Bayes MSc Shipping, Trade and Finance: entry requirements, fees and scholarships

Every officer who asks me about shipping finance is really asking two questions at once. Is Cass still a real name now that it is called something else, and can someone without a finance degree actually get in. Short answers: yes, and yes. The longer answers are worth your time.

The programme in one screen

The fact that surprises most officers is the last but one. Work experience is explicitly not a requirement, which is unusual for a finance adjacent master's of this standing.

Why the name changed, and why it does not matter

Cass Business School was renamed Bayes in September 2021, after Sir John Cass's historical links to the transatlantic slave trade became incompatible with the university's values. The degree, the faculty and the accreditation history all carried over unchanged. Only the name on the building and the certificate changed.

The MSc is taught through the Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance, founded in 1983 and launched at the Baltic Exchange with the UK Foreign Secretary of the day in attendance. It is widely credited with helping build London's position in shipping finance, although that sits alongside the City's much older maritime and insurance history rather than explaining it on its own.

Does a nautical science or marine engineering degree qualify?

Yes. You need a UK upper second class degree, a 2:1, or the overseas equivalent. On paper the ideal candidate has a background in finance, economics or a quantitative field, but Bayes explicitly encourages applications from other disciplines where the candidate can show a real interest in shipping, commodities and finance. Quantitative skills are preferred, not required.

In practice this is the door that lets a BSc Nautical Science or a B.E. or B.Tech in Marine Engineering apply on equal footing. What it means for you is that the case for your interest has to come through your personal statement, and probably an interview, because it will not be assumed from your transcript.

GMAT is not required to apply, though the admissions panel may request it as a condition of offer. Selected applicants may be invited to an online interview.

What you actually study

Terms one and two cover the core: accounting and finance, shipping economics, data analytics, corporate finance, shipping investment and finance, and chartering, freight trading and sale and purchase. Term three moves to electives including big data in shipping, commodity derivatives, green finance and decarbonisation, fintech, mergers and acquisitions, and Python, plus an optional research project that has been run with organisations including the Bank of England and the Department for Transport's Maritime Directorate.

There are optional international electives taught in Athens, on shipping company management, and Madrid, on project finance and infrastructure investment. The Athens elective was designed by an alumnus from the class of 2000 who is now a director at Almi Tankers, which tells you something about how involved the alumni actually are.

The ICS exemptions are worth real money

The MSc is validated by the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and carries three exam exemptions: International Commodity Trade, Shipping Economics, and Shipping Investment and Finance. If you are also targeting ICS membership, that is a genuine shortcut rather than a marketing line.

Scholarships that cover most or all of the fee

Fees are £22,000 for home students and £32,500 for international students, with a £2,000 deposit and the balance split between registration and a second instalment in January. Several scholarships are tied specifically to this MSc.

Several of these are funded by Greek shipowning family foundations. That is a useful signal about how embedded this programme is in the actual shipowning community, not merely adjacent to it academically.

Where graduates end up

The centre has more than 4,600 alumni across over 150 countries. Recent graduates have moved into roles including freight analyst, commercial operations analyst, trainee shipbroker, dry bulk Panamax broker, financial analyst, credit analyst, sale and purchase broker, equity research analyst, ESG and performance coordinator, and trading graduate.

Employers include Argus Media, Braemar, BRS Shipbrokers, Clarksons, ExxonMobil, Fearnleys, Hamburg Commercial Bank, Howe Robinson Partners, RWE, S&P Global, SSY, TotalEnergies, TP ICAP and Trafigura.

Who should not apply

This programme rewards a specific, well argued interest in shipping finance. A Merchant Navy background used as a generic credential will not carry an application on its own.

If what you actually want is ship operations, port management or logistics, a supply chain or maritime operations master's will serve your career direction better than this one, and will usually cost less. Wanting to work in London is not the same as wanting to work in broking, trading or finance, and the interview will find that out.

One practical note. Bayes is a UK programme, so it sits outside the France specific support we offer, which was built around Campus France, OFII and CVEC and has no UK equivalent. Where we can help is the part before that: building a genuine, specific case for your interest in shipping finance that holds up at interview, and deciding honestly whether this or a France based route fits your actual career direction.