To put it simply, ISBF is a college in the University of London Programmes ecosystem, which also includes the London School of Economics (LSE). ISBF has been affiliated to UOL ever since its inception in 2006. It rose to the erstwhile highest level of recognition – Affiliate Centre – as early as 2009, signifying the higher quality standards in terms of infrastructure, teaching support, faculty quality and several other processes and systems, and has maintained this status through more than a decade of stringent quality checks and audits. As a result of this relationship, all ISBF students are full students of UOL – they pay a fee directly to UOL, receive UOL student ID cards, have access to all virtual and physical UOL learning resources, are invited to participate in the UOL Graduation Ceremony in London and enjoy UOL alumni status and benefits for life. Perhaps most importantly, this is why all ISBF graduates receive the globally recognised and valued UOL degree, which also carries LSE’s name on it.
FAQ
- ISBF
- Undergraduate
- FAQ
As a Member College of UOL, LSE provides all academic direction for the Economics, Management, Finance and Social Sciences (EMFSS) programmes offered under the aegis of University of London. These are the only programmes offered and taught by ISBF, so the collaboration with LSE runs very deep. LSE faculty members design the programmes, write and update the curriculum based on the latest research and, very importantly, set and grade the final, or summative, assessments for all courses/subjects taught on the UOL Programmes. This makes the curriculum and assessments followed by ISBF students identical to those followed by LSE in London. ISBF also enjoys several visits from LSE faculty members every year, including Visiting Lectureship by the Associate Academic Director for the UOL Programmes at LSE. All this ensures that ISBF students obtain one of the world’s leading undergraduate educations in these subject areas. Click here to know more.
No, ISBF is a brick-and-mortar college and offers all its programmes through the full-time, classroom-based mode of learning. None of our programmes are distance learning programmes. Distance learning refers to studying at home, by oneself, without formal teaching or classes, enrolling only with the university (for the programme) but not with any college, as one is not looking for any teaching. On the other hand, all programmes at ISBF are taught by ISBF’s esteemed faculty members, in classes conducted on the ISBF campus, with a formal year-long teaching plan, formative assessments and several co-curricular, extra-curricular and other learning opportunities, none of which happens on a distance learning programme. In fact, on the UOL Programmes, Recognised Teaching Centres or colleges such as ISBF provide an alternative, since the UOL Programmes are also offered via the distance learning mode. See the ‘Ways to Study’ menu on the UOL website to understand this better. This practice is quite common in India too – for instance, University of Delhi offers BCom and BA (Hons) English programmes through the School of Open Learning (distance mode) and also through colleges such as Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Hindu College and others, none of which can be considered distance learning programmes.
Since the curriculum followed by ISBF students is entirely written and regularly updated by LSE faculty members, who are some of the leading researchers of their fields, it truly represents some of the most relevant and cutting-edge content for undergraduate study. This automatically leads to a strong overlap with the syllabi / curriculum of professional qualifications in related areas, such as CFA and ACCA. The curriculum for the BSc (Hons) Economics & Finance programme at ISBF overlaps quite significantly with that of CFA, while students of the BSc (Hons) Accounting & Finance receive exemptions from 8 out of 13 examinations required to qualify as an ACCA, making it possible for them to become fully qualified before they graduate and at less than half the cost. These students also enjoy exemptions for several other professional accounting qualifications, such as CIMA, ICAEW, ISCA and CPA Australia – click here to know more. Talks are also currently underway for the BSc (Hons) Economics & Finance and BSc (Hons) Economics programmes to have some exemptions from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA), UK, en route to the actuarial science professional qualification.
Is the academic standing of international students the same as that of a student enrolled in the UK?
The curriculum taught to international students is designed exclusively by the LSE faculty. Examination papers for both UK and international students are set by the same academicians. Grading of both sets of answer scripts is also done with the same level of scrutiny and stringent evaluation standards. This implies that the academic standing of an international student is exactly the same as that of a student enrolled in the UK.
