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1. Admissions/ Management Information
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Title of the new programme – including any year abroad/ in industry variants

See guidance on programme titles in Appendix V:
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https://www.york.ac.uk/media/staffhome/learningandteaching/documents/policies/Framework%20for%20Programme%20Design%20-%20UG.pdf
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BSc (Hons) Finance, Operations Research, Management and Statistics (FORMS)
BSc (Hons) Finance, Operations Research, Management and Statistics (FORMS) with a year in industry
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Level of qualification
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Please select:Level 6
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Please indicate if the programme is offered with any year abroad / in industry variants Year in Industry
Please select Y/N		Yes
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Year Abroad
Please select Y/N		No
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This document applies to students who commenced the programme(s) in:2020
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Awarding institutionTeaching institution
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University of York University of York
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Department(s):
Where more than one department is involved, indicate the lead department		Board of Studies
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Lead Department The York Management School
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Other contributing Departments: Department of Mathematics
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Interim awards available Interim awards available on undergraduate programmes (subject to programme regulations) will normally be: Certificate of Higher Education (Level 4/Certificate), Diploma of Higher Education (Level 5/Intermediate), Ordinary Degree and in the case of Integrated Masters the Bachelors with honours. Please specify any proposed exceptions to this norm.
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UCAS codeRoute code
(existing programmes only)
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Admissions criteria
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We require an A-level qualification of AAB (including A in mathematics) or equivalent. Relevant work experience may compensate for applicants with lower academic qualifications.

Students whose first degree was not taught in English should also have an appropriate English language qualification. Minimum acceptable qualifications are IELTS 6.5 with a minimum score of 6.0 in each component.
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Length and status of the programme(s) and mode(s) of study
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ProgrammeLength (years) Status (full-time/part-time)
Please select		Start dates/months
(if applicable – for programmes that have multiple intakes or start dates that differ from the usual academic year)		Mode
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Face-to-face, campus-basedDistance learningOther
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BSc. FORMS3Full-timePlease select Y/NYesPlease select Y/NNo
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Language(s) of study
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English
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Language(s) of assessment
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English
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2. Programme accreditation by Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Bodies (PSRB)
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2.a. Is the programme recognised or accredited by a PSRB
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Please Select Y/N: Noif No move to section 3
if Yes complete the following questions
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2.b. Name of PSRB
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2.c. Please provide details of any approval / accreditation event needed, including: timescales, the nature of the event, central support / information required:
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(max 200 words)
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2.d. Does/ will approval or recognition require exceptions to University rules/practices?
Please select Y/N		if Yes, provide details
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(max 200 words)
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2.e. Any additional information (e.g. student attainment required to achieve accreditation) that are required by the PSRB should be recorded here
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(max 200 words)
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3. Additional Professional or Vocational Standards
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Are there any additional requirements of accrediting bodies or PSRB or pre-requisite professional experience needed to study this programme?
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Please Select Y/N: Noif Yes, provide details
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(max 200 words)
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4. Programme leadership and programme team
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4.a. Please name the programme leader for the year to which the programme design applies and any key members of staff responsible for designing, maintaining and overseeing the programme.
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Nick Huberts Programme Leader
Jacco Thijssen, jacco.thijssen@york.ac.uk, Ext. 5004, The York Management School
Ian McIntosh, ian.mcintosh@york.ac.uk, Ext 3094, Department of Mathematics
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4.b. How are wider stakeholders such as students/ alumni, professional bodies and employers involved in the design of the programme and in ongoing reflection on its effectiveness?
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The PLOs have been approved by members of TYMS - BoS - and members of the Department of Mathematics - Ian Mackintosh. The programme map has been shared and refined with lecturers involved in Stage 1 and Stage 2. Students on the programme will be consulted regularly and their feedback will be taken into account as they move through the programme so that they become partners in the process of developing the York Pedagogy approach for Finance and Operational Research.
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5. Purpose and learning outcomes of the programme
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5.a. Statement of purpose for applicants to the programme
Please express succinctly the overall aims of the programme as an applicant facing statement for a prospectus or website. This should clarify to a prospective student why they should choose this programme, what it will provide to them and what benefits they will gain from completing it.
