Overview
MSc Finance (full-time) at LSE is a 10-month graduate MSc with rolling admissions, a 2:1-or-equivalent baseline plus strong quantitative preparation, and a GRE/GMAT requirement for applicants without a UK undergraduate degree. Its structure is compressed: a four-week pre-sessional, two one-unit core courses, then six half-unit electives.
Why study MSc Finance at LSE?
LSE’s verified course page identifies this as MSc Finance (full-time), a 10-month full-time MSc programme on the graduate admissions route. Use the verified graduate MSc Finance page as the source of record for programme identity, structure and application facts.
Section 01
Click your country on the map below for country-specific entry guidance — accepted qualifications, expected scores, English-language requirements, and any local context worth knowing before you apply.
International Applicants
Pick a highlighted country to see the admissions-test, score, and English-language requirements that apply for applicants from that country.
Section 02
| Qualification | Typical Offer | Key Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| A-Level | Check the official course page | Mathematics at minimum A level standard, or equivalent required.Applicants need an upper second class honours (2:1) degree or equivalent in any discipline, good quantitative skills, and minimum A level Mathematics or equivalent. |
| IB Diploma | Check the official course page | Confirm any IB Mathematics equivalence through the official course page and LSE qualification guidance. |
| Advanced Placement (AP) | Check the official course page | For US graduate applicants, LSE normally assesses the bachelor's degree/GPA plus programme-specific quantitative and GRE/GMAT requirements. |
Section 03
OCT
Application cycle opens
LSE’s graduate application cycle runs from October 2025 to September 2026 for the current published cycle. Start assembling transcripts, CV, statement of academic purpose, referee details and, where required, GRE/GMAT evidence.
OCT
Submit the online application
MSc Finance (full-time) uses rolling admissions and has no fixed application deadline. The programme can close once full, so early submission is strategically important.
NOV ONWARDS
Department scholarships begin to be awarded
LSE notes that department scholarships are awarded on a rolling basis from November onwards. Applicants seeking funding should treat this as an incentive to complete the application early.
JAN ONWARDS
First offers released
LSE states that first offers are released from January onwards and that taught-master’s decisions are normally aimed within eight weeks after a complete application is acknowledged and passed to selectors.
23 APR
Funding deadline
For needs-based LSE awards on this programme, applicants must hold an offer and submit the Graduate Financial Support application before the 23 April 2026 funding deadline.
OFFER + 28 DAYS
Pay the deposit
Offer holders must pay a non-refundable deposit equal to 15% of tuition fees. For offers received by 30 April, the first 10% instalment is due within 28 days and the remaining 5% is due by 1 June.
END AUG
Reserve-offer final outcomes
LSE states that final offers to reserve-offered applicants will be sent by the end of August if places become available.
EARLY SEP
Pre-sessional programme begins
All registered MSc Finance (full-time) students attend a full-time four-week pre-sessional programme starting in early September, covering quantitative preparation, interpreting financial statements, the Finance Accelerator and social events.
OCT
Application cycle opens
LSE’s graduate application cycle runs from October 2025 to September 2026 for the current published cycle. Start assembling transcripts, CV, statement of academic purpose, referee details and, where required, GRE/GMAT evidence.
OCT
Submit the online application
MSc Finance (full-time) uses rolling admissions and has no fixed application deadline. The programme can close once full, so early submission is strategically important.
NOV ONWARDS
Department scholarships begin to be awarded
LSE notes that department scholarships are awarded on a rolling basis from November onwards. Applicants seeking funding should treat this as an incentive to complete the application early.
JAN ONWARDS
First offers released
LSE states that first offers are released from January onwards and that taught-master’s decisions are normally aimed within eight weeks after a complete application is acknowledged and passed to selectors.
23 APR
Funding deadline
For needs-based LSE awards on this programme, applicants must hold an offer and submit the Graduate Financial Support application before the 23 April 2026 funding deadline.
OFFER + 28 DAYS
Pay the deposit
Offer holders must pay a non-refundable deposit equal to 15% of tuition fees. For offers received by 30 April, the first 10% instalment is due within 28 days and the remaining 5% is due by 1 June.
END AUG
Reserve-offer final outcomes
LSE states that final offers to reserve-offered applicants will be sent by the end of August if places become available.
EARLY SEP
Pre-sessional programme begins
All registered MSc Finance (full-time) students attend a full-time four-week pre-sessional programme starting in early September, covering quantitative preparation, interpreting financial statements, the Finance Accelerator and social events.
Section 04
MSc Finance at London School of Economics does not require a written admissions test for 2027 entry. Applications are assessed on academic record, personal statement, submitted written work (where requested), and interview performance.
Always verify on the official Oxford admissions tests page.
Section 05
Interview Invitation
Late Nov
Arrival to Interview
Early Dec
Technical Question
Mid Dec
Decision
Early Jan
Interview Invitation
Late Nov
Arrival to Interview
Early Dec
Technical Question
Mid Dec
Decision
Early Jan
In practice, preparation time is better spent on the statement of academic purpose, quantitative evidence, references and CV than on mock interview answers.
Practise with realistic questions from our free mock interview question bank.
Free Mock Questions →
Section 06
Admissions decisions are made through LSE’s rolling taught-postgraduate process. The evidence considered includes academic achievement, quantitative preparation, GRE/GMAT evidence where required or useful, the statement of academic purpose, academic references and the CV.
Read the bar chart as a planning aid, not as a scoring rubric.
Minimum requirements do not guarantee an offer, and most accepted students in previous years had first-class honours degrees or equivalent. A credible application needs evidence of preparation, not just a statement that finance is the intended career.
