Undergraduate study

Overview

Actuaries are the professionals who evaluate the likelihood of future risky events and determine strategies to manage the associated risk. In general, actuaries provide advice to institutions like insurance companies, pension funds and financial and investment institutions. The skills acquired by actuaries are not confined to the financial sector but are also transferable to any organisation that has to deal with risk and make financial sense of the future.

The programme at Keele is a full-time three-year degree programme.

It is ideal for students with good training in quantitative subjects and in particular with a grade A in A-level Mathematics, or the equivalent in other qualifications. The course provides the academic training in mathematics, statistics, economics and finance which is necessary to understand modern developments in actuarial science. In addition, throughout the three years of the course, students will follow specialist modules which will give them a good understanding of the knowledge required to become an actuary.

Course Content

First Year

The first year equips you with the basic tools of mathematical, financial, accounting and economic analysis that will be required for the modules to follow at Level 2. It comprises eight core modules from the areas of finance, economics and mathematics:

Calculus I
Calculus II
Algebra I
Algebra II
Accounting Principles
Household, Firms and Government
Economics of Financial Markets
Fundamentals of Actuarial Science

Fundamentals of Actuarial Science introduces students to the basics of Actuarial Science in the deterministic context. The calculus (I and II) and Algebra (I and II) modules provide the requisite mathematical methods required for actuarial calculation, while the remaining three modules give a fundamental knowledge of accounting, finance and economics that provide a basis for understanding the context in which actuarial calculations are made.

Second Year

The objective of the second year is to develop analytical skills in Actuarial Science, Finance and Mathematics on which you can build at Level 3. You take a further eight modules at Level 2.

Economic Decision Under Risk is a module specific to the Actuarial Science programme in the second year and it provides the theoretical basis to understand the effect of risk on individual behaviour and its consequences on market outcomes.

You will develop your understanding of the mathematics and statistics underlying actuarial calculations with the following modules taught by the mathematics group:

Probability
Differential Equations
Statistical Inference
Stochastic Processes

On the finance side, you deepen your understanding of the market price assets, and how investors respond to these market prices and returns. The following two modules deal with these aspects of financial theory:

Asset Pricing 
Portfolio Choice

Finally, Open Economy Macroeconomics provides you with the analytical elements to examine the role and capability of the government policies in the context of an open economy.

Third Year

You take four core modules specific to actuarial science:

Insurance Statistics is devoted to the statistical techniques used to model and measure individual risks, while Insurance Theory follows on from Fundamentals of Actuarial Science and Economic Decision under Certainty and develops understanding and analysis of risk.

Topics in Theoretical and Empirical Actuarial Science present recent developments in actuarial research and practice with external speakers (practitioners and academics) contributing to the teaching of the module.

Options and Futures develops understanding of financial markets and focuses on the derivatives of financial assets.

During the second semester, a wide choice of electives in financial and mathematical topics allows you to specialise in specific subject areas or to achieve breadth in your understanding of the theories and techniques that underpin Actuarial Science.

Over the last few years, third year electives were taken from the list below:

Corporate Finance
Game Theory
Partial Differential Equations
Mathematical Programming
Economic and Business Forecasting
Medical Statistics
Probability Models
Numerical Analysis

Placements

Students will have the opportunity to gain six weeks work experience during the Summer following from the second year of study. The School will selectively match students with firms during the course of the second semester of the second year of study. Furthermore, the School will ensure that students are supervised for the duration of the placement.

The Summer placement will only be available to students who have passed all the taught component of the programme by the end of the Spring Semester.

Codes and Combinations

Students are candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) (BA Hons).

Single Honours Course available:

Teaching and Assessment

Teaching takes place in lectures, supported by tutorials, study groups and computer laboratory classes. Computer facilities are used extensively in Actuarial Science teaching and expertise is gained with a wide range of relevant statistical , economic and modern business software and databases. A range of assessment methods are utilised across the programme among many weekly or fortnightly exercises, mid-semester tests, projects, essay assignments and unseen two-hour examinations. The precise combination in each module will depend on the material covered.

Programme specifications (new window)

Skills and Careers

In order to become an actuary it is necessary to qualify as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in England and Wales or the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland; these are the two professional bodies for UK actuaries. To qualify as a Fellow, you must pass professional examinations set by these bodies and be able to demonstrate appropriate experience.

The main objective of the third year of the Keele degree is to complete the training in actuarial, financial and mathematical analysis in order to gain exemption from some of the Core Technical subjects determined by the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries. Graduates should then gain employment and go on to achieve their full professional qualification as an actuary sooner than they would otherwise be able to.

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