The Graduate Development Programme in Financial Services kicked off at the University's Belfast campus this week.

Developed in partnership with the Department of Employment and Learning (DEL), it was targeted at unemployed graduates with the aim of providing candidates with an opportunity to skill into financial services by taking the professional examinations of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment’s (CISI).

Professor of Finance and Investment, Philip Hamill, who developed the programme explained:

”The Graduate Development Programme in Financial Services is an intensive programme comprised of three modules including securities and investment, financial regulation, and global securities operations. Successfully completing the three modules leads to the award of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment’s Investment Administration Qualification (IAQ) and professional membership of the institute: A benchmark qualification which is a must for many employers in the financial services sector."

Professor Hamill went on to say:

“I’m delighted with the response. Our initial target was twenty-five candidates. Today just over one hundred candidates enrolled onto the programme. An outcome we didn’t expect was the level of interest from applicants in employment. Consequently, we have a significant number of students already in professional employment, mostly IT, who used their annual leave to free up the time to participate."

This programme extends the portfolio of activities currently offered by the financial services team which includes delivering bespoke programmes in-house for firms such as Citi Belfast, and a new suite of undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Professor Hamill said: “The portfolio of activities delivered by the financial services team at the University of Ulster is both flexible and industry focused with the overall aim of making a significant contribution to growing this strategically important sector of our economy."

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