Program

Actuarial / Science (Adv Math) - 3589

Program Summary

Faculty: Australian School of Business

Contact:  Australian School of Business Student Centre

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Typical Duration: 5 Years

Typical UOC Per Semester: 24

Min UOC Per Semester: 6

Max UOC Per Semester: 24

Min UOC For Award: 240

International Entry Requirements: See International Entry Requirements

Award(s):

Bachelor of Actuarial Studies

Information valid for students commencing 2013.
Students who commenced prior to 2013 should go to the Handbook's Previous Editions

Program Description

Important – International Applicants
The Bachelor of Actuarial Studies/Advanced Mathematics currently being assessed for CRICOS registration. Unless and until CRICOS registration is obtained (which cannot be guaranteed), the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies/Advanced Mathematics will not be available to international applicants wishing to study in Australia. If you are interested in the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies/Advanced Mathematics then please contact the Australian School of Business and we will advise you should the program become registered on CRICOS.

Need information on our business programs? Start your search at the Australian School of Business website.
Students should always follow the program requirements according to the year they started their degree. For more information please visit Previous UNSW Online Handbooks.


The Bachelor of Actuarial Studies/Bachelor of Science in Advanced Mathematics (BCom/BSc (Adv Maths)) is a 5 year dual degree program which will meet the needs of students wanting an advanced program of study in mathematics or statistics, complemented with a strong, focused actuarial studies program. As part of this program students will complete a major stream in both a selected area of mathematics or statistics (from Faculty of Science), and a sequence of actuarial studies courses within the Australian School of Business.

The BSc component includes the potential award of honours based on overall performance, and incorporates a single major and a research project. Majors are defined on the Advanced Mathematics Program (3986) page.

With approval, students with an appropriate academic record may also enrol in an additional actuarial studies Honours year within the Australian School of Business.

Program Objectives and Graduate Attributes

On successful completion of the BActSt component, students will be able to demonstrate:
  • critical thinking and problem solving skills
  • effective and confident communication in oral and written forms
  • collaborative skills in teamwork and a capacity for leadership
  • their in-depth knowledge of the work of actuaries in financial institutions
  • understanding of social, ethical and global perspectives on a range of cultural, environmental and economic spheres
  • the capacity to plan and manage their study and workloads to achieve self-direction, and personal and professional goals.

The objective of the BSc (Advanced Mathematics) component is to:
  • Graduate Mathematicians and Statisticians with both breadth and depth of mathematics, statistics and scientific knowledge and professional skills
  • Develop the capacity for critical thinking and independent learning
  • Provide training in the practice and management of research and instil a research ethos
  • Develop general and science-specific graduate attributes
  • Expose students to disciplines different to mathematics and statistics

Program Structure

Bachelor of Actuarial Studies

Students are required to complete at least 96 UOC in courses consisting of:
  • Compulsory core actuarial courses (84 UOC)
  • ASB courses (12UOC)

The compulsory core courses are:
  • ACTL2102 - Time Series and Simulation
  • ACTL2111 - Compound Interest Theory and Applications
  • ACTL2131 - Probability and Mathematical Statistics
  • ACTL3141 - Actuarial Models and Statistics
  • ACTL3151 - Life Contingencies
  • ACTL3162 - General Insurance Techniques
  • ACTL3182 - Asset-Liability and Derivative Models
Students may replace ACTL1122 with the two courses ACCT1501 and ACCT1511 Accounting and Financial Management 1A and 1B. Students may also replace ACTL2131 with the two courses MATH2901 Higher Theory of Statistics and MATH2931 Higher Linear Models.

If students make either or both of these replacements, the first of these courses (i.e. ACCT1501 and MATH2901) will count towards the core, and the second course can be counted towards another major or minor or as an elective.

Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics)

Students are required to complete at least 144 UOC of courses for this component which includes:
  • An Advanced Mathematics major from program 3986 – applied maths, pure maths and statistics
  • A 48 UOC Honours sequence at stage 5
  • SCIF1121 or SCIF1131
  • Science elective courses
Other requirements

Students may not include more than 72 UOC of level I courses overall, except where specified in a particular program.

Honours

B Act St

High achieving students may apply to undertake honours in the area of actuarial studies. Honours is an additional year of full-time study which provides students with advanced knowledge of their chosen field and develops research and communication skills.

Students usually complete advanced courses/seminars and a thesis. Students interested in studying at Honours Level should refer to the relevant Honours plan record for entry requirements and contact the Honours Co-ordinator in the School of Risk and actuarial Studies.

BSc (Advanced Mathematics)

A Honours in this component must be completed by students. For details please refer to point 4 below in the Academic Rules for this program.

