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1. Admissions/ Management Information
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Title of the programme – including any lower awards
Please provide the titles used for all awards relating to this programme. Note: all programmes are required to have at least a Postgraduate Certificate exit award.
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Masters MSc Project Analysis, Finance and Investment
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Postgraduate Diploma N/APlease indicate if the Postgraduate Diploma is available as an entry point, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.N/A
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Postgraduate Certificate PGCert Project Analysis, Finance and InvestmentPlease indicate if the Postgraduate Certificate is available as an entry points, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.Exit
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Level of qualificationLevel 7
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This document applies to students who commenced the programme(s) in:2022/23
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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 Economics and Related Studies GSB in Economics
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Other contributing Departments: N/A
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Route code
(existing programmes only)		PMPAFSINV1
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Admissions criteria
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Minimum entry criterion is the equivalent of an upper-second class degree primarily in Economics from a UK university. Competence in computing and experience in financial industry is advantageous and can compensate for a lack of formal training or recency. Overseas candidates need a good command of English, e.g. IELTS grade 6.5.
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Length and status of the programme(s) and mode(s) of study
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ProgrammeLength (years/ months) 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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MSc Project Analysis, Finance and Investment1 yearFull-timeN/APlease select Y/NYesPlease select Y/NNo
In time for the start of the academic year 2021/22, we returned to in-person teaching activities as we know it is a really important part of our campus-based courses. We will be continuing with that approach going forward into 2022/23, and beyond.
Even before the Covid pandemic, we used a combination of in-person and online learning, and we will continue to do this across teaching activities, especially as student feedback welcomes the flexibility of this approach and ease of access.
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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: Yesif No move to section 3
if Yes complete the following questions
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2.b. Name of PSRB
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1. Institute of Chartered Financial analysts. The CFA is a global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for excellence in the industry. The accreditations has been obtained on the basis of compliance of large part of the PAFI sylabus with CFA curriculum. CFA should be notified about any major change in the PAFI program provision.
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2.c. Please provide details of any approval/ accrediation event needed, including: timecales, the nature of the event, central support / information required:
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None
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2.d. Are there any conditions on the approval/ accreditation of the programme(s)/ graduates (for example accreditation only for the full award and not any interim award)
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The CFA accreditation serves primarily informative purposes, signifying that large part of the MSc PAFI program is aligned with CFA curriculum. There is no discount for CFA exam, but the directors of MSc PAFI and MSc Finance can award three students (jointly) the CFA scholarships in the form of patial reduction from the CFA examination fee.
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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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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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Adam Golinski
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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 Masters 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 masters 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 aim of the MSc PAFI programme is to equip you with analytical skills in economics and finance, and develop digital skills that are required for a successful career as an investment analyst, financial adviser, project manager or consultant. The programme is designed to show you how to put the latest academic thinking and business strategies into practice. You can customise your degree through modules options, which allow you to meet your personal career ambitions in fields as diverse as the corporate environment, the public sector or financial research. The PAFI programme also enables you to conduct advanced research work in finance, which could be useful if you wish to continue your studies towards a PhD degree. The programme is accredited by CFA, which offers multiple benefits if you wish to gain further professional recognition, including the opportunity to compete for a number of scholarships.
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5.a.i Statement of purpose for applicants registering for the Postgraduate Diploma 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 diploma 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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N/A
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5.b.i. Programme Learning Outcomes - Masters
Please provide six to eight statements of what a graduate of the Masters programme will be able to do.
If the document only covers a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma please specify four to six PLO statements in the sections 5.b.ii and 5.b.iii as appropriate.
