Finance and Mathematics (Including Placement Year)

Through developing expert abilities in mathematics and discovering how these can be applied to financial situations, you will improve your capacity to make successful financial decisions and understand how you can turn risk into opportunity.

Our BSc Finance and Mathematics course offers you modules in mathematics, accounting, economics and actuarial science. Our business-focused course equips you with the knowledge and skills that are in demand by employers, and in particular in financial markets or corporate careers that involve financial decision-making and problem-solving.

You gain a thorough grounding in both finance and mathematics, investigating topics including:

- Corporate finance

- Portfolio management

- Applying mathematical, statistical and probabilistic techniques

- Programming and computation in languages such as Matlab and R

- Micro- and macro-economics

You can spend your third year with an external organisation, learning about a particular sector, company or job role, applying your academic knowledge in a practical working environment, and receiving inspiration for future career pathways. You will be responsible for finding your placement, but with support and guidance provided by both your department and the placements team. If you complete a placement year you'll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year.

As part of our Department of Mathematical Sciences, you’re a member of an inclusive and approachable research community which allows you to explore topics in pure, high-level mathematics and applied mathematics.