Heriot-Watt University

The course

UCAS code
GGC3
Duration
4 years
Location
Edinburgh
Delivery type
Full-time
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Overview

If you are looking for a career in the world of finance and love mathematical challenges, then Financial Mathematics is the degree for you. Just as civil engineering deals with the design, construction and maintenance of buildings and roads, financial mathematics is concerned with the design, construction and maintenance of financial products. It is well known that careers in financial mathematics offer some of the best salaries of all professions and graduates working in this area thrive on being offered many interesting challenges on a day-to-day basis.

Our Financial Mathematics programme develops the skills and knowledge required by the modern investment and asset management industry, where structured finance and relative value trading strateges dominate. The emphasis is on developing a range of practical skills relevant to the increasingly mathematical and ever-changing world of contemporary finance.

Financial Mathematics isn't just for aspiring bankers. The UK Government is the single biggest user of structured finance, through the Private Finance Initiative. Graduates are also attractive to the treasury function of international corporations and to the trading arm of commodities companies.

Students on the Financial Mathematics degree follow the same programme as Actuarial Science students for the first two years. The programmes diverge in third year and in the fourth year Financial Mathematics students will be able to study courses alongside Master's students on the Quantitative Finance and Mathematics programme. The aim is for Financial Mathematics graduates to achieve a skill set comparable to those graduating with a Master's degree.

Teaching excellence and student satisfaction

96% of our 2018 graduates reported in the National Student Survey that they were satisfied overall with their course.

What Financial Mathematicians do

  • They manage financial risk and design new financial products
  • They are experts in deciding which assets to choose to fit the investment needs of their clients
  • They do this by analysing the past and modelling the future
  • They apply financial mathematics, probability, statistics, economics, and finance to solve problems in banking and investment

Investment banking is the main destination of financial mathematicians, however the skills developed on the programme are desirable to all businesses, and there are many research opportunities. Due to the high mathematical ability required in this industry, there is always a limited number of well-trained financial mathematicians available, meaning that graduates are much in demand.

A feel for the work of financial mathematicians can be gained from the following websites:

Accreditation

Accredited by the Royal Statistical Society.

Detailed course information

Course content

Detailed course guide

Year 1

Introduction to Statistical Science; Calculus; Introduction to University Mathematics; Professional Development Planning; Finance; Economics and practical work.

Year 2

Probability and Statistics; Actuarial and Financial Mathematics; Linear Algebra; Real Analysis; Multivariate Calculus; Numerical Analysis and practical work.

Year 3

Portfolio Theory and Asset Models; Derivative Markets and Discrete-Time Finance; Stochastic Processes; Statistical Modelling; Vector Analysis; Numerical Analysis; Bayesian Inference and Computational Methods.

Year 4

Advanced Derivative Pricing; Continuous-Time Finance; and options from a wide choice, including Statistical Machine Learning, Optimisation, Risk Theory and Time Series.

More in-depth information on the content of the courses listed above, how they are assessed and the learning outcomes can be accessed via our current student portal.

Employability

Work and study

This is what our BSc (Hons) Financial Mathematics students are doing six months after graduating:

  • 65% are working
  • 20% are studying
  • 5% are working and studying.

Managerial/professional position

  • 85% of those working are in a professional/managerial position six months after graduating.

Salary

  • The average salary of students six months after graduating: £25000
  • The average UK salary of students six months after graduating from a similar course: £23000

Jobs

These are the most common jobs students go into six months after graduating:

  • Business, research and administrative professionals
  • Business and public service associate professionals

Entry requirements

Year 1

Standard entry requirements
  • Highers AAAB including Mathematics at A
  • A-Levels AAB including Mathematics at A
  • Int. Baccalaureate 28 points with higher level Mathematics at 6
  • BTEC DDD including sufficient Mathematics

Minimum entry requirements*

  • Highers ABBC including Mathematics at A
  • A-Levels ABC including Mathematics at A

* Minimum: under our Fair Access Policy, we will relax our standard entry requirements for some Scottish students depending on their circumstances. Our minimum requirements will apply if you:

  • live in an area within the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation lowest 20% (SIMD20), or
  • are care experienced.

We can also make exceptions for some Scottish students with grades above minimum but below standard. Read more about our Minimum and standard entry requirements

Year 2

  • Advanced Highers AAB including Mathematics at A plus excellent Highers
  • A-Levels AAA including Mathematics
  • Int. Baccalaureate 30 points with higher level Mathematics at 7
  • BTEC DDD including sufficient Mathematics 

Additional information

  • You may have the opportunity to transfer to our Malaysia Campus for one semester or for one academic year, subject to satisfactory academic progress. Learn more about campus transfer and exchange opportunities.
  • If you do not see your qualifications here please contact us at studywithus@hw.ac.uk
  • For all years, applications are welcomed from holders of non-school qualifications,  mature candidates and overseas students.
  • Please check that you meet our University-wide National 5/GCSE (or equivalent) English and Maths requirements.
  • To find out about the difference between the 3 and 4 year honours courses, please watch our video to help you decide which route is best for your qualifications and experience so far.

English language requirements

  • The minimum requirement for English language for all our undergraduate Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics courses is IELTS 6.5. Please see our English language requirements.

Fees

Tuition fees for 2020 entry (by residency status)
Status* Scotland / EU** England / Northern Ireland / Wales*** International
Fee Paid by SAAS £9,250 £15,080

* Your residency 'status' is usually defined as the country where you have been ordinarily resident for the three years before the start of your course. Find out more about tuition fees.

** European Union countries (not including England, Northern Ireland or Wales).

*** 'Rest of the UK' (RUK) students entering at Level 1 receive a fee waiver of one year's tuition fee. Normally this will be the final year, or a year during which students study abroad (either at a partnership institution, or at one of Heriot-Watt's overseas campuses).

Additional costs

You may incur additional costs in the course of your studies at Heriot-Watt over and above tuition fees in an academic year. Depending on your programme of study, these may include: protective equipment, field trips, professional memberships, studio fees, required course texts or other study resources.

Scholarships and bursaries

Featured scholarships

Bursaries for students from England, Northern Ireland or Wales starting undergraduate degree courses in 2020

In addition to government loans and grants towards the costs of fees and living costs, we are offering generous financial support to attract and support eligible students from England, Northern Ireland or Wales:

View our full range of undergraduate scholarships.