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Financial Mathematics with a Professional Placement Year

Course details
  • BSc (Hons)
  • 4 Years
  • Sandwich including industrial placement
  • 22/09/2025
  • Undergraduate
Course location
Main Site - Cardiff
Awarded by:
Cardiff University (Prifysgol Caerdydd)

Course summary

Begin an exciting journey towards your future career with a degree in BSc Financial Mathematics. You’ll gain the core mathematical skills towards a career in finance, banking and insurance.

By studying this degree, you’ll receive a solid foundation in general mathematical theory and techniques, but also have the opportunity to take on a professional placement year!

You will develop an understanding of modern financial markets, institutions, investments and policies, with a focus on issues and topics relevant to the computational and market design side of contemporary finance, including:

  • Complex systems

  • Trading (in particular high-frequency trading)

  • Fund management

  • Analytics

The program is also flexible. After your first year, in most cases, you will have the option to switch courses, so you can keep your options open when you apply.
Your placement, as part of this degree, will take place during your third year as paid work as a mathematician and/or statistician at an organisation in the United Kingdom or Europe. It’s a great opportunity to gain valuable work experience and develop your professional skills.

You will be supported throughout the application process to secure your placement and they can be undertaken with a wide range of providers across industry and government including many in the professional and financial services, the pharmaceutical industry and organisations such as the Office for National Statistics.

If you complete the professional training period you can be considered for the City and Guilds Senior Licentiateship Award (LCGI).

Another highlight is that you will be taught in Abacws, the new home for the School of Mathematics at Cardiff University. This world-leading facility has been designed in collaboration with students and academic staff to create interdisciplinary, flexible and creative workspaces, with innovative teaching areas being a key feature, including a simulated Trading Room for financial mathematics.

How to apply

Apply by
29 January

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Course code:
15R6
Institution code:
C15
Campus name:
Main Site - Cardiff
Campus Code:
-

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

UCAS Tariff - Not accepted

A level - AAB - BBB

Must include Maths.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DD in a BTEC Diploma in any subject and grade A in A-Level Maths.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - 34 - 31 points

34-31 overall or 666-665 in 3 HL subjects. Must include grade 6 in HL Maths or Maths Analysis and Approaches.

Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (last awarded Summer 2024)

The Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate will be accepted in place of one A-level at the A-level grades specified, excluding any subject specific requirements.

Extended Project - A

For applicants taking the EPQ qualification, an A in the EPQ can be recognised to lower the entry requirements by a single grade. For example, an AAB offer would be “AAB from 3 A-levels or ABB from 3 A-levels and a grade A in the EPQ”. Please note that any subject specific requirements must be met.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

You must have or be working towards: - English language or Welsh language at GCSE grade C/4 or an equivalent (such as A-levels). If you require a Student visa, you must ensure your language qualification complies with UKVI requirements.

T Level

Acceptance of T Levels for this programme will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Academic School. Consideration will be given to the T Level grade/subject and grades/subjects achieved at GCSE/Level 2.

We do not accept Critical Thinking, General Studies, Citizenship Studies, or other similar equivalent subjects.
We will accept a combination of BTEC subjects, A-levels, and other qualifications, subject to the course specific grade and subject requirements.

English language requirements

All applicants are expected to have demonstrable English language skills. Most courses ask for GCSE English grade C/4 or equivalent, but some courses ask for GCSE English grade B/6 or equivalent.

To find out more, please go to: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/international/english-language-requirements/undergraduate

Contextual admissions

Universities and colleges consider more than grades when assessing applications and may make offers based on a range of criteria. Learn more about contextual offers.

At Cardiff we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, as part of this our contextual admissions policy aims to widen participation and improve access to Higher Education (HE).

For more information on Cardiff University contextual admissions, including how applications are scored and how we use that score, please see our website.

Learn more on the Cardiff University website

Historical entry grades data BETA

This section shows the range of grades students (with UK A-Levels or Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diplomas) who received offers were previously accepted with (learn more). It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place. Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.

Not enough data available

We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

LocationFeeYear
England£9535Year 1
Northern Ireland£9535Year 1
Scotland£9535Year 1
Wales£9535Year 1
Channel Islands£9535Year 1
Republic of Ireland£9535Year 1
EU£29450Year 1
International£29450Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.

Additional fee information

Students from the UK and Islands:

Fees stated are for the 2025/26 academic year. The University reserves the right to increase tuition fees in the second and subsequent years of a course as permitted by law or Welsh Government policy. Where applicable we will notify you of any change in tuition fee by the end of June in the academic year before the one in which the fee will increase.

Fees for entry in subsequent years are subject to increase and will be confirmed by the end of October in the year preceding your start date of your programme, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Tuition fees cover all reasonable costs required for you to complete to the degree programme stated. Please note that you may choose to participate in study trips, associated placements or purchase equipment while studying on your degree programme which will be at your own cost. Tuition fees do not include living costs such as accommodation, subsistence or travel.

Students from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland:

If you are an EU/EEA/Swiss national, unless you qualify for UK fee status, tuition fees for 2025/26 will be in line with the fees charged for international students. You can check whether you are eligible for UK (Home) fee status on the UKCISA website: https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/Information--Advice/Fees-and-Money/Wales-HE-fee-status#layer-6099

Students from the rest of the world (international):

Fees stated are for 2025/26 entry and are fixed for the duration of the programme, excluding Medicine and Dentistry programmes. Please note that during the pre-clinical element of Medicine and Dentistry programmes the fee rate will be fixed, after which the clinical fee rate will be charged. Further details are available on the university website at: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/international/funding-and-fees

Fees for entry in subsequent years are subject to increase and will be confirmed by the end of October in the year preceding your start date of your programme, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Tuition fees cover all reasonable costs required for you to complete the degree programme stated. Please note that you may choose to participate in study trips, associated placements or purchase equipment while studying on your degree programme which will be at your own cost. Tuition fees do not include living costs such as accommodation, subsistence or travel.

Sponsorship information

Cardiff University has many scholarships on offer to our prospective students. Please see our website at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/funding/scholarships for further information.

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