A young female university student in professional attire working at multiple screens displaying financial market data on a modern trading floor, with colleagues visible in the background, representing the financial services environment of Banking degrees

DEGREE GUIDE

Banking

What do Banking degrees involve?

Banking degrees teach you how financial institutions operate, how money moves through the economy, and how to manage financial risk. You will explore key areas such as financial markets, investment banking, risk management, corporate finance, and banking regulations. These courses help you develop strong analytical, numerical, and problem-solving skills while understanding how banks support businesses, individuals, and global economies. You will also learn about financial technology (FinTech), ethical banking, and economic policy. With opportunities for industry placements, real-world financial projects, and professional accreditation, you’ll gain practical experience that prepares you for careers in commercial and investment banking, financial consultancy, and risk analysis.

Example
Modules

Financial Accounting: Learn how financial statements are prepared, analysed and interpreted to assess company performance and support financial decision-making.

Principles of Finance: Explore key financial concepts including interest rates, risk and return, and how future cash flows are used to make investment decisions.

Corporate Finance: Study how firms raise capital, make investment choices and manage profits to maximise value and support long-term growth.

Common Degree Names

💼 Placement years are widely available.
🌍 Study abroad is offered at some universities.

BSc (Hons) Banking and Finance
BSc (Hons) Banking
BA (Hons) Financial Services
BSc (Hons) Economics and Banking
BSc (Hons) Investment and Banking

Banking degrees are usually offered as BSc, but some BA routes are available with more emphasis on financial services or economics.

Banking software showing loan portfolio analysis and credit risk metrics alongside financial regulations handbooks, rate sheets and monetary policy documents, illustrating the lending, compliance and financial analysis skills developed in Banking degrees

Level 3 (A-level / IB Diploma (HL) / Scottish Highers)

Banking degrees prepare you to understand how financial institutions work – from lending to risk management. Universities look for students comfortable with numbers, though specific subject requirements are usually flexible.

Subjects that could strengthen your application:

Maths – highly recommended and often required
Economics or Business Studies – useful for markets and finance
Further Maths or Statistics – valuable for quantitative courses
Accounting or Computer Science – helpful supporting subjects

✨ Maths is the key subject and keeps the widest range of Banking courses open for you.

Universities may also accept:

BTEC Extended Diplomas in Business, some courses may also ask for A-level Maths
BTEC National Extended Certificates or National Diplomas alongside relevant A-Level subjects
T-Levels in Accounting or Finance
IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) with at least two IB Higher Level subjects (ideally three - see relevant subjects above) alongside your Career-Related Study; a Business or Finance pathway would be directly relevant

Entry requirements can vary depending on how mathematical the course is; always check the specific subjects and entry criteria on each university’s website.

Level 2 Qualifications (GCSE / MYP / National 5)

Most courses ask for:

GCSE English Language and Maths at grade 4/C or above, or equivalents such as National 5s or MYP

📘 Many programmes prefer a stronger grade in GCSE (or equivalent) Maths (5/B or above), as Banking involves data, risk, and numerical analysis.

💬 Interviews

Formal interviews aren't usually part of the application process. However, some universities may invite you for a short conversation, either online or in person, to learn more about your interest in the subject.

🔍 Work Experience

Not required, but any experience involving money, customer service, or numeracy can be valuable. This could include a part-time retail or hospitality job, helping with finances for a club or society, or simply managing your own budget. You don't need formal finance experience—what matters is showing an interest in how financial systems work.

✨ Personal Statement Tips

What draws you to the world of banking and financial services? Whether it's retail banking, investment banking, wealth management, or how financial systems work globally, thinking about which aspects interest you helps you choose what to include in your statement. If you've followed financial news, explored how banks operate, or thought about the role finance plays in the economy, reflect on what sparked your curiosity. Reading about how banking has changed, listening to podcasts about financial markets, or exploring current debates about the industry can show genuine engagement. Admissions tutors want to see you understand banking involves complex decisions and responsibilities, not just an attraction to a well-paid career.

If your qualifications don't match the usual entry requirements, there are some other possibilities.

🌱 Foundation Year in Business or Finance

Some universities offer a foundation year if you don't have the required subjects or grades. This adds an extra year but leads directly into the full degree.

🎓 Access to HE Diploma (Business or Finance)

Accepted by universities offering Banking degrees. Choose a pathway with units in accounting, economics or statistics, and aim for strong results in your graded units.