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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1Explain and understand the methods of logical and mathematical reasoning used by finance professionals and researchers to formulate and solve analytical problems, such as: finding and evaluating investment projects, making financial and investment decision, pricing financial assets and assessing and managing risk. [Deductive reasoning: Investment and Project Analysis]
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2Engage with the key analytical approaches and the major current research problems through formulating economic or financial models in a suitable form for data analysis, examine these models and provide robust economic and financial forecasting and counter-factual analysis to inform policy makers or private sector clients. [Logical and mathematical reasoning]
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3Identify the research methods and models relevant to particular problems in economics, finance and investment in learned journals and other media. Thoroughly understand the limitations of such models and how an allowance can be made for these weaknesses in practice. [Deductive reasoning: Finance and Economics]
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4Read and understand important contemporary contributions in finance and investment in learned journals and be able to interpret them in a critical way, and not only grasp economics headlines but also explain them to laymen. Be capble of skillfully identifying relevant literature through digital technology such as Internet and academic research databases. [Review research literature]
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5Use statistical, econometric and computer-based techniques for analysing data in developing and testing economic and financial models and in economic and financial forecasting and exercise judgement in describing the results. [Econometric analysis]
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6Formulate a research proposal, identify a testable hypothesis, select the methodology appropriate to test it and carry out the proposed research efficiently and to a deadline with minimal supervision, to effectively communicate persuasive findings. [Apply all PLOs 1-5 & 7 skills to projects]
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7Have developed the digital literacy skills to locate, compile and present economic and financial data and demonstrate a thorough appreciation of their strengths and weaknesses. [Review research literature/ Communications]
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5.c. 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) ... in what way will these PLOs result in an ambitious, challenging programme which stretches the students?
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The PLOs reflect the ambitious aim of the programme, which is to equip students with the best skills available for understanding the economic world and the operation of financial markets. The programme and modules offered present a high standard of tuition which is competitive against the best competitor programmes in the UK and around the world.
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ii) ... in what way will these PLOs produce a programme which is distinctive and advantageous to the student?
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They give the student access to a set of analytical and digital skills to address economic and financial problems in the real world and to communicate their findings. By combining theory and empirical evidence, the programme offers advanced and comprehensive training which is valued by the wide range of employers of our graduates around the world as well as those recruiting into doctoral programmes. The various skills that the students acquire is valued by the wide range of employers of our graduates around the world. The diverse make up of our staff means that they are exposed to a variety of different accents, as they would be in the modern workplace. The PLOs are designed to help students gain confidence through problem-solving and discussion, and their learning is assessed through examination and the writing of a 10,000 word dissertation.
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iii) ... how the design of the programme enables students from diverse entry routes to transition successfully into the programme? For example, how does the organisation of the programme ensure solid foundations in disciplinary knowledge and understanding of conventions, language skills, mathematics and statistics skills, writing skills, lab skills, academic integrity
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The student base for this programme is diverse by country as well as by first degree. All enter with the equivalent of an upper second class degree with a significant element of economics, mathematics and statistics. Some have a significant background in finance. Students with weaker economics and mathematics foundations are required to participate in the economics and statistics summer sessions that provide the necessary base for the programme. All receive an initial maths and stats review before the programme starts to help reduce the impact of heterogeneity of background. The core modules in the Autumn term deliver the key components of economics (Applied Microeconomics), finance (Investment and Portfolio Management, Fixed Income Securities), and econometrics which are then further developed in other modules. The students are encouraged to construct workgroups to work together on solving problems for seminars and for understanding the material taught. In addition to the help that they receive in the office hours of their teachers, the students are also directed towards the Maths Skills Centre to fill gaps in their mathematics and statistics background. A special feature of the York programme is the availability of the Summer Session for students who, in the opinion of the Graduate School, have the ability to successfully complete the one-year Masters programme, but whose background is not a first degree in economics or with a significant economics content. Such candidates may possess a relevant professional qualification, a degree in another social science, or a science or engineering degree with a high quantitative and analytical content. The Summer Session is also available as a free-standing course of instruction for any graduate interested in acquiring greater knowledge of economics and quantitative techniques.
Some candidates have attending the Summer Session as a condition of their offer of a place on one of our MSc programmes. All MSc students have access to a mathematics and statistics review taught over a week before the programme starts to help reduce the impact of heterogeneity of background. An innovative element of the statistics review is the inclusion of a test that students can take before coming to York to help them identify areas they need to brush up on, a formative examination at the end of the review to serve as a diagnostic tool, and additional tutorial support for the first few weeks of the Autumn Term for those students who are likely to need the help. In addition, students are directed to the excellent service provided by the Maths Skills Centre to fill gaps in their mathematics and statistics background which they can access throughout their programme.
