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Graduates in mathematics, engineering and science disciplines who are interested in applying their mathematical skills in business can study courses to prepare them for an actuarial career. Graduates from commerce and economics disciplines can also study courses to allow them to enter the actuarial profession in the program. Commerce and economics graduates will be required to have a strong mathematical background, such as would be obtained from studying econometrics, mathematical economics or mathematical finance.

For graduates of an undergraduate program in Actuarial Studies, the Master of Actuarial Studies allows them to complete courses equivalent to the Part I professional courses that they have yet to complete. They can also complete the Part II courses of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia and include optional courses to assist with the later professional Fellowship examinations. They can also broaden their actuarial training by including relevant courses in the Faculty at postgraduate level in other disciplines through selection of electives.

The Master of Actuarial Studies allows graduates to obtain and develop the required competencies to enter an actuarial career and provides quantitative risk management training for entry into the financial services industry. The program covers the professional actuarial subjects and includes options in actuarial studies, quantitative risk management, and other related disciplines.

On successful completion of the Master of Actuarial Studies, students will have the ability to:

The Master of Actuarial Studies program is taught on-campus. The typical duration is 1.5 years full-time or 3 years part-time.

The program requires 12 courses each of 6 units of credit to be completed, 4 core courses and 8 electives selected from the courses offered in actuarial studies.

Eight elective courses will be selected from the following actuarial courses:

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

Applicants without a strong mathematical background may be advised to complete the Institute of Actuaries Foundation course, and demonstrate adequate mathematical performance on the self-assessed test.

Session 2 courses in Actuarial Studies assume that students have the required background knowledge from previous studies. Prospective students who plan to commence in Session 2 should consult the Actuarial Studies School office prior to application in order to determine if they have the required background. Students who have a very strong background in Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics or Finance and Financial Mathematics may be allowed to enrol in the 2nd session Actuarial Studies courses. Approval must be obtained from Actuarial Studies before enrolling in these courses.

Please refer to the Australian School of Business website for further detail.

The Institute of Actuaries of Australia

The UNSW actuarial program is fully accredited by the Institute of Actuaries of Australia for both Part I and Part II subjects and recognised for exemptions by the Institute of Actuaries (London) for the Core Technical subjects. For more details please refer to the Professional Recognition of Programs in the Online Handbook or by contacting The Institute of Actuaries of Australia.

Please note that these requirements may be subject to change.
Students are advised to follow requirements according to the year they commenced. Please refer to previous editions of the Online Handbook for your program requirements.

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
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