Postgraduate Diploma in Public Financial Management

Is this programme for me?

Organisations need managers with a thorough understanding of public finance so that they can make financial decisions and design and operate financial systems for collecting, spending and accounting for public expenditure. Depending on which options you choose, this programme will enable you to make decisions about investment projects, when and how to use privatisation and public-private partnerships, and how to manage the financial relationships between national and sub-national governments.

Programme aims

This programme enables you to make financial decisions and policy choices in the financing and management of public infrastructure and services.

Programme summary

	You study	Study period	Cost (2010-2011)
Postgraduate Diploma	4 courses	1-5 years	£4,640
Individual Professional Courses	You can take up to three individual courses from this distance learning programme. Each course lasts eight weeks and you are registered for two years. The fee per course is £1,160.

Prestige

The programme has been developed by academics at the Centre for Financial and Management Studies (CeFiMS), a postgraduate research and teaching department within SOAS, University of London. Staff at CeFiMS have international reputations and are involved in researching their subjects at the very limits of current knowledge.

Career progression

Graduates of this programme will be well prepared for high positions in government, public services, international organisations and NGOs.
The Postgraduate Diploma in Public Financial Management is endorsed by the Association of Chartered Accountants (ACCA). if you are already an ACCA member the qualification will be a useful way to improve your expertise and enable you to practise in government finance.

Comprehensive study materials and support

You will be sent all the study materials that you need to complete the programme, which may typically include:

A core text specially written for the course. This is the backbone of the course and is comparable to a series of lecures. It is organised into eight study units, each of which lasts one week.
Textbooks and collections of readings.
Online and multimedia tools. Some courses provide video lectures on DVD. These expand on issues that have been raised in the course and relate the material to 'real world' examples. The Online Study Centre (OSC) provides instant access to course materials and also offers academic, administrative and technical support.
A study calendar for each course to help you organize your time. This sets out a schedule for coursework and assignment deadlines.
A Welcome Pack is available online, which provides you with resources and tips on effective distance learning. We will also send you a Study Skills textbook to help you manage your studies.

Your time commitment

This will depend partly on choices you make, but most students take two years to finish the Postgraduate Diploma. The study calendar consists of five sessions per year. Each session is devoted to a specific course and lasts eight weeks (with the exception of the first session which runs for 10 weeks). During each session you will need to allocate between 15-20 hours per week to complete the programme.

Summary of key dates

Application deadline	6 September 2010	22 November 2010	1 April 2011
Programme starts	November 2010	January 2011	June 2011
Examinations	October