Birmingham City University Business School offers unique opportunity

Birmingham City University Business School, in association with CIMA Sri Lanka Division, is pleased to introduce the MSc Accountancy and Finance (Top-Up) programme, which will for the first time, be delivered outside the UK, in Colombo and was launched at the Cinnamon Grand on 1 August.

This is a unique and innovative Master’s degree programme, which has been running in the UK for the past five years on a six-month full-time basis, specifically designed to appeal to CIMA students who have successfully completed their professional accountancy examinations and would like to study for a Master’s degree or obtain an academic qualification if they do not already hold a Bachelor’s degree.

Therefore, bringing the programme to Sri Lanka provides a unique opportunity to top up the CIMA qualification to a UK master’s/academic degree without the extra cost of living in the UK and/or the cost of having to give up current employment to study on a full-time basis. Instead, the programme has been re-structured to be completed in six to nine months on a blended, flexible part-time learning basis.

The first intake of students will commence on Friday 9 September. The programme of study will start with week-end and week-day evening lecture sessions here in Colombo, totalling about 48 direct teaching hours. The lectures will be delivered by Birmingham City Business School academic staff, beginning on the Friday evening through to the early evening of Sunday 18 September.

Bradley Emerson, Regional Director South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, at the launch said: “The purpose of CIMA is to ensure employability and career progression of its members and students. We at the Sri Lanka Division consciously and continuously endure to fulfil this purpose. The Top-up Master’s Degree in Finance & Accounting offered to members and exam completed students in Sri Lanka is one such initiative. We are very pleased to have Birmingham City University Business School coming forward to offer this unique opportunity at a very special price to our members and exam completed students to acquire a British Master’s degree. This collaboration is an outcome of shared purpose, mutual recognition in curriculum and the mutual commitment to increase the global portability of CIMA members and students in Sri Lanka.”

Vice-Chancellor Birmingham City University, Professor David Tidmarsh on the launch of the programme said: “It’s a real honour to be formally launching this additional level of study for CIMA members and students in Sri Lanka. This is an important milestone in the relationship between Birmingham City University and our partner CIMA Sri Lanka. As a university that is fully engaged with the needs of employers we have long recognised that working closely with professional bodies is critical in developing professionals with the skills and confidence needed in an ever competitive global marketplace.”