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Postgraduate Course

MSc Actuarial Science

MSc Actuarial Science
The details
Actuarial Science
October 2025
Full-time
1 year
Colchester Campus

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 course is taught by the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science and is intended for students with a first degree in mathematics, statistics, economics or finance who would like to acquire knowledge in actuarial science.

Our MSc Actuarial Science course is based on the syllabus of the majority of the core subjects of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, so you'll cover subjects as part of your course CB1 (Business Finance) depending on the optional module selected, CM2 (Financial Engineering and Loss Reserving) and CS2 (Risk Modelling and Survival Analysis). This focus on up-to-date research findings in actuarial methodologies and actuarial applications means that you gain a solid training in actuarial modelling and actuarial analysis.

It is also possible to specialise on a topic of choice, with options including:

  • Actuarial and financial modelling
  • General insurance
  • Life insurance

You will also have the chance to study a problem in depth through a Masters thesis project on a subject chosen by you or your supervisor.

As part of our School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science you're a member of an inclusive and approachable research community with an international reputation in many areas including semi-group theory, optimisation, probability, applied statistics, bioinformatics and mathematical biology.

We are genuinely innovative and student-focused. Our research groups are working on a broad range of collaborative areas tackling real-world issues. Here are a few examples:

  • Our data scientists carefully consider how not to lie, and how not to get lied to with data. Interpreting data correctly is especially important because much of our data science research is applied directly or indirectly to social policies, including health, care and education.
  • We do practical research with financial data (for example, assessing the risk of collapse of the UK's banking system) as well as theoretical research in financial instruments such as insurance policies or asset portfolios.
  • We also research how physical processes develop in time and space. Applications of this range from modelling epilepsy to modelling electronic cables.
  • Our optimisation experts work out how to do the same job with less resource, or how to do more with the same resource.
  • Our pure maths group are currently working on two new funded projects entitled ‘Machine learning for recognising tangled 3D objects' and ‘Searching for gems in the landscape of cyclically presented groups'.
  • We also do research into mathematical education and use exciting technologies such as electroencephalography or eye tracking to measure exactly what a learner is feeling. Our research aims to encourage the implementation of ‘the four Cs' of modern education, which are critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.
Why we're great.
  • Study the majority of the Core Technical subjects of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.
  • Work alongside expert academics and practicing actuaries.
  • Through our pioneering teaching approach we develop the actuarial scientists of the future.

Our expert staff

Many of our academics have won national or regional awards for lecturing, and many of them are qualified and accredited teachers – something which is very rare at a university.

Our course teachers are expert academics conducting internationally excellent multidisciplinary research, with significant multi-year experience in consulting and practicing actuarial science. Our key actuarial science staff are Professor Spyridon Vrontos (specialising in actuarial and financial data science, predictive modelling and predictability), Dr Tolulope Fadina (mathematical finance), Dr Junlei Hu (reinsurance and optimal risk transfer), Dr Peng Liu (applied probability and queueing systems), Dr Jackie Wong (Bayesian methods and survival analysis), and Dr John O'Hara (financial mathematics and machine learning in finance).

Specialist facilities

  • Unique to Essex is our renowned Maths Support Centre, which offers help to students, staff and local businesses on a range of mathematical problems. Throughout term-time, we can chat through mathematical problems either on a one-to-one or small group basis
  • We have our own computer labs for the exclusive use of students in the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science – in addition to your core maths modules, you gain computing knowledge of software including Matlab and Maple
  • We host events and seminars throughout the year

Your future

We expect our graduates of MSc Actuarial Science to become actuaries in a range of industries. It has been predicted by the US Department of Labor 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, clear thinkers are required in every profession, so the successful mathematician has an extensive choice of potential careers. The Council for Mathematical Sciences offers further information on careers in mathematics.

We also work with the University's Careers Services to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

We also offer supervision for PhD, MPhil and MSc by Dissertation. We have an international reputation in many areas such as semi-group theory, optimisation, probability; applied statistics, bioinformatics and mathematical biology, and our School is strongly committed to research and to the promotion of graduate activities.

At Essex we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive student community. We offer a wide range of support to individuals and groups of student members who may have specific requirements, interests or responsibilities.

Find out more

The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its programme specification is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to courses, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include, but are not limited to: strikes, other industrial action, staff illness, severe weather, fire, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack (whether declared or not), natural disaster, restrictions imposed by government or public authorities, epidemic or pandemic disease, failure of public utilities or transport systems or the withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to courses may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications. The University would inform and engage with you if your course was to be discontinued, and would provide you with options, where appropriate, in line with our Compensation and Refund Policy.

The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.

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