeoff in Canada
• Forecasting Shanghai Composite Index Return in China
• Estimating and forecasting realized variance of cryptocurrency
• Speed of Adjustments in Cash Holdings: Evidence in the UK
• Long-term Stock Return Effect of Repurchasing Transactions
• The Relation between Stock Return and Volatility in the UK Market
• The Risk-return Tradeoff in Canada
• The Hedging effectiveness and risk strategies of natural gas producer in US

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

Worshipful Company of International Bankers Affiliation
Our accounting and finance division courses are affiliated with the Worshipful Company of International Bankers (WCIB). Every year the best dissertation out of the following four courses will receive the WCIB Prize worth £300.

• MSc Accounting
• MSc Accounting and Finance
• MSc Finance
• MSc Quantitative Finance

The winner will also enter the competition for the prestigious WCIB Lombard Prize . 

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk

The course conforms to the present ESRC guidelines for Masters degrees and has ESRC recognition as a postgraduate training year in preparation for undertaking a PhD . 

The course has partnership with the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute.