Accounting and Finance · Awarded by OTHM
Level 7 Diploma in Accounting and Finance
For accountants and finance managers ready to move from producing the numbers to directing what is done with them.
- LevelRQF Level 7Same level as a master's
- Credits120six units
- Qualification time1,200 hours600 guided learning hours
- Awarding bodyOTHMRegulated by Ofqual
- Ofqual number603/5882/8Search the Ofqual register
- Duration9 months (standard) or 6 months (fast track)Set by LSPM, confirmed on enquiry
- Study modesonline or blendedLive seminars, evenings and Saturdays
- FeesFrom £999 (9 months, standard) or £1,299 (6 months, fast track)Written quotation on enquiry
- Next intakeRolling intake — course starts when the fee is paidSet by LSPM
- AssessmentAssignmentsNo examinations
Who it is for
Finance professionals stepping up to strategic responsibility
This diploma assumes you already work in finance. Its six units, Investment Analysis, Corporate Reporting, Global Finance and Strategy, Strategic Financial Management, Strategic Audit and Business Research Methods, are pitched at someone who prepares or reviews accounts today and is being asked to advise on capital, investment and control tomorrow.
The people it suits are financial controllers moving towards finance director roles, management accountants who want the corporate finance side, internal auditors moving into strategic audit or risk, and part-qualified accountants who want a postgraduate-level qualification while they continue with a professional body.
It is not an accountancy qualification and does not exempt you from professional examinations. It is a master's-level diploma in finance as a management discipline. Where a professional body grants exemptions for it, that is the body's decision and this site will not claim it on their behalf.
Structure
Six units, all mandatory
All six units are mandatory and are taken in a sequence LSPM sets. Unit titles and credit values are from the awarding body's specification.
Mandatory units All six required
| Unit | Credits |
|---|---|
| Investment Analysis | 20 |
| Corporate Reporting | 20 |
| Global Finance and Strategy | 20 |
| Strategic Financial Management | 20 |
| Strategic Audit | 20 |
| Business Research Methods | 20 |
| 120 credits from mandatory units. | |
Unit titles and credit values: OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Accounting and Finance (OTHM), official specification, Ofqual 603/5882/8.
How LSPM sequences them
Corporate Reporting opens the programme because it anchors everything else in the financial statements. Investment Analysis and Strategic Financial Management follow as a pair. Global Finance and Strategy broadens the view to international markets and funding. Strategic Audit comes late, once you have the strategic context the audit is meant to test, and Business Research Methods runs in parallel with the last two units so that your final assignment has a research method behind it.
Entry requirements
Who can enrol
OTHM sets the entry requirements and London School of Planning and Management, the approved centre, applies them. As published in the specification:
- An honours degree in related subject or UK level 6 diploma or an equivalent overseas qualification
- Mature learners with management experience (learners must check with the delivery centre regarding this experience prior to registering for the programme)
- Learners must be 21 years or older at the beginning of the course
- English requirements: If a learner is not from a majority English-speaking country must provide evidence of English language competency. For more information visit English Language Expectations page in this website.
How LSPM applies this in practice. Most applicants hold a degree in accounting, finance or business, or a professional accountancy qualification at Level 6 or above. Experienced finance managers without a degree are considered after a review of their role and a conversation with LSPM's finance tutor. Comfort with spreadsheets and financial statements is assumed rather than taught.
Entry requirements from the official specification. If you are not sure whether your qualification counts as equivalent, send us the details and we will ask LSPM to check with the awarding body.
Assessment
Written assignments, no examinations
Assignments are typically an analytical report on a listed or well-documented company: an investment appraisal, a critique of its corporate reporting, a financial strategy recommendation or an audit approach. Calculations are expected but the marks are for the reasoning. No examinations.
Your tutor at LSPM marks the work and gives written feedback. OTHM then externally verifies a sample of marked work to confirm the standard is being applied consistently. A unit is passed when all of its criteria are met.
Progression
From diploma to top-up with advanced standing
The 120 credits may be accepted by a university for advanced standing into the final stage of an MSc in Finance, Accounting and Finance, or an MBA with a finance route. Universities differ on whether they accept the diploma at all and on what they ask in addition; neither LSPM nor this site can promise admission.
Within a career, the diploma is most often used as evidence of readiness for a head of finance or finance director role, or to support an application for a professional body's strategic-level route.
Progression note for employers. If you are sponsoring a manager with a master's as the eventual goal, budget the top-up separately and check the university's terms before you commit. The diploma stage is where LSPM's fees and timetable apply; the top-up stage is the university's. How the pathway works.
Outcomes
What you will be able to do
- Appraise investmentsEvaluate capital projects and portfolios using discounted cash flow and risk-adjusted methods, and explain the result to non-specialists.
- Critique corporate reportingAnalyse published accounts against reporting standards and identify where judgement, not rule, is doing the work.
- Set financial strategyRecommend funding, dividend and capital structure decisions that serve the organisation's strategy.
- Think globally about financeAssess the effect of exchange rates, international markets and cross-border regulation on a company's finances.
- Design a strategic auditPlan an audit that tests whether the organisation's controls support its strategic objectives.
- Research to postgraduate standardFrame a finance question, select a method and analyse data rigorously.
Fit
Likely to suit, and better served elsewhere
Likely to get a lot from it
- Financial controllers preparing for a finance director role.
- Management accountants who want the corporate finance and investment side.
- Internal auditors moving into strategic audit or risk.
Better served by something else
- Anyone seeking a professional accountancy designation; this is not a route to one.
- People without a working finance background; the assignments assume you read accounts daily.
- Learners who want breadth across management functions; an executive or strategic management diploma fits better.
Real learner quotation to be supplied. This slot must not be published until a named graduate has given written consent.
Programme questions
Frequently asked
Will this exempt me from any professional accountancy exams?
We make no claim about exemptions. Professional bodies decide their own exemption policy and it changes; check with the body directly. What can be said is that the diploma is a regulated Level 7 qualification with 120 credits.
How much calculation is involved?
A fair amount, particularly in Investment Analysis and Strategic Financial Management, but always in service of an argument. You will not be examined on technique in isolation.
Which companies do the assignments use?
Usually a listed company with public reporting so the data is available, or your own employer if the information can be shared. LSPM agrees this with you at the start of each unit.
How does the OTHM diploma differ from the Qualifi accounting and finance diploma?
Same level and credit total, different awarding body and unit structure. The OTHM programme has six 20-credit units including Strategic Audit; the Qualifi programme has its own units. Compare the two unit tables and ask us if the choice is not obvious.
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