Hi! I’m Tim Mickleburgh. I’m from Greater Manchester, England. I’m a final year BSc Accounting student at The University of Manchester.

Growing up as a young carer and being the first person in my family to go to university, I doubted whether I could succeed at the University of Manchester and didn’t have much confidence going into first year. I have worked extremely hard and shown lots of dedication and passion for my studies. I am really proud of how I have excelled on the BSc Accounting programme and it is a dream come true to be graduating with a First Class degree.

I have studied a range of courses on the three-year BSc Accounting programme from financial reporting to management accounting to business strategy. My university studies have exempt me from the Certificate and Operational levels of the CIMA professional qualification, which will support me in becoming a Chartered Accountant beyond graduation. I was really proud to be awarded the Professor Timothy O’Leary Prize for being the highest performing student in the Intermediate Management Accounting course during my second year. I even had the opportunity to learn Spanish in an optional language course during my second year which was really fun.

The BSc Accounting programme’s most prominent course is the 40-credit Corporate Financial Communication and Valuation course which is completed during final year and comprises three assignments. The first assignment was a group project for which we produced a 30-page financial statement analysis report on a FTSE 100 company and delivered weekly presentations about our findings to our lecturer leading up to submission. The second assignment was a 3000-word essay about the reasons why retail investors tend to lose out on their investments in the stock market. The third assignment was a 30-page report to determine the usefulness of the annual report of a FTSE 100 company, with the opportunity to receive written feedback from our lecturer on a draft version of my report three weeks before submission.

I have really enjoyed studying with my course mate Dom in the study spaces in Alliance Manchester Business School and the Main Library. I have had so much fun attending lectures and seminars alongside my course mates – Sunny, Leda, Taha, Janita, Lan, Yoosuf, Fayzan, and Joe to name a few others. I am really going to miss spending my days on the university campus.

I was fortunate to be able to do an internship at Co-op’s headquarters which was offered exclusively to two BSc Accounting students at the University of Manchester. I was encouraged to apply for the internship by my academic advisor Jenni Rose who was also our programme director at the time. My course mate Mikhail was the other intern. We worked with some of Co-op’s most senior leaders and presented in front of the 60-person team at the end of the internship. I found the internship to be extremely valuable because it helped me to decide what I want to do after I graduate and it improved my employability given that I attained no prior work experience. I have been keen to promote Co-op’s internship to other BSc Accounting students as a Campus Ambassador throughout my final year.

I have really enjoyed being a Student Ambassador throughout my final year. I have had fun helping out at open days and taking prospective students on tours of the campus. I have also liked answering prospective students’ questions through web chat and writing blogs such as the one that you’re reading now. It was great to be awarded the BSc Accounting Community Award by our programme director Reimi Sivalingam for my efforts to contribute to the university community and enhance the experience for other students.

My three years at the University of Manchester have been the best years of my life and I would highly recommend studying here. My advice to other students would be to make the most of the opportunities that come with being a student at such a prestigious university. Make sure you study hard, use the facilities, get involved in extracurricular activities, and build relationships with your course mates and lecturers which will last a lifetime. And remember to take lots of photos!

Written by Tim, current BSc Accounting student at AMBS

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