Postgraduate Diploma - Actuarial Science

Actuaries provide assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms. Actuaries quantify the probability and manage the risk of future events in areas such as insurance, healthcare, pensions, investment, and banking and also in non-financial areas. This University of Essex course is taught by the Department of Mathematical Sciences and is intended for students with a first degree in mathematics, statistics, economics or finance who would like to acquire knowledge in actuarial science.

Essex's MSc Actuarial Science course is based on the syllabus of the majority of the Core Technical subjects of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, so students will cover Core Technical subjects as part of their course. This focus on up-to-date research findings in actuarial methodologies and actuarial applications means that students gain a solid training in actuarial modelling and actuarial analysis. It is also possible to specialize in a topic of choice, with options including: Actuarial and Financial Modelling, General Insurance, and Life Insurance. Students will also have the chance to study a problem in depth through a Masters thesis project on a subject chosen by them or their supervisor. As part of the Department of Mathematical Sciences students are members of an inclusive and approachable research community with an international reputation in many areas including semi-group theory, optimization, probability, applied statistics, bioinformatics and mathematical biology. Essex is genuinely innovative and student-focused. Their research groups are working on a broad range of collaborative areas tackling real-world issues. As a new course, Essex expects graduates of MSc Actuarial Science to become actuaries in a range of industries. It is predicted by the US Department of Labour that the employment of actuaries is expected to grow faster than any other occupation, making it a great prospect for a graduate job. Aside from a rewarding career as an actuary (actuaries are in the top ten jobs for 2016, careercast.com), clear thinkers are required in every profession, so the successful mathematician has an extensive choice of potential careers.