Is a Politics and Economics degree quantitative enough to become an actuary

I doubt you'd have enough of a quantitative background honestly. At LSE on that course you take the less mathematical first year maths methods options, and the less mathematical econometrics options in second year. You also don't have any optional modules in first year to try and pick up any of the missing modules (e.g. the core stats module for the economics programme).

It's pretty common I gather for actuaries to come from backgrounds in maths, CS, engineering, and physics. If they are coming from an economics background I would imagine they would be doing a very quantitative course - the joint honours courses at LSE with "arts" subjects tend to not include the very quantitative elements.

If you want to become an actuary I'm not really sure that course is the best route to that. Equally going to LSE vs any other uni is much less likely to make a difference in the actuarial field. If you wanted to go into investment banking or whatever then it's fine, actuaries do actual maths though and don't just fanny around on excel like IBanking "analysts".

Thanks for letting me know. Would it be possible to switch to a more quantitative course at LSE or is it easier to just take a gap year?
I gather there are still some places left at QUB’s MEng course starting next year I might just apply to that as a late applicant.

Thanks for letting me know. Would it be possible to switch to a more quantitative course at LSE or is it easier to just take a gap year?
I gather there are still some places left at QUB’s MEng course starting next year I might just apply to that as a late applicant.

There is no guarantee you could switch once you started, although people DO switch after starting sometimes. They would be expected to meet the standard entry criteria for the course they are switching into.

If you meet the requirements for the single honours economics course or the joint honours with maths/other mathematical courses then you might be best off just asking them now if they will consider a switch. They can't rescind your offer or anything so worst case scenario they just say no and you're in the same situation.

Whether to take a gap year or apply to another course elsewhere is really up to you. Why is it you want to go into actuarial work? Can you get the things you are looking for from other roles you could access with this degree? You picked this course foe a reason as well - what will you be missing if you switch to another course and is that something worth considering?

If your primary motivator is money then you can earn well with plenty of other jobs with that degree. I'm struggling to think of any other reason someone would WANT to be an actuary but not be doing a mathematical degree in the first place anyway, so not really sure what other rationale you may have.

It’s really due to both flexibility and interest. My current degree allows the possibility of becoming an actuary as well as the ability to enter other careers if I change my mind. It also allows me to study modules I would have a greater interest in (and this more likely to perform better in) while also studying economical mathematics.
After looking further at the the program structure, while years 1 and 2 are 50% Politics and 50% economics, if you select the right modules year 3 could be 25% politics, 25% economics and 50% maths, including selecting modules such as MA100 (mathematical methods). Would this be enough quantitative content?

The MA100 module is normally taken in first year by single honours economics students there. I don't even know if you'd be permitted to take a first year module in third year (I suspect not) and even if so, the point is that would just be the starting point for the rest of the mathematical course for the single honours economics course.

I think you still haven't actually grappled with the reality that actuarial careers are mostly likely not a possibility after that degree. Equally though there are plenty of other jobs that can earn equivalent amounts without requiring any specific mathematical background (e.g. investment banking) so I'm not sure why you are fixed on actuarial science if you aren't aiming for a quantitative degree in the first place?

IB is horrible job working in often a toxic environment and it hasn’t honestly ever crossed my mind about working in it.
The whole summer I’ve went under the assumption that some sort of actuarial route would be possible (given that I’ve heard some entering the profession after taking PPE degrees). I recognise what you’re saying but while I would definitely want at least the option of becoming an actuary (and indeed I would prefer to work in any career that uses a lot of maths), I equally don’t want to turn down a degree at LSE.
Have you heard of anyone switching a course in the first few weeks at LSE? While I may not be able to switch to a very competitive degree like pure Econ, I’m sure there’s another quantitative course that may not be filled.
Other than that, I’m not sure what to do, unless the grant me extra time to decide on paying my accommodation deposit, I’ll have to pay that by the end of today.

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7388553&p=98739579#post98739579

Hopefully this thread will provide more details

I'm aware that IB is a terrible job and environment. I don't think actuarial work is significantly better honestly but maybe that's more on moral grounds than quality of life grounds for me.

