BSc Financial Mathematics
Cardiff, United Kingdom
DURATION
3 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 28,200 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas | for home year two and three: £9,250 / year one: £9,000
Introduction
Perhaps you've always been a keen mathematician? Maybe you’re excited about solving problems and puzzles. Or you might want to use your maths skills to expand your knowledge in areas as diverse as space travel, software development and complex medicine.
Whatever your reason for considering a maths degree, you’ve made a great decision. You will gain knowledge and skills that will prepare you for the workplace, and not only in jobs which use maths directly. Many employers value a mathematics qualification; your numerical, logical thinking and problem-solving skills enable you to tackle a variety of roles.
To cover the range of topics that mathematics embraces, we've made our courses flexible. Keep your degree broad with a BSc or MMath in Mathematics, or specialise in an area of your choice, from financial mathematics to statistics and operational research.
Why Study this Course
A mathematics degree offers you intellectual challenges and provides the skills in demand for a wide range of careers.
Flexible Degree Schemes
In most cases, you're free to switch between degrees at the end of year one if your interests change. You will also have the opportunity to complete a Professional Placement Year or a Year Abroad between years two and three. You don’t need to commit to either of these options until the start of the second year, so there’s plenty of time to decide.
Support Services
Your personal tutor is there to offer advice, in confidence, on both academic and non-academic matters. You will also have access to weekly tutorials, supervised computer laboratories and daily drop-in sessions for one-to-one support.
Summer Placement Opportunities
During the summer months, you will have the opportunity to complete paid work as a mathematician or statistician where you can gain valuable work experience and develop your professional skills. Our dedicated placements team can help you find a summer placement and provide support during your time there.
Excellent Facilities
You will be taught in Abacws, the new home of the School of Mathematics. This world-leading facility has been designed in collaboration with students and academic staff to create interdisciplinary, flexible and creative workspaces, with innovative teaching areas being a key feature, including a new simulated Trading Room for financial mathematics.
Professionally Accredited Course
This degree is accredited by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA).
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Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Loans and Grants
Financial support information for students.
Bursaries
We wish to ensure that financial circumstances are not a barrier to your undergraduate study opportunities.
Scholarships
We wish to recruit the very best students and to help us achieve this, we offer a number of scholarships.
Part-time Undergraduate Funding
Information about funding for part-time students.
Financial Support for Asylum Seekers
Information for asylum seekers about the financial support we offer undergraduates and options for funding from outside the University.
Curriculum
This is a three-year full-time degree. The course includes a carefully chosen balance of core modules and optional modules. Modules are worth 10 or 20 credits and you need to earn 120 credits a year. The modules you choose in year two will inform the choices available to you in year three.
Year One
In Year One, your core modules will cover the foundation areas of Pure and Applied Mathematics. You're also able to choose between modules in Financial Mathematics, Statistics, Computing, and Operational Research. The Finance modules will introduce you to techniques and tools of Corporate Financial Management at the firm level.
Much of year one is common to all of our degree schemes so transfer to another Math degree is normally possible.
Core Modules for Year One
- Elementary Differential Equations
- Computing for Mathematics
- Geometry
- Foundations of Mathematics I Foundations of Mathematics II
- Linear Algebra I
- Introduction to Probability Theory
- Statistical Inference
- Finance I: Financial Markets and Corporate Financial Management
Year Two
In Year Two, your core modules continue to build foundation knowledge in the areas of Calculus, Algebra, and Analysis. Alongside specialist Financial Mathematics modules, you will continue to broaden your knowledge of areas like Statistics and Operational Research.