We work with CELT to provide bespoke English language training. We provide an intensive pre-sessional language course followed up with lectures, concentrated in the first half of the term, and one-on-one drop-in sessions through the rest of the Autumn Term. In addition, we have in place a well-received provision in which each student receives a two hour session each week for eight weeks in the Summer Term to develop the language skills they need to write a dissertation.
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iv) ... how the programme is designed to enable students to progress successfully - in a limited time frame - through to the end of the award? For example, the development of higher level research skills; enabling students to complete an independent study module; developing competence and confidence in practical skills/ professional skills. See QAA masters characteristics doument http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Masters-Degree-Characteristics-15.pdf
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The core modules in the Autumn term deliver the key components of economic theory, econometrics and finance theory which are then further developed in other modules. Many modules offer preparation in the research skills that will be required in the dissertation at the end of the programme. These are bolstered by specific additional lectures which focus on the practical issues of data discovery and econometric methods as well as how to approach writing the dissertation. For those who do not have English as their first language additional support is offered through a term-long English writing course. At the dissertation stage, they are encouraged to apply, integrate and master all the skills acquired at earlier stages. Dedicated spring term presentations by library and our own staff that cover literature search, data sources and econometric software help prepare the student for dissertation writing. The dissertation cultivates the ability to arrive at carefully reasoned conclusions. Time management skills, including efficient search and assessment of relevant literature, are an essential component of this process. The Department provides a suite of support for the module. There is a one hour “Introductory Lecture” delivered by the Dissertation Coordinator (or another senior member of academic staff) which provides guidance and a lot of detail, e.g. expectation of kind of output, looking for and choosing a topic, time line, bibliographic search, plagiarism, etc. In addition, a one hour lecture entitled “Data Resources and Econometric Software” is delivered in early February to each of three groups of students; these lectures provide information on data sources, econometric packages, mathematical packages, and word processing programmes-- -how to access them, search them, and use them-- -all of which are available through the University. There is also a one hour presentation by the Liaison Librarian for DERS later in February. The material for all three lectures is available on the module’s VLE site. Finally, there is a Dissertation Library on the VLE which is a useful source for dissertations submitted in the past which helps with topics and as a general guide.
A matching process under the direction of the Dissertation Coordinator is used and it is expected that by mid-March most students will have found a supervisor and settled on a topic. The role of the supervisor is to help define the research task more precisely, to advise on relevant reading, data, if relevant, and what sort of econometric technique to use, or what model to use and what questions to use it to analyse. Work on the dissertation starts in earnest after the examinations with the supervisor expected to read and comment on a preliminary draft of the dissertation but to refrain from a lot of detailed supervision since that would defeat the purpose of learning to work independently.
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v) ... how this programme (as outlined in these PLOs) will develop students’ digital literacy skills and how technology-enhanced learning will be used to support active student learning through peer/tutor interaction, collaboration and formative (self) assessment opportunities (reference could be made to such as blogging, flipped classroooms, response 'clickers' in lectures, simulations, etc).
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Students are taught a number of digital literacy skills through introduction to specific pieces of econometric statistical software and how to collect data suitable for study from a leading provider of research data in economics and finance (Datastream). Students are encouraged to interrogate the library provided collections of academic journal articles.
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vi) ... how this programme (as outlined in these PLOs) will support and enhance the students’ employability (for example, opportunities for students to apply their learning in a real world setting)?
The programme's employablity objectives should be informed by the University's Employability Strategy:
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The students on this programme will leave with a training at a level which makes them very appealing to employers around the world. The skills that they have developed plus the subject knowledge that they have acquired puts them in a very strong position in the job market or to continue for further study.
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viii) ... how learning and teaching on the programme are informed and led by research in the department/ Centre/ University?
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All of the modules offered to students on this programme are informed by the current research of academic staff in the Department of Economics. Staff offer insights into their own published research in lectures as well as providing advice in the dissertation process based on their own research experience and also specific research tools such as econometric methods or other modelling skills.
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5.d. Progression
For masters programmes where students do not incrementally 'progress' on the completion of a discrete Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma, please summarise students’ progressive development towards the achievement of the PLOs, in terms of the characteristics that you expect students to demonstrate at the end of the set of modules or part thereof. This summary may be particularly helpful to students and the programme team where there is a high proportion of option modules and in circumstances where students registered on a higher award will exit early with a lower one.