💼 Level 3 Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships such as Financial Services Administrator or Assistant Accountant carry UCAS tariff points from 2026 and can support a university application, particularly when combined with a foundation year.

Is this degree right for you?

Members can explore whether this degree fits who they are:

Skills you'd develop and whether they match your strengths
How this aligns with your interests, motivators and values
Career paths and where graduates end up

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Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Use the tabs to explore the kind of person that this would be a good fit for. Do you share the Interests, Motivations, Values, Work identity and skills that people who thrive in this course tend to have?

Not sure what these things are? Explore your Identity Tree with us first.

Interests that connect well with a Banking degree

Students who enjoy this degree often share these interests. You don't need to feel strongly about all of them, and interests develop over time. If one or two catch your curiosity, or sound like something you'd like to know more about, that's a good sign.

Money, Markets & How Economies Work: The degree is built around understanding how financial institutions operate: how banks manage money, how capital flows through the economy, and how financial markets, central banks, and regulatory systems keep the financial system functioning.

Mathematics, Patterns & Data: Quantitative analysis runs through the degree. You'll use statistical techniques and modelling tools to analyse financial data, assess investment risk, and interpret market trends, working with real datasets and industry-standard software throughout your studies.

Students who thrive in a Banking degree are often motivated by

Commercial Ambition

You're energised by the work of building commercial success: spotting opportunities others miss, thinking through how to position a product or service in a market, working out how to grow an organisation, and making the strategic decisions that move things forward. You're drawn to the challenge of turning a good idea into something that thrives commercially, whether that's a product, a service, or a whole company. The competitive side of business engages rather than tires you.

Financial Achievement

You're energised by earning well and building wealth: setting financial targets, working hard to reach them, and feeling the satisfaction when you do. Financial goals give shape to your effort and pull you to push further. The tangible rewards of financial success matter to you: security, independence, the freedom to make choices. They matter not just as outcomes, but as evidence that the work is paying off.

Trends and Pattern-Spotting

You're energised by noticing what's changing before others do, whether that's emerging cultural trends, shifts in data, new technologies gaining traction, or patterns in behaviour. You find energy in predicting what's coming next and understanding why things are moving in a particular direction. You're drawn to the signals others overlook, and you'd rather be early to the question than late to the answer.

Analysing and Investigating

You're energised by making sense of information, looking for evidence, spotting patterns, and piecing together how things connect. Whether it's pulling apart data, questioning assumptions, or tracing a problem back to its source, you find energy in the process of understanding what's really going on. You'd rather dig into the details than accept things at face value.

Decision-Making and Responsibility

You're energised by being the person who makes the call: weighing up options, choosing between difficult alternatives, and standing behind the decision once it's made. You don't need to manage people to feel this; what you want is to be making consequential choices yourself rather than executing other people's. The weight of being the decider, including when things go wrong, feels like a challenge you rise to rather than a burden you avoid.

Working Internationally

You're energised by work that crosses borders and connects you with people from different countries, backgrounds, and systems. That might be collaborating with international colleagues, working in a place that isn't your own, using another language professionally, or tackling problems that don't stop at a single country's borders. You come alive when the work you're doing reaches beyond your own patch of the world.

What makes Banking click for the students who love it?

Some people want to understand the machinery the rest of us never see: how money moves around the world, and who decides where it goes. Banking sits at the centre of that system, where a choice in one institution is felt in markets across the planet. They're commercially driven and keen to earn well, but what marks them out is a fascination with how it all works: how banks handle risk, how regulation sets the limits, how new technology keeps changing the rules. They want to be close to the decisions that matter.

These are the skills that students who love this degree tend to enjoy using. You don't need to be great at them already, but if they sound like you, that's a good sign.

Skill Name

Skills that suit this degree

You don't need to be great at these already — but if you enjoy using them or want to get better at them, that's a good sign.

Do you find yourself curious about how banks and financial systems actually work — not just using them, but understanding what happens behind the scenes?
Do you enjoy working with data and numbers to figure out patterns, risks, or what might happen next?
Do you like the idea of making big decisions that need to balance risk against opportunity — where getting it right really matters?
Do you tend to notice when something doesn't look right in the details, and want to understand why?

Careers a Banking degree could lead you to

Banking

What do Banking degrees involve?

Example Modules

Common Degree Names

Is this degree right for you?

Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Careers a Banking degree could lead you to

Example
Modules