This course gives students the opportunity to explore the nature and role of the accountancy profession in society, including how the accountancy profession is defined, organised and regulated and how it addresses its ethical and public interest responsibilities. Contemporary issues will be covered to give students an insight into the diverse and dynamic nature of the profession and the challenges it faces.

Lectures: 2 hours of lectures x 10 weeks.

Tutorials: 2 hour tutorials x 4 weeks.

Tutorial timeslots can be selected on MyCampus.

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ILO

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below.

Reassessment opportunities are provided in accordance with School policy as applied to assessed groupwork.

This course sets accounting within its broader historical, professional, regulatory and ethical context in order that students can understand how the accountancy profession is structured and regulated and how individual accountants are expected to discharge their professional responsibilities. The course will be research-informed, with the aim of helping students acquire the skills required for the increasingly independent, research-informed, conceptual nature of undergraduate study. Many of the students will go on to become professional accountants and this course aims to complement the other more technical courses by providing a good foundation for the non-technical requirements of becoming a professional in today's society.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1.Describe the professional, regulatory and ethical context within which the accountancy profession is set.
2.Discuss a range of current and historical issues relating to the accountancy profession.
3.Identify and explain models of professional regulation and the work of UK bodies concerned with the regulation of the accountancy profession.
4.Explain the importance of ethics in the accountancy profession and of a limited range of ethical dilemmas including possible approaches to their resolution.
5.Search for and locate relevant literature to incorporate into a reasoned argument on an essay topic of relevance to the course.
6. Work collaboratively in a group to produce a combined piece of coursework, by liaising with other class members, allocating tasks and co-ordinating group meetings.

Students must submit 100% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.