The MSc in Actuarial Science will prepare you for a high-flying career as an actuary in traditional and non-traditional actuarial fields. You also have the option to choose the Business Analytics pathway which will provide you with the much sought after skills in this area.

Who is it for?

If you have strong technical ability and an interest in solving business problems, becoming an actuary is one of the most rewarding career choices you can make. Changes in the world bring new risks, which mean new challenges for actuaries.

It will offer you a firm grounding in the fundamentals of actuarial science in insurance, finance and investment, business analytical methods, machine learning, data management systems and natural language processing. You will undertake a detailed study of the mathematical and statistical techniques for measuring the probability and risk of future events and their financial impact on a business and/or their clients.

Objectives

As the needs of the actuarial profession and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries evolve, the skill set of actuaries is used in wider applications in both traditional and non-traditional fields, and the intake of overseas members increases, this programme is designed to reflect these challenges and ensure that it is fit for purpose for actuaries in an ever-changing global business environment.

On this postgraduate course, you will study statistics, probability, stochastic processes, survival models, economics, finance and investment, insurance, pensions and financial contracts valuation, with computer-based applications. This broad and varied syllabus is equivalent to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ Core Mathematics, Core Statistics and Core Business professional examinations (Subjects CM1, CM2, CS1, CS2, CB1, CB2), and enables you to gain exemptions from them.

In addition, this programme will give you the opportunity to study business analytical methods and learn how data analysis is performed in the real world. You will be able to study machine learning techniques and their use in analysing complex data and designing predictive analytics methods.

Assessment

Assessment of modules on this programme, in most cases, is by means of coursework and unseen examination. Coursework may comprise computer-based components, unseen tests and problem sets, classwork, individual and group presentations, group reports and standard essays.

Career destinations for MSc Actuarial Science

Our graduates from the MSc in Actuarial Science are well prepared to tackle actuarial and risk analyst, consultancy and underwriting roles in leading firms. An actuarial career is a global professional passport in a role which is as challenging as it is rewarding.

An increasing number of companies are now looking for actuarial students who have knowledge of business analytics. This is due to the changing nature of actuarial roles with more technology and analytics brought into actuarial processes across most of the industry sectors mentioned above. The MSc Actuarial Science with Business Analytics route will enable students to gain a strong understanding of both the actuarial principles and the associated analytics.