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The BSc degree in Finance, Operational Research, Management and Statistics (FORMS) from York will develop your mathematical, statistical, financial and operations skills to a level that will give you an excellent platform to apply your knowledge as a quantitative business analyst. In the course of the degree, your mathematical skills (calculus, linear algebra, probability and statistics) will be developed to a high level of sophistication, and your mathematical and statistical reasoning will be sharpened. In parallel, you will learn in depth about the business context in which business analysts and operations managers work by working on real-life cases in various modules, through the study of economics, finance and accounting. By the end, you will be a multi-faceted and highly employable graduate with the ability to formulate, implement, analyse and criticise complex operational and financial models, to deploy them in the real world and to communicate their results to stakeholders. Throughout the programme you will be guided by dedicated staff, many of whom are leading international researchers in their fields. The unique balance of the programme, combining the strengths of both The York Management School and the Department of Mathematics, together with York's reputation as a top Russell Group university, make the BSc. FORMS an outstanding choice. While many graduates will go on to become operations managers and business analysts, the skills acquired will also be readily applicable to many other careers that call for an advanced mathematics degree and problem-solving ability.
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5.b.Programme Learning Outcomes
Please provide six to eight statements of what a graduate of the programme can be expected to do.
Taken together, these outcomes should capture the distinctive features of the programme. They should also be outcomes for which progressive achievement through the course of the programme can be articulated, and which will therefore be reflected in the design of the whole programme.
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PLOOn successful completion of the programme, graduates will be able to:
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1Formulate mathematical models to describe operational and financial risks, apply these models to problems in the real world and reflect critically on model assumptions and limitations.
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2Deploy the methods of logical reasoning and the techniques of mathematical problem solving to analyse the properties and consequences of financial and operational models.
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3Apply economic, financial and accounting knowledge in an operational context to develop modelling solutions that are informed by financial theory and reflect business and managerial realities.
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4Use the techniques of mathematical statistics to draw inferences from the application of operational and financial models to data and quantify the uncertainty in these inferences.
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5Apply advanced data-analytical, computational and programming skills to the implementation of operational and financial models.
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6Communicate the results and insights of operational and financial analyses to stakeholders with differing levels of quantitative expertise.
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7Operate as an effecitve manager by maintaining awareness of key ethical issues, continuing to deepen and expand their knowledge and recognising how operational and financial practice impacts on stakeholders and society.
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5.c. Programme Learning Outcome for year in industry (where applicable)
For programmes which lead to the title ‘with a Year in Industry’ – typically involving an additional year – please provide either a) amended versions of some (at least one, but not necessarily all) of the standard PLOs listed above, showing how these are changed and enhanced by the additional year in industry b) an additional PLO, if and only if it is not possible to capture a key ability developed by the year in industry by alteration of the standard PLOs. (See also section 10)
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7b: Recognise and take account of commercial factors which impinge on the work of operational and financial managers and operate in the professional arena by maintaining awareness of key ethical and legal issues, continuing to deepen and expand their knowledge and recognising how their practice impacts on stakeholders and society.
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5.d. Programme Learning Outcome for year abroad programmes (where applicable)
For programmes which lead to the title ‘with a Year Abroad’ – typically involving an additional year – please provide either a) amended versions of some (at least one, but not necessarily all) of the standard PLOs listed above, showing how these are changed and enhanced by the additional year abroad or b) an additional PLO, if and only if it is not possible to capture a key ability developed by the year abroad by alteration of the standard PLOs. (See also section 11)
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The same 7 PLO's as above plus the following PLO: - Ability to use the intercultural understanding/awareness developed during the year abroad to adapt to culturally different management situations, to deal with people of other cultures, and to adjust and apply marketing theory and concepts to solve real-world marketing problems in different cultural contexts.
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5.e. Explanation of the choice of Programme Learning Outcomes
Please explain your rationale for choosing these PLOs in a statement that can be used for students (such as in a student handbook). Please include brief reference to:
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i) Why the PLOs are considered ambitious or stretching?
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The PLOSs are ambitious because they attempt to address the whole process of operational and financial modeling in the business context. The ideal quantitative financial or operational manager can take a model through a process that involves many steps involving conception, analysis, calibration, implementation, criticism, refinement, presentation to peers, management and clients until it is fit to be used as the basis for decision making in a commercial context. Through each stage the level of challenge is raised, as more depth or complexity is encountered; this is natural in a subject with an applied mathematical core where each stage builds naturally on the attainments of the previous one, as foundational ideas are developed into fully fledged theories or methodologies.
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ii) The ways in which these outcomes are distinctive or particularly advantageous to the student:
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The distinctiveness of the learning outcomes is that they correspond to the distinctive skill set of the quantitative financial or operational manager, which comprises translating managerial problems into models, the capacity to solve these models and to translate these results back. The combination of high-level mathematical and stochastic modelling skills with in-depth financial, economic and accounting knowledge forms the foundation for any career that relates to the quantitative understanding of financial risk and uncertainty. The outcomes are also distinctive in comparison with other UK programmes; the joint delivery of the York programme by TYMS and Mathematics offers a uniquely balanced approach to covering quantitative and non-quantitative aspects of the financial and operational manager's skill set.