Academic Rules

Rules Relating to the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies Component

Content of Program

To be awarded a degree at Pass level, the BActSt component must contain:

1. The 14 core courses stipulated above.
2. A minimum of 78 UoC of courses offered by the ASB.
3. Maximum of 60UoC of Level 1 courses (across the entire BActSt BSc(Advanced Maths) program).

Progression rules
4. A minimum of 24UoC courses must be completed before enrolling in Level 2 courses.
5. A minimum of 72UoC courses must be completed before enrolling in Level 3 courses.

Awarding degree
6. A Pass degree with Distinction may be awarded if a student achieves a minimum of 75 WAM across the BActSt program and completes a minimum of 72UoC at UNSW.

Honours
• Additional year of 48UOC after completion of the requirements for the BActSt.
• Comprises specified courses plus a 24 UOC thesis
• Must be completed in two semesters following completion of the BActSt
• Eligibility: minimum WAM of 80 in the relevant disciplinary stream of the BActSt.
• Pass all courses in the BActSt at the first attempt.
• Application: expression of interest and written application submitted to the Head of School or Honours Coordinator of the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies
• Award: Class 1, Class 2 Division 1, Class 2 Division 2, Class 3; if requirements for these classes are not met, a Pass degree will be awarded.

Rules Relating to the Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) Component

Content of Program

To be awarded a degree at Pass level, the BSc (Advanced Mathematics) component must contain:


1. Students must complete a minimum of 144 units of credit;

2. Students must complete exactly one approved Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) major, and this must be declared before enrolling in level III courses. Details of approved Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) majors and how to declare a major can be found on the 3986 (Advanced Mathematics) program page

3. SCIF1121 Advanced Science: Professional Perspective and Practice (6 units of credit) or SCIF1131 Science: Technological & Professional Perspectives (6 units of credit) must be completed in first year;

4. An Honours Year of 48 units of credit must be completed. For information regarding the admission requirements and application process for honours, please see the information under 'Honours' on the 3986 Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) program page.
5. In addition to the courses required for a student's chosen major, SCIF1121/1131, and honours, students must take 'science' courses so that the major plus SCIF1121/1131, plus Honours, plus 'science' courses total 144 units of credit. Details of what courses constitute ‘science’ courses can be found in Table 1 on the 3986 Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) program page;

Majors in the Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) range from 84 units of credit to 114 units of credit. Honours is 48 units of credit, and SCIF1121/1131 is 6 units of credit, therefore students will typically need to take 0 - 6 units of credit of additional 'science' courses. This additional science course may need to be at level I depending on whether a major satisfies rule 6 below.

6. Students must complete a minimum of 24 units of credit of 'science' level I courses;
Typically Advanced Mathematics majors already contain 24 units of credit of science level I courses, therefore, no further level I science courses are required. However, where a major does not already meet this requirement, additional level I science courses will need to be taken. These science level I courses count towards the 144 units of credit requirement at rule number 5.

7. A minimum of 30 units of credit of level III science courses must be completed;

Typically Advanced Mathematics majors already contain 30 units of credit of level III courses, therefore, no further level III courses are required. However, where a major does not already meet this requirement, additional level III courses will need to be taken. These additional level III courses should be completed in a student's major area of study, or a complementary area that will be beneficial for a student's chosen honours area.

8. No student may commence level II courses until 30 units of credit of level I courses have been successfully completed (This is 30 units of credit of courses taken towards the entire dual program and not just courses for the Science component).

9. Students may commence level III courses upon successful completion of 72 units of credit (This is 72 units of credit of courses taken towards the entire dual program and not just courses for the Science component).

10. Progression to stages 2, 3 and 4 is subject to academic performance. Students will be required to attain a weighted average mark (WAM) of 70 in each semester. Where students do not maintain this minimum level of academic performance, they will be transferred to the Bachelor of Science program.

Notes:

Students wishing to complete a major in Quantitative Risk, should note that this is a large multi-disciplinary major, and when taken in a dual degree program where there is little or no overlap of courses with the other degree program, may involve extra time and cost to complete, and may have visa implications for international students.

Fees

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/fees/FeesMainPage.html

Professional Recognition

For further information, please refer to the Professional Recognition of Programs in the UNSW Online Handbook.

Further Information

Please note that these requirements may be subject to change. Students should always follow the program requirements according to the year they started their degree. For more information please visit Previous UNSW Online Handbooks

Contact the Australian School of Business Student Centre for advice.
tel: + 61 2 9385 3189
location: Ground Floor, West Wing, Australian School of Business Building
Forms, policies and procedures
Frequently asked questions

Contact the Faculty of Science for advice on B Sc (Advanced maths) component.

e-mail: sso@unsw.edu.au
tel: + 61 2 9385 6125
tel: + 61 2 9385 7788
location: Robert Webster Building, Room 128

Area(s) of Specialisation