Core Modules for Year Two
- Calculus of Several Variables
- Series and Transforms
- Linear Algebra II
- Foundations of Probability and Statistics
- Operational Research
- Finance II: Investment Management
- Econometrics for Financial Mathematics
Optional Modules for Year Two
- Complex Analysis
- Real Analysis
- Introduction to Number Theory I
- Complex Analysis / Dadansoddi Cymhlyg
- Dadansoddi Real
- Vector Calculus
- Modelling with Differential Equations
- Computational Statistics
- Computational Statistics / Ystadegaeth Gyfrifiadurol
- Mathematical Investigations with Python
Year Three
In Year Three, there are no compulsory modules and your options are wide-ranging.
As well as taught modules, you can also choose to undertake an individual 10-credit or 20-credit project giving you the opportunity to develop important transferable skills – communication, presentation and time management - and apply your mathematical knowledge to an investigation of your choice.
Optional Modules for Year Three
- Introduction to Functional and Fourier Analysis
- Coding Theory
- Introduction to Number Theory 2
- Ordinary Differential Equations
- Partial Differential Equations
- Knot Theory
- Theori Clymau
- Methods of Applied Mathematics
- Finite Elasticity
- Project Module (Full Year)
- Project Module (Half)
- Project Module (Half) Spring Semester
- Regression Analysis and Experimental Design
- Stochastic Processes for Finance and Insurance
- Official Statistics
- Multivariate Data Analysis
- Multivariate Data Analysis / Dadansoddi Data Amlamrywedd
- Algorithms and Heuristics
- Optimisation
- Game Theory
- Algorithmau a Dulliau Hewristig / Algorithms and Heuristics
- Mathematics of Artificial Intelligence
- Market Microstructure and Trading Theory
- Trading, Market Design and Applications
- Quantitative Risk Management
- Cyflwyniad i addysgu Mathemateg mewn ysgol uwchradd
- Introduction to Secondary School Mathematics Teaching
- Prospect
- Modiwl Prosiect (Hanner) Semester yr Hydref
- Modiwl Prosiect (Hanner) Semester y Gwanwyn
How Will I Be Assessed?
Many modules have written examinations at the end of the Autumn or Spring Semesters, with some also having an element of continuous assessment. This may include problem-solving exercises, written reports, computer programs and oral presentations. Feedback on progress is typically provided through a combination of discussion in class, written comments on submitted work and review of outline solutions to problems. You are encouraged to discuss any queries related to specific modules with individual lecturers.
The grade of your final degree will be based on 30% from your year two studies and 70% from year three.
Program Outcome
What Skills Will I Practise and Develop?
You will acquire and develop a range of valuable skills, both discipline-specific and more generic employability skills. You will:
- Develop your knowledge of core mathematics including calculus, algebra, analysis and complex variable theory
- Enhance your understanding of the principles and some of the techniques of proof
- Develop the skills needed in mathematical reasoning and manipulation
- Learn how to apply the principles and techniques of mathematical/statistical modelling and formulate and solve mathematical problems
- Enhance your ability to perform mathematical calculations with attention to precision and logic
- Develop your self-management and organisational skills
- Develop your time management and presentational skills through independent and group working
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
You can use your BSc in Financial Mathematics as a pathway to the workforce where you may meet our alumni working in finance, government, marketing or even agriculture. Or, you might choose to widen your career options to include a range of related fields by completing postgraduate studies in mathematics, science, computing or engineering.
Maths Careers Support
In the Spring semester of your first year, there are a range of masterclasses available to you to help support your future career prospects. The classes cover work experience, CV and cover letters, application forms, interview techniques, and an introduction to LinkedIn.
We have a regularly updated student jobs board featuring a range of volunteering, internship, placement, and graduate opportunities. Plus, we organise a full programme of student and employer presentations every year with employers, such as Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, PwC, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Sainsbury's, Network Rail, GSK, Office of National Statistics, Welsh Government, the MOD, Welsh Water, and the Met Office.
The School of Mathematics also has a Careers Management Skills Programme, presentations by students returning from industry and a range of sponsored prizes awarded for academic achievement.
Program Admission Requirements
Show your commitment and readiness for Grad school by taking the GRE - the most broadly accepted exam for graduate programs internationally.