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iii) How the programme learning outcomes develop students’ digital literacy and use technology-enhanced learning to achieve the discipline and pedagogic goals which support active student learning through peer/tutor interaction, collaboration and formative (self) assessment opportunities (reference could be made to such as blogging, flipped classrooms, response 'clickers' in lectures, simulations, etc).
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The communication elements require students to master digital literacy for visual presentations and for producing coursework. In addition, all students will learn some programming, and a number of modules include the opportunity to use mathematics and statistics software (particularly R).
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iv) How the PLOs support and enhance the students’ employability (for example, opportunities for students to apply their learning in a real world setting)?
The programme's employability objectives should be informed by the University's Employability Strategy:
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http://www.york.ac.uk/about/departments/support-and-admin/careers/staff/
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The PLOs are very much in line with the attributes of a model professional quantitative analyst or manager. A graduate of the programme who rises fully to the challenge of the PLOs will have skills and knowledge that is directly applicable to a career in the financial industry or that will facilitate a career in the financial industry or something around will put a graduate in a strong position when seeking a career in the financial industry. These skills are also highly valued in other careers. The four-year programme with a year in industry offers the opportunity to apply learning in a real-world setting.
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v) Consultation with Careers
The programme proposal should be discussed with Careers. Please contact your Faculty Employability Manager.
Please provide details of Careers' comments and your response.
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Some more details were required for three particular sections. This has now been provided.
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vi) How will students who need additional support for academic and transferable skills be identified and supported by the Department?
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Via the disability/student support services procedures and statements of needs, with the oversight of the Disability Coordinators in the two departments (TYMS and Maths) and each student's academic supervisor.
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vii) How is teaching informed and led by research in the department/ centre/ University?
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The vast majority of teaching staff are active in research, and through lectures, tutorials and seminars communicate the influence foundational ideas have on making progress in research. Students also explicitly connect with research in management and finance through some of the final-year modules delivered by TYMS which are available to them.
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5.f. Stage-level progression
Please complete the table below, to summarise students’ progressive development towards the achievement of PLOs, in terms of the characteristics that you expect students to demonstrate at the end of each year. This summary may be particularly helpful to students and the programme team where there is a high proportion of option modules.

Note: it is not expected that a position statement is written for each PLO, but this can be done if preferred (please add information in the 'individual statement' boxes). For a statement that applies across all PLOs in the stage fill in the 'Global statement' box.
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Stage 0 (if your programme has a Foundation year, use the toggles to the left to show the hidden rows)
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Stage 1
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On progression from the first year (Stage 1), students will be able to:
Global statement
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PLO 1PLO 2PLO 3PLO 4PLO 5PLO 6PLO 7PLO 8
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apply standard models and methods learnt in modules in unfamiliar situations and state underlying assumptionsuse fundamental mathematical methods from the areas of differential calculus, linear algebra, probability and mathematical statistics to solve problemsexplain macroeconomic theories, fundamental accounting principles and interpret financial statements of companiesuse basic statistical inference procedures including parameter estimation, confidence intervals and hypothesis testingconfidently use the statistical package R for elementary data analysis; understand the data sources for macroeconomics and the preparation of financial statementscommunicate elementary mathematical, statistical, accounting and economic ideas clearly and conciselydescribe the stakeholders involved in financial organisations and the business and economic environment in which they operate
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Stage 2
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On progression from the second year (Stage 2), students will be able to:Global statement
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PLO 1PLO 2PLO 3PLO 4PLO 5PLO 6PLO 7PLO 8
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formulate financial and operational models to describe key concepts like interest rates, state transitions, linear programming and describe assumptions and limitationsargue deductively with mathematical rigour and apply more advanced mathematical methods to analyse model properties and solve problemsapply more advanced financial concepts, including ideas from corporate finance and portfolio selection, and more advanced accounting techniqueswork confidently with a wider range of statistical inference procedures understand and be able to explain when it is appropriate to use particular methods or models covered in the syllabusapply more complex models and statistical procedures to realistic datasets using R and write programs to process data or extend the scope of modellingexplain clearly the concepts underlying key operational and financial models and present the results and conclusions of analyses that use these modelsdiscuss open-ended issues arising in the commercial context which may include (depending on choice of options) exercise of judgement in accounting, the measurement of performance, the implementation of strategy and the role of ethics
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Stage 3
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(For Integrated Masters) On progression from the third year (Stage 3), students will be able to:Global statement
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PLO 1PLO 2PLO 3PLO 4PLO 5PLO 6PLO 7PLO 8
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Individual statements
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5.g. Other features of the programme
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i) Distance Learning
Does the programme involve distance learning:
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Please Select Y/N: Noif Yes, you are required to submit to Teaching Committee:
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Checklist for Distance Learning Programmes