Overview
Through developing expert abilities in mathematics and discovering how these can be applied to financial situations, you will improve your capacity to make successful financial decisions and understand how you can turn risk into opportunity.
Our BSc Finance and Mathematics course offers you modules in mathematics, accounting, economics and actuarial science. Our business-focused course equips you with the knowledge and skills that are in demand by employers, and in particular in financial markets or corporate careers that involve financial decision-making and problem-solving.
You gain a thorough grounding in both finance and mathematics, investigating topics including:
- Corporate finance
- Portfolio management
- Applying mathematical techniques
- Statistics and probability
- Micro- and macro-economics
As part of our Department of Mathematical Sciences, you’re a member of an inclusive and approachable research community which allows you to explore topics in pure, high-level mathematics and applied mathematics.
More than two-thirds of our research is rated “world-leading” or “internationally excellent”, placing us in the top 25 in the UK for research excellence (REF 2014).
Our Department of Mathematical Sciences is genuinely innovative and student-focused. Our research groups are working on a broad range of collaborative areas tackling real-world issues. Here are a few examples:
- Our data scientists carefully consider how not to lie, and how not to get lied to with data. Interpreting data correctly is especially important because much of our data science research is applied directly or indirectly to social policies, including health, care and education.
- We do practical research with financial data (for example, assessing the risk of collapse of the UK’s banking system) as well as theoretical research in financial instruments such as insurance policies or asset portfolios.
- We also research how physical processes develop in time and space. Applications of this range from modelling epilepsy to modelling electronic cables.
- Our optimisation experts work out how to do the same job with less resource, or how to do more with the same resource.
- Our pure maths group are currently working on two new funded projects entitled ‘Machine learning for recognising tangled 3D objects’ and ‘Searching for gems in the landscape of cyclically presented groups’.
- We also do research into mathematical education and use exciting technologies such as electroencephalography or eye tracking to measure exactly what a learner is feeling. Our research aims to encourage the implementation of ‘the four Cs’ of modern education, which are critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.
Study abroad
Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.
Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.
If you spend a full year abroad you’ll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won’t pay any tuition fees to your host university
Placement year
Alternatively, you can spend your third year on a placement year with an external organisation, where you learn about a particular sector, company or job role, apply your academic knowledge in a practical working environment, and receive inspiration for future career pathways.
If you complete a placement year you’ll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year.
Our expert staff
As well as being world-class academics, our mathematics staff are award-winning teachers. Many of our staff have won national or regional awards for lecturing, and many of them are qualified and accredited teachers – something which is very rare at a university.
The Department of Mathematical Sciences is a small but influential department, so our students and staff know each other personally. You never need an appointment to see your lecturers and professors, just knock on our office doors – we are one of the few places to have an open-door policy, and no issue is too big or small.
Our Essex Business School staff specialise in areas including: accounting and economic development in the public and third sectors; regulation and corporate social responsibility; finance and banking; accounting and finance in developing economies; and contemporary financial markets and their participants.
Specialist facilities
Take advantage of our extensive learning resources to assist you in your studies:
- In addition to teaching, we have a Maths Support Centre, which offers help to students on a range of mathematical problems. Throughout term-time, we can chat through mathematical problems either on a one-to-one or small group basis
- We have a dedicated social and study space for Maths students in the department, which is situated in the new £18m STEM Centre
You also have access to our landmark new Essex Business School building, the first zero carbon business school in the UK. Set around a lush winter garden, the Eden-style dome will give the building its own micro-climate.
Our new building provides you with a stunning new work environment, offering:
- A virtual trading floor with Bloomberg Terminals offering direct use of Bloomberg data, information and analytics
- A light and spacious lecture theatre, with seating for 250 students
- Study pods and innovation booths for group working
- Dedicated office space for student entrepreneurs
- Networking opportunities with visiting businesses
- A café with an adjacent sun terrace
Your future
Clear thinkers are required in every profession, so the successful mathematician has an extensive choice of potential careers.
Our graduates are highly employable in a wide range of places, working in business, pharmaceutical industries, banking and computing among others. The Council for Mathematical Sciences offers further information on careers in mathematics.
Our recent graduates from our BSc Finance and Mathematics have found employment as:
- Chartered accountants
- Investment consultants
- Accounts technicians
- Stock lending analysts
We also work with our University’s Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.
Why we’re great
- 100% of our maths students are in employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2021).
- As well as being world-class academics and researchers, we are award-winning lecturers.
- We are continually broadening the array of expertise in our department, giving you a wide range of options and letting you tailor your degree to your interests.
Structure
Course structure
We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists.
Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The course content is therefore reviewed on an annual basis to ensure our courses remain up-to-date so modules listed are subject to change.
Teaching and learning disclaimer
Following the impact of the pandemic, we made changes to our teaching and assessment to ensure our current students could continue with their studies uninterrupted and safely. These changes included courses being taught through blended delivery, normally including some face-to-face teaching, online provision, or a combination of both across the year.
The teaching and assessment methods listed show what is currently approved for 2022 entry; changes may be necessary if, by the beginning of this course, we need to adapt the way we’re delivering them due to the external environment, and to allow you to continue to receive the best education possible safely and seamlessly.
Year abroad
On your year abroad, you have the opportunity to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.
Teaching
- Teaching mainly takes the form of lectures – you study roughly two 50-minute lectures and one 50-minute class per week, per module
- Take a mathematics careers and employability module, where you compile a portfolio of skills and experience
- Modules delivered by experts in the field as well as guest speakers
- Contribute and interact in lectures through the use of smart technology
Assessment
- Your final mark is a weighted combination of marks gained on coursework (eg homework problem sheets or tests) and your summer examinations
- Assessed through traditional methods of end-of-year exams and multiple choice questions in class tests and essays
- Plus more innovative and creative assessments include laboratory work, poster presentations, real-business case problems and group presentations
- Your first year of study does not count towards your final degree class
- Third-year students have the opportunity to complete a full-year or one-term project