Our recommendation · weighting of admission factors
Oxbridge Mentors recommendation, drawn from observed offer patterns. London School of Economics does not publish official weightings — exact balance varies by college, course and year.
Section 07
LSE expects the statement of academic purpose to show academic suitability, motivation, preparedness, rationale for the programme and contribution to the academic community. For MSc Finance specifically, translate that expectation into a finance question you can discuss with precision: for example, an asset-pricing puzzle, valuation assumption, market-microstructure issue or corporate-finance decision that links your preparation to the programme’s core and optional courses.
The programme assumes basic calculus and statistics and requires at least A-level Mathematics or equivalent. It helps to name the technical preparation behind your interests rather than writing only about deals, markets or job titles.
Work experience is not a prerequisite, but internships or full-time employment can strengthen an application when clearly connected to finance goals. Reflection matters more than brand name: explain what you analysed, what changed your view and what you still want to understand.
See a full annotated example with line-by-line expert commentary.
MSc Finance PS Example →Section 08
A useful project should show judgement, not just enthusiasm. Choose one narrow finance question and take it far enough that you can discuss assumptions, uncertainty and what changed your conclusion.
Section 08
Supercurricular work should support the application by showing sustained preparation. It is not a substitute for academic results, quantitative readiness or a focused statement.
These activities support the application; they do not substitute for the core academic evidence.
Investment or finance society:
Join an investment fund, valuation team or markets discussion group and produce written memos rather than only attending speaker events.
Technical preparation:
Strengthen calculus, probability, statistics, accounting, Excel and at least one analytical tool such as Python or R.
Market reading habit:
Follow central-bank releases, market commentary and company filings; keep a short log of how evidence changed your view.
Essay and analysis practice:
Use graduate-relevant economics or finance essay work, research memos or data-led reports to practise precise argument, evidence use and concise written judgement.
Internships or insight experience:
Relevant experience in banking, asset management, corporate finance, fintech, consulting or risk can help, but the reflection on what you learned matters more than brand name alone.
Public lectures and research seminars:
Attend finance, economics and policy events, then connect them to a concrete question you want to pursue in graduate study.
Section 09
Year
01 / 01
1
Core finance foundations followed by elective specialisation
This is a ten-month full-time MSc beginning with a compulsory four-week pre-sessional programme in early September. Students then take two one-unit core courses in the Autumn Term, Corporate Finance and Asset Markets, before specialising through six half-unit optional courses across the Winter and Spring Terms.
Section 10
For corporate finance foundations, start with Principles of Corporate Finance and Corporate Finance. For derivatives and risk management, use Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives. For investment discipline, The Intelligent Investor is best read as a value-investing and margin-of-safety counterpoint to the programme’s asset-markets, portfolio and valuation frameworks, not as a derivatives text.
For lecture-style preparation, use Aswath Damodaran, MIT OpenCourseWare, YaleCourses, CFA Institute. Take notes that link each video back to a finance question, such as valuation assumptions, risk measurement or market efficiency.
For current-market context, use Planet Money, Odd Lots, Behind the Money, Enterprising Investor. The strongest use of podcasts is selective: extract one argument, compare it with academic theory, and ask what evidence would prove it wrong.
For structured self-study, use Financial Markets, Finance Theory I, Financial Markets, Valuation. These courses are useful only if you convert them into evidence of preparation: problem sheets, memos, valuation notes or a short research log.
Section 11
Section 12
For the 2025 MSc Finance and MSc Finance and Private Equity cohort, LSE reports 92% accepted an offer within three months of graduating, 97% were employed within six months, and the reporting rate was 97%. Read the sector percentages as combined-cohort employment data for MSc Finance (full-time) and MSc Finance and Private Equity, not as a standalone MSc Finance-only breakdown. The destination pattern is finance-led, with investment banking the largest organisation category and London the leading reported location. Use career aims to explain your academic choices, not to write the application as if the MSc were only a recruitment route.
Section 13
The safest way to use this guide is alongside LSE’s official MSc Finance (full-time) page, especially because current dated official sources were for 2026/27 and should be refreshed when 2027/28 pages are published.
For application planning, treat the programme as a postgraduate graduate-admissions route rather than an undergraduate UCAS route: UCAS code N/A-PG and LSE application code N3UA. Quantitative preparation is material because the programme assumes basic calculus and statistics and requires at least A-level Mathematics or equivalent.
Minimum requirements do not guarantee an offer; LSE states that competition is strong and that most accepted MSc Finance applicants in previous years held first-class honours degrees or equivalent. Work experience is not a prerequisite, but internships or full-time employment can strengthen an application when clearly connected to the applicant’s finance goals. Applicants should also keep English-language evidence, GRE/GMAT evidence where required, references and funding timing under review as the official cycle pages are refreshed.
Watch & Learn
Student vlogs, mock interviews, lecture tasters, and admissions advice.
Opening lecture from Robert Shiller's Financial Markets course, framing what financial markets do and why they matter.
MIT Finance Theory I opening lecture introducing the course and its core approach to modern financial economics.
Aswath Damodaran introduces valuation as a discipline linking story, numbers and uncertainty.
A concise talk explaining core valuation principles for non-specialists.
CFA Institute overview of the CFA pathway and the professional knowledge areas it develops. Relevant as broader investment-career context only; it is not an LSE admissions requirement.
All videos are the property of their respective creators.
Further Reading
Super-curricular reading, websites, and tools recommended by our expert tutors.