In any event, people can and do change course at the start of the year at LSE but importantly there is no guarantee of this. So you need to accept that you may end up on this course and that may affect your longer term options in some regards. There are plenty of other roles that pay well and have good QoL though (e.g. civil service roles) which have no specific requirements.

Also you may find by the time you finish your degree you've changed your mind completely what you want to do. This is why it's really important to choose a degree based on what your academic interests are and recognise in the long run your career prospects are going to be largely equivalent in most cases - and that you don't need to earn a 6 figure salary to live comfortably in most areas of the UK.

I’m more than happy to live on an average wage job in Northern Ireland due to the very low cost of living I’ll have here both due to location and personal reasons (mortgage). The problem regarding that is the lack of employment here, and that naturally drives me to have to work in areas like Dublin or London where careers such as being an actuary are more lucrative, would salary data for any degree at LSE be inflated in relation to other unis due to that fact that the vast majority of graduates work in London with its astronomical costs of living?

On another note, while looking at the course switching guidelines at LSE, I noticed how switching to the Accounting and Finance degree in year two means having to take the AC100 module, even though it’s not available on any other course, does this mean outside modules can be taken in year one for the possibility of switching courses for year two? (With permission of course?
https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/services/assets/documents/programme-transfer-conditions-ug.pdf

I think you're overestimating how many people who work in London actually live in London...a huge number of workers in London commute daily by train from various surrounding areas (all along the Cambridge line, all along the train line down to Southampton, for sure....undoubtedly others too).

It says they expect you to take the equivalent of the AC100 module, not the AC100 module. I'm guessing this is the two half courses AC102 and AC103 but can't say for sure.

Whether you can take external modules in year 1 depends on your course requirements. Usually this is feasible on single honours courses but joint honours courses need to take the core modules in both areas so typically is less feasible. Usually it's only possible to take one or sometimes two external options at LSE in first year, depending on the course in question (I think some have changed to limit this recently e.g. anthropology, philosophy).

Is there any professional careers advice service I could speak to. I’m well aware of the Government’s national career’s service, but I’m wondering if there’d be any better options.

Well once you're in uni, your uni careers service. Outside of that your local jobcentre may be able to provide some advice. You could also try your local library (mine had some advice services like that where I previously lived).

With selection of the right modules the degree can be 60% economics, isn’t this enough for MSc Economics courses?

Probably depends on the course. Some masters courses would be very mathematical and expect a stronger background in mathematical methods and econometrics. Others would be less focused on that.

Why have you applied to a joint honours in politics at all, I must ask? As through all of this you've not actually indicated any interest in that half of the degree and it's clearly a barrier to your objectives here since you are resolutely aiming at the most mathematical side of things.

If you look at the thread I’ve linked (albeit it’s very long) it will explain things in greater detail.
I chose politics as a good mix between my academic interests and quantitative aspects.
Although I am more mathematically orientated and work better with numbers than books, I am extremely interested in politics and I would say it’s the subject I take the most interest in (odd I know and my a level combination of maths chemistry and politics reflects my balancing of performing well in the sciences with my interest for politics).
I wanted to study a degree that I’d find interesting (and thus would help me get in and do well at very rigorous unis that require genuine interest to get in) while also having both a good employability factor and making use of my A-level Maths (an A-level you don’t just waste if you can do it).

Initially (when I applied and the months following) I though this was the right choice, but over time I have began to prioritise studying a degree for employability over interest, as well as a desire for work in a maths-orientated role (primarily as an actuary).

This has led to a horrible dilemma now where I’m weighing that up with the uncertainty and possible regret of turning down LSE.
That’s the summary of my other thread and if you skip to the end of it you’ll see the possible options as I see it.

Well as I've linked previously, research has shown STEM and non-STEM graduates have similar employment outcomes.

There's no specific reason to aim for becoming an actuary unless you have a particular interest in it as there are plenty of other roles that are perfectly equivalent you can go into with any degree.

I don't think this degree is a suitable background to go into actuarial work, however I also don't think you're considering actuarial work for a realistic reason in the first place and I think you're ascribing far too much weight to your degree subject in your employability and not in what you actually do to make yourself employable - even in the face of published data and analysis to the contrary of that belief.

However I feel at this point we are going in circles though and I have nothing further I can add here...