Financial Mathematics MSc
Year of entry 2024
- Start date
- September 2024
- Delivery type
- On campus
- Duration
- 12 months full time
- Entry requirements
- A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons) in a related subject.
Full entry requirements - English language requirements
- IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component
- UK fees
- £18,000 (Total)
- International fees
- £34,750 (Total)
- Contact
- masters@lubs.leeds.ac.uk
Course overview
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Hear from current students how a Masters pre-sessional helped them adapt to study and life in the UK.
This degree provides you with knowledge of advanced finance concepts, whilst developing your quantitative, mathematical and research skills.
Taught by experienced academics based in both Leeds University Business School and the School of Mathematics, you’ll cover key topics including financial derivative pricing, discrete and continuous time models, risk management and portfolio optimisation.
You’ll be equipped with a rare combination of mathematical and business finance knowledge, a skillset highly sought after in the financial sector by banks and investment companies. It’s also excellent preparation if you’re interested in pursuing further academic research.
This course is ideal if you’ve previously studied mathematics or statistics, finance, economics, physics or computing, and are interested in applying your skills to financial markets.
Course Highlights
This course is shaped by the latest knowledge and critical thinking through the work of our advanced specialist research units, including the Centre for Advanced Studies in Finance, the International Banking Institute, the Credit Management Research Centre and the Probability and financial mathematics group.
Benefit from our strong relationships with the finance, credit and accounting professions, connecting you to the latest practitioner and policy developments.
You’ll have access to our two, on-campus trading rooms, and the world’s top financial databases, such as Bloomberg, WRDS, CSMAR, Refinitiv Eikon and Datastream.
Guest lectures from high-profile, industry speakers or regulatory bodies share current trends and valuable real-world insight. Recent speakers have included the Chief Risk Officer from the Royal Bank of Canada, and the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England.
This course is jointly taught by Leeds University Business School and the School of Mathematics.
Find out more about studying your Masters at Leeds University Business School.
Accreditation
Course details
In your first semester, you’ll develop a broad understanding of corporate finance and how financial theory relates to practice in business and financial markets. This will put your mathematical studies into context while developing your skills in applied statistics and probability, machine learning methods and discrete time stochastic processes in finance.
You’ll build on these skills in topics such as continuous time stochastic processes, risk management and computational methods. You’ll also gain specialist knowledge in topics that suit your career ambitions, such as risk and investment and behavioural finance.
The course will improve your research skills and allow you to study different research methodologies, including those employed by our own leading academics. This will prepare you for your dissertation – an independent research project on a topic of your choice that you’ll submit by the end of the year.
Course structure
The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our terms and conditions.
Year 1 compulsory modules
| Module Name | Credits |
|---|---|
| Corporate Finance | 15 |
| Learning from Data | 10 |
| Introduction to Programming | 5 |
| Dissertation in Financial Mathematics | 45 |
| Applied Statistics and Probability | 15 |
| Discrete Time Finance | 15 |
| Continuous Time Finance | 15 |
| Risk Management | 15 |
| Computations in Finance | 15 |
Year 1 optional modules (selection of typical options shown below)
| Module Name | Credits |
|---|---|
| Security Investment Analysis | 15 |
| Portfolio Risk Management | 15 |
| Behavioural Finance | 15 |
| Financial Derivatives | 15 |
| International Investment | 15 |
Learning and teaching
You’ll be taught using a range of methods including lectures, tutorials, seminars and workshops. The rest of your time will be spent in independent learning, allowing you to develop your skills in research and analysis.
Our Virtual Learning Environment will help support your studies. This is a central place where you can find all the information and resources for the School, your course and modules.
On this course, you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.
Assessment
Assessment methods emphasise both knowledge and essential skills development. This may include formal exams, group projects, reports, computer simulation exercises, essays and written assignments, group and individual presentations and reflective logs. This diversity enables you to develop a broad range of skills as preparation for professional life.
Applying
Entry requirements
A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons) in a related subject such as finance, economics, mathematics, physics, computing or engineering.
International qualifications
We accept a range of international equivalent qualifications.
English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.
Improve your English
International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.
This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Economics and Finance (6 weeks) and Language for Business: Economics and Finance (10 weeks).
We also offer online pre-sessionals alongside our on-campus pre-sessionals. Find out more about our six week online pre-sessional.
You can also study pre-sessionals for longer periods – read about our postgraduate pre-sessional English courses.
How to apply
Application deadline:
Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.
International applicants: Thursday 26 June 2025
UK applicants: Friday 15 August 2025
The ‘Apply’ link at the top of this page will take you to information on applying for taught programmes and to the University's online application system.
If you're unsure about the application process, contact the admissions team for help.
Documents and information you need
- A copy of your degree certificate and transcript, or a partial transcript if you’re still studying
- Contact details for two academic references
- A personal statement
- An up-to-date CV
- Your approved English Language test* (if applicable)
- A letter of sponsorship, if you need one.
* Applicants who have not yet completed an approved English language test may apply for a Masters course prior to taking a test.
Read about visas, immigration and other information in