Actuary

Hi!
I am interested in a career in Actuary.

If anyone here is studying for an actuary career in uni or anything pls let me know how difficult it is to enter the field.

Also what subjects to study, best uni to go to etc...

many thanks!!!

Reply 1

Doglamlico

Original post by lana123

Obviously Maths, F. Maths at A-level. Economics, Physics could be very useful too. You'd need a Mathematical course at university, e.g. Maths, Physics, MORSE, Economics, ActScience and the job market is very tough anyway so try to go to as good a university as you can.

Reply 2

kratos90

I'm planning on going into this profession. I have Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Accounting A-Level. You need at least a 2:1 in your degree and it doesn't matter which degree, but a mathematical degree is preferred. If you have a non-mathematical degree they will require you to have A-Level Maths to at least grade B. Personally I'm doing an Accounting and Finance degree which contains two management science modules (very statistical), four economics modules and 10 Accounting modules (two of which are very mathematical). You can even get into the field without a degree but this is very rare.

It is extremely competitive so a higher ranked uni will improve your chances but ultimately it will come down to your interview and how well they think you are suited in their company.

While you train to become a fully qualified actuary you will study for exams alongside working. The exams are supposed to be extremely difficult even by the standards of people with a first in degrees such as maths and actuarial science itself, and they weed out the best. The pay is worth it. Roughly £30 000 for a trainee, and £55 000 once fully qualified (which takes about 3-6 years). Then there is a chance to progress throughout your career with salaries rising to potentially over £200 000.

A lot of this is paraphrased from prospects.ac.uk

Reply 3

Tokyoround

Original post by lana123

Firstly you can't have a career in "Actuary" that doesn't make sense. Actuary is like a job title, you wouldn't say "I am interested in a career in Accountant" would you?

To enter the Actuarial profession you need to pass the exams set by the professional body. In fact, similar to accounting, a degree isn't explicitly required to be an Actuary but having one will give you exemptions from exams and obviously open doors.

You can study anything you like but bear in mind A-levels such as maths, economics, physics, possibly english and history will put you in good stead.

If you are 100% set on becoming an Actuary, your best option is to do an accredited Actuarial Science degree at university in order to gain exemptions from the first level of exams (CT stage). More universities offer this degree nowadays but historically Heriot-Watt, Cass Business School and Kent were the main 3 to offer the degree.

If you aren't set on becoming an Actuary, Economics and Maths degrees will give you far less exemptions but you also get the flexibility of taking another career path if you wish. You can also still opt for doing an Actuarial Masters to gain more exemptions.

Read:
http://www.actuaries.org.uk/
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1114685

Reply 4

username202340

I'm an Actuary. And it's really hard.

Anything Maths/Stats degree is pretty good, but you need more than that.

Reply 5

lana123

For my ALevels i picked maths, physics, history and economics

I know its a bit far off but im looking into uni's now, and looking to do a degree in actuarial science, anyone know what this course persists of?

and also looking to take this course at cass business school, reading some threads on TSR there are mixed suggestions of the uni, wondering if cass is considered as a prestigious school?

also what does an actuarial career consists, and where i would find employment

Please help thanks guys!!!!

Reply 6

Tokyoround

Original post by lana123

Ignore TSR, Cass is good, particularly for Actuarial Science.

List of other accredited universities: http://www.actuaries.org.uk/students/pages/university-courses-and-exemptions

Places offering Actuarial science degrees: http://search.ucas.com/cgi-bin/hsrun/search/search/StateId/E1w-Z93H9g8qdK-yaiOQSQFQTGDO1-32_A/HAHTpage/search.HsKeywordSuggestion.whereNext?query=1779&word=ACTUARIAL+SCIENCE&single=N
Check their grade requirements so you have an idea of what you need to work towards. I'd advise Southampton, LSE, City/Cass, Manchester and Kent. Heriott-Watt is supposedly very good for Actuarial Science but as it's Scotland I don't know much about it.

Rough breakdown of what you can expect to study: http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/courses/options/actuarial-science/

What you do on a day to day basis depends on what sort of Actuary you are. Actuaries can find work almost anywhere in finance but are most commonly found in insurance, pensions and risk consulting.

Reply 7

Jeester

Just to jump on to this thread, is it at all common place for engineerings to be able to get in to the actuarial sector?

Reply 8

username202340

MORSE@Warwick. Best degree out there.

Reply 9

blessed107

Original post by singh246

I'm an Actuary. And it's really hard.

Anything Maths/Stats degree is pretty good, but you need more than that.

woudl you recommend me to become an actuary. could you tell me the positives and the negatives. and is it easy to find a job, and whether i should try to become one

Reply 10

blessed107

Original post by lana123

woudl you recommend me to become an actuary. could you tell me the positives and the negatives. and is it easy to find a job, and whether i should try to become one