How long is the MSc in Financial Planning?

One year full-time, or two years part-time via online and distance routes. The MSc in Financial Planning schedules cohort calls across UK and APAC time zones so distance learners stay synchronous.

Can the MSc in Financial Planning be studied online?

Yes. The MSc in Financial Planning runs on-campus in central London, fully online and by distance learning, assessed against the same dissertation and sponsor consulting project.

Is the MSc in Financial Planning recognised by UK IFA firms?

Yes. The MSc in Financial Planning is reviewed against CII Advanced Diploma AF units and the Chartered Financial Planner pathway, so UK IFA firms and wealth managers recognise the credential.

What are the entry requirements for the MSc in Financial Planning?

A UK 2:2 honours in a relevant discipline, GCSE English at grade 5/C, and IELTS 6.5 for international applicants. Portfolio route available for candidates with three years of planning experience.

What does the MSc in Financial Planning cost?

Tuition varies by route and domicile. Contact LSIBM admissions for the current schedule and scholarship eligibility for the MSc in Financial Planning.

MSc in Financial Planning | LSIBM London | Harold International College of London

Course Overview

The MSc in Financial Planning at the London School of International Business and Management (LSIBM) is a senior-track postgraduate degree for aspiring Chartered Financial Planners, IFA practice principals, and platform business leaders. Delivered inside the Accounting, Finance & Economics faculty, it deepens cash-flow modelling, complex-case planning, tax and trust work, and firm-level Consumer Duty governance. The syllabus is refreshed each cohort to sit alongside the FCA Consumer Duty, the ongoing Retirement Advice Review and the SM&CR expectations placed on UK advice firms, so classroom debates and case work track the questions UK employers are asking this year rather than last decade’s textbook.

You will complete a sponsor consulting project on a live UK planning question, sit an MSc-level DB-transfer viva, and produce a dissertation supervised by a Chartered Financial Planner and defended in front of a working panel. Curriculum is reviewed against the CII Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning, Chartered Financial Planner route, and the CISI Level 7 pathway. Across the one year full-time, you sit alongside a small tutor-visible cohort, work through applied case studies drawn from London-facing employers, and close with an assessment mix that mirrors the situations working practitioners actually face on the job. The MSc in Financial Planning runs on-campus in central London, fully online with UK / APAC time-zone cohort calls, or by distance learning, so applicants pick the study pattern that fits the rest of their working week.

Key Features

Level pitched at UK Master's degree standard with tutor-visible small cohorts and a single intake schedule.
Three study modes — on-campus in central London, fully online with UK / APAC time-zone cohort calls, or by distance learning.
Voyant / Truth cash-flow modelling practice on the London campus.
Structured route toward the CII Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning with tutor mock-marking.
Assessment blend — suitability report, mock client meeting and a written viva rather than a single long exam.
Structured over one year full-time (two years part-time via online / distance routes), with fortnightly practitioner clinics and defined assessment milestones.
Sponsor consulting project and dissertation defended in front of a working practitioner panel.
Careers support covering CV clinics, mock interviews and warm introductions through fortnightly practitioner sessions.
Cohort networking across a single intake schedule, with London evening events at the CMI, IoD Pall Mall clubhouse and relevant professional-body chapters.

What You Will Learn

The MSc is written for people whose next role sits in a leadership meeting or a working committee. You will graduate able to build a strategy paper, defend a dissertation in front of a senior panel, and step into an executive-track role with the credential a UK employer recognises.

The UK financial-advice landscape — IFAs, restricted firms, platforms and networks.
FCA rulebook for advice firms — COBS, SYSC and the Consumer Duty.
Investment planning — asset allocation, risk profiling and platform due diligence.
Pensions — defined contribution, defined benefit, SIPPs and the annual and lifetime allowances.
Retirement income planning — annuity, drawdown, UFPLS and sustainable withdrawal rates.
Cash-flow modelling in Voyant, Truth or CashCalc for a UK household.
Tax planning — income tax, CGT, IHT and the annual gift exemptions.
Trusts, wills and estate planning at introductory level.
Protection planning — life, critical illness, income protection and inheritance-tax cover.
Ethics, SM&CR conduct rules and the CII Code of Ethics.
Client communication, vulnerable-client care and file review under Consumer Duty.

Who This Course Is For

The MSc in Financial Planning is designed for a mix of new entrants and working professionals. The five audience segments below are the ones we most often see on the Master's degree intake list, and the tutor team tailors examples so every segment is visible in the classroom.

Administrative staff at UK IFA firms moving into paraplanning.
Career switchers from banking, insurance or accountancy into financial planning.
AAT-qualified professionals broadening into personal-finance advice.
Recent graduates targeting an IFA graduate scheme.
International applicants preparing a UK-facing CV for a UK advice-firm role.

Career Pathways

Graduates typically step into senior-specialist, manager and director-track roles across UK employers. The MSc strengthens applications but does not by itself guarantee job offers or visa outcomes. Typical destinations include:

Paraplanner
Financial Planner
Wealth Adviser
Retirement Planning Analyst
Client Portfolio Analyst
IFA Administrator
Senior Paraplanner
Practice Manager (IFA)

The MSc in Financial Planning is a natural runway toward Chartered Financial Planner (CII) status and the Personal Finance Society Fellowship route. Graduates leave with a portfolio of applied work, a written credential UK employers recognise, and enough classroom rehearsal of the discipline-specific conversations that a first interview panel or a promotion window feels familiar rather than intimidating. The LSIBM careers office also runs an alumni-referral programme and structured warm introductions in the closing term, so applicants leave with a working London network rather than only a certificate.

Entry Requirements

A UK 2:2 honours degree in a relevant discipline — finance, business, economics, law — or an equivalent international qualification. Applicants with three years of substantive financial planning experience may apply on a portfolio route.
GCSE English Language at grade 5/C (or equivalent) is required for domestic applicants.
IELTS 6.5 overall (no band below 6.0) for non-native English speakers.
A short statement of intent (600 words) explaining research or applied interests, plus two references (one academic, one workplace or professional-body).

Why Study at LSIBM

The London School of International Business and Management (LSIBM) is a specialist business-education provider based in central London and part of Harold International College. Postgraduate cohorts run in small tutor-visible groups, are shaped by working senior practitioners (partner-level at a Big Four firm, Fellow-level at CIM or CIPD, CFA charter-holders in investment routes) and close with a substantial dissertation, sponsor consulting project or applied capstone defended in front of a working panel.

London puts the City, Canary Wharf, Whitehall, Companies House, the FCA, the Bank of England, the West End and the major consulting, banking and multinational headquarters within a short tube ride of every classroom. LSIBM postgraduates attend a fortnightly senior-practitioner clinic and a structured executive-application coaching programme in the final term.

Apply for the MSc in Financial Planning

Step into the senior track with the MSc in Financial Planning. Click Enrol Now and admissions will reply within one working day with intake dates, dissertation supervisor allocation guidance and the current fee schedule. LSIBM postgraduates are supported by dedicated executive-application coaching in the final term.