Note: it is not expected that a position statement is written for each masters PLO, but this can be done if preferred.
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On completion of modules sufficient to obtain a Postgraduate Certificate students will be able to:
If the PG Cert is an exit award only please provide information about how students will have progressed towards the diploma/masters PLOs. Please include detail of the module diet that students will have to have completed to gain this qualification as an exit award.
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To obtain the Postgraduate Certificate students need to complete at least  60 credits of taught modules. Any such combination of taught modules available as part of the MSc in Project Analysis, Finance and Investment meets the PLOs for the Postgraduate Certificate. In obtaiting the Certificate students will have achieved the essential elements of PLOs 1 to 7,  although their skills and depth of understanding of the material will be substantially lower as compared with students who complete the full MSc programme
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On completion of modules sufficient to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma students will be able to:
If the PG Diploma is an exit award only please provide information about how students will have progressed towards the masters PLOs. Please include detail of the module diet that students will have to have completed to gain this qualification as an exit award.
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N/A
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6. Reference points and programme regulations
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6.a. Relevant Quality Assurance Agency benchmark statement(s) and other relevant external reference points
Please state relevant reference points consulted (e.g. Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, National Occupational Standards, Subject Benchmark Statements or the requirements of PSRBs): See also Taught Postgraduate Modular Scheme: Framework for Programme Design:
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6.b. University award regulations
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The University’s award and assessment regulations apply to all programmes: any exceptions that relate to this programme are approved by University Teaching Committee and are recorded at the end of this document.
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7. Programme Structure
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7.a. Module Structure and Summative Assessment Map
Please complete the summary table below which shows the module structure and the pattern of summative assessment through the programme.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
If the structure of your programme does not fit the usual academic year (for instance students start at the beginning of September or in January) please contact your Academic Quality Team contact in the Academic Support Office for guidance on how to represent the structure in an alternative format.

To clearly present the overall programme structure, include the name and details of each invidual CORE module in the rows below. For OPTION modules, ‘Option module’ or 'Option from list x' should be used in place of specifically including all named options. If the programme requires students to select option modules from specific lists by term of delivery or subject theme these lists should be provided in the next section (7.b).

From the drop-down select 'S' to indicate the start of the module, 'A' to indicate the timing of each distinct summative assessment point (eg. essay submission/ exam), and 'E' to indicate the end of teaching delivery for the module (if the end of the module coincides with the summative assessment select 'EA'). It is not expected that each summative task will be listed where an overall module might be assessed cumulatively (for example weekly problem sheets).

Summative assessment by exams should normally be scheduled in the spring week 1 and summer Common Assessment period (weeks 5-7). Where the summer CAP is used, a single ‘A’ can be used within the shaded cells as it is understood that you will not know in which week of the CAP the examination will take place. (NB: An additional resit assessment week is provided in week 10 of the summer term for postgraduate students. See Guide to Assessment, 5.4.a)
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Full time structure
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CreditsModuleAutumn TermSpring Term Summer Term Summer Vacation
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CodeTitle12345678910123456789101234567891012345678910111213
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10ECO00046MApplied Microeconomics ISEA
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10ECO00056MFixed Income SecuritiesSEA
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10ECO00032MInvestment and
Portfolio Management		SEA
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10ECO00067MApplied Microeconomics IISEA
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10ECO00008MCorporate FinanceSEA
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20Various Core List ASAEA
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20Various Option Modules From LIST BSEA
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10Various Option Modules From List B or LIST CSAEA
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80ECO00012MDissertationSEA
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Please indicate when any Progression Board and Exam board will be held and when any reassessments will be submitted. NB: You are required to provide at least three weeks notice to students of the need for them to resubmit any required assessments, in accordance with the Guide to Assessment section 4.9
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Progression BoardJune 2023
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ReassessmentAugust CAP 2023
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Exam BoardNovember 2023
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Core List AOption List BOption List COption List D
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 20c Econometrics 1 & 2 AUT & SPR 10c Financial Markets SPR10c Advanced Macroeconomics AUTN/A
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20c Statistics & Econometrics AUT & SPR 10c Financial Risk Management SPR10c Applied Microeconometrics SPR & SUM WK 2
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 10c Management Decision Analysis SPR10c Public Sector Economics: Microeconomic Application SPR