Mathematics and Finance (with Integrated Foundation Year)
Entry requirements
A level
To include GCE A level grade C in Mathematics
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE English Language grade 4 and Mathematics grade 5
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Mathematics Higher Level 4 or Standard Level 5 and minimum of grade 5 in Standard Level English.
UCAS Tariff
To include GCE A level grade C in Mathematics
About this course
This course is for students who are passionate about the scope of modern mathematics and excited by its applications in today’s world.
Whatever your future ambitions, a Mathematics degree will open up diverse career possibilities, such as the civil service, government agencies, research establishments, public utilities, financial companies and large corporations in every sector.
- Understand the universal nature of mathematics as a discipline that knows no borders or language barriers
- Master a wide range of mathematical topics and techniques, such as calculus, probability, linear algebra and mathematical physics
- Learn to apply abstract and logical mathematical methods to real-world problems
- Boost your employability with an optional paid one-year work placement – past students have secured placements at organisations such as Axa, Barclays, Bloomberg, Disney, Microsoft, Toyota and Warner Music
- Take special career development modules to understand mathematics’ essential role across all industries and the opportunities available to you
- Explore your interests through a research project chosen from a wide variety of mathematical topics – past projects have included everything from life-saving mathematics in medical imaging, to wallpaper patterns.
The Foundation route enables those students to spend a year at University consolidating their school-level Mathematics knowledge whilst acclimatising to University-style assessments and exams.
Although the foundation course does not confer an official award, successful completion will enable entry onto one of City's Mathematics courses, including:
BSc Mathematics
BSc Mathematics and Finance
BSc Mathematics with Finance and Economics
BSc Mathematics with Data Science
Modules
In your foundation year you will develop your understanding for the fundamentals of Mathematics with six core modules introducing you to the basics.
-Foundation Mathematics
The aim of this module is to consolidate your knowledge of mathematics and to introduce more advanced topics in the areas of calculus and algebra. The mathematical techniques taught in this module will be necessary for the understanding of modules throughout the degree.
-Discrete Mathematics
The aim of this module is to consolidate your knowledge of a variety of mathematics topics that go under the general name of discrete mathematics.
Discrete mathematics can be defined as the branch of mathematics dealing with countable sets, or in simpler terms, the mathematics of objects that are not continuous but can be usually labeled by an integer. This includes the integer numbers themselves, set theory, graph theory and the study and proof of logical statements, among others.
-Mathematics with Applications to Economics
This module is designed to enable you to discover and understand the Mathematics underpinning some basic Economics-related problems. The module is organized around five standard topics in Economics and the corresponding Mathematical techniques that can be used to tackle them.
-Introduction to Programming with Python
The aim of this module is to provide you with familiarity of fundamental statistical techniques and an understanding of their application in practice, along with the theory of probability which underlies them.
-Introduction to Probability and Statistics
This module will provide you with the fundamental tools in probability and statistics which are part of the basic knowledge required for mathematicians, and necessary for the understanding of modules on the BSc.
-Employability and Transferable Skills
This module will teach you how to enhance your employability and transferable skills that will be useful in your career development.
Assessment methods
The Foundation Year employs continuous assessment based around frequent class tests and group work. Students can also expect a higher number of contact hours per week (around 14 hours) in the form of teaching and tutorials, than in the subsequent years of the BSc where self-study plays a larger part.
You will be assessed using a variety of methods including examinations, coursework and practical skills.
The approximate percentage of the course assessment, based on 2018/19 entry is as follows:
50% written
50% coursework
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
City, University of London
Department of Mathematics
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Finance
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Mathematics
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Finance
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Over 2,000 students graduated with a degree in finance in 2015, and a sign of the strength of the finance industry, numbers are on the up. Over half of finance graduates go into the finance industry, with accountancy and financial advice roles particularly popular. It's also quite common for finance graduates to go into jobs which require you to take more training and gain professional qualifications — finance graduates who take further study are more likely to be studying accountancy than finance. About a third of graduates start their careers in London - but Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham are other popular locations for finance graduates to work.
Mathematics
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Want to feel needed? This is one of the most flexible degrees of all and with so much of modern work being based on data, there are options everywhere for maths graduates. With all that training in handling figures, it's hardly surprising that a lot of maths graduates go into well-paid jobs in the IT or finance industries, and last year, a maths graduate in London could expect a very respectable average starting salary of £27k. And we're always short of teachers in maths, so that is an excellent option for anyone wanting to help the next generation. And if you want a research job, you'll want a doctorate — and a really good maths doctorate will get you all sorts of interest from academia and finance — and might secure some of the highest salaries going for new leavers from university.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Finance
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£28k
£37k
£51k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Mathematics
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£21k
£30k
£34k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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