Actuarial Science and Risk Management
The BSc Actuarial Science and Risk Management programme has been designed by qualified actuaries to enable students to develop the theoretical and practical skills required to pursue a career as an actuary in the pensions and insurance sectors, or in the wider financial industry.
In addition, students may gain up to six exemptions from the initial technical professional exams required to qualify as an actuary via our accreditation with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.
| Award Name | Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 |
|---|---|
| NFQ Classification | |
| Awarding Body | Queens University Belfast |
| NFQ Level |
| Award Name | NFQ Classification | Awarding Body | NFQ Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 | Queens University Belfast |
Duration
4 years (Full Time)
Placement Year: Yes
Entry Requirements
Irish leaving certificate requirements
H1H1H1H1H2H2 including Higher Level grade H1 in Mathematics
Careers / Further progression
Students pursuing a career in Actuarial Science should enjoy working with numbers, be effective communicators and work well with people as they will have to analyse and interpret financial and other information to meet the needs of different users, including managers and investors.
Employment after the Course
The traditional areas in which actuaries are employed include:
Pensions Industry - Actuaries are involved in the management and valuation of pension scheme liabilities (for regulatory purposes). They are also involved in new design and restructuring of pension schemes, deficit management and any requirements of regulatory change on pension schemes.
Investment Industry - Actuaries are involved in a wide variety of work such as pricing financial derivatives, working in fund management or working in quantitative investment research.
Life and Non-Life Insurance Industries - Actuaries design new insurance policies and calculate premium rates for the protection of life (whole life or term assurance) or personal items (car insurance or buildings and contents). Actuaries also perform reserving calculations to demonstrate solvency of the company.
Employment Links
Graduate employers include: KPMG, Spence & Partners, Irish Life, Invesco, Boal & Co, Willis Towers Watson, Allianz Insurance, Mercer, AXA Insurance, Deloitte, Milliman, Liberty Mutual Insurance, PwC, Pramerica, Metlife, XPS.
Further information
Start date: September 2024
Deadlines for on-time applications
2024 entry application deadlines
For courses starting in 2024 (and for deferred applications), your application should be with us at UCAS by one of these dates – depending on what courses you apply for. If your completed application – including all your personal details and your academic reference – is submitted by the deadline, it is guaranteed to be considered.
16 October 2023 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – any course at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry. You can add choices with a different deadline later, but don’t forget you can only have five choices in total.
31 January 2024 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – for the majority of courses.
Some course providers require additional admissions tests to be taken alongside the UCAS application, and these may have a deadline. Find out more about these tests at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/admissions-tests
Check course information in the search tool to see which deadline applies to you at the application weblink below.
Apply as soon as possible: Student funding arrangements mean that as offers are made and places fill up, some courses may only have vacancies for students from certain locations. It’s therefore really important that you apply for your chosen courses by the appropriate deadlines mentioned above, as not all courses will have places for all students.
All applications received after 30 June are entered into Clearing - find out more about Clearing at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/clearing-and-results-day/what-clearing
Professional Accreditations
Subject to academic performance, students can gain up to six exemptions from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) professional exams.
Industry Links
The Society of Northern Ireland Actuaries (SoNIA) is a regional society for local actuaries. It aims to offer a forum for Northern Ireland based actuaries and student actuaries to share opinions on actuarial topics, providing a networking opportunity.
The information below is intended as an example only, featuring module details for the current year of study (2023/24). Modules are reviewed on an annual basis and may be subject to future changes – revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year.
Year 1
Core Modules
Foundations of Economics 1 (20 credits)
Actuarial Mathematics 1 (20 credits)
Foundations of Economics 2 (20 credits)
Introduction to Probability & Statistics (30 credits)
Introduction to Statistical and Operational Research Methods (10 credits)
Actuarial Placement Preparation (0 credits)
Financial Reporting and Analysis (20 credits)
Year 2
Core Modules
Financial Risk Modelling (20 credits)
Actuarial methods in General Insurance (20 credits)
Excel Analysis (20 credits)
Principles of Actuarial Modelling (20 credits)
Actuarial Placement Learning (0 credits)
Actuarial Mathematics 2 (20 credits)
Investment Analysis (20 credits)
Year 3
Core Modules
Queen's Management School Placement Year (120 credits)
Year 4
Core Modules
Stochastic Processes for Finance (20 credits)
Actuarial Econometrics and Data Science (20 credits)
Financial Engineering (20 credits)
Actuarial Modelling (20 credits)
Equity Research (20 credits)
Actuarial Applications (20 credits)
Admissions
Tel: 028 9097 3838
Fax: 028 9097 5151
Email address: admissions@qub.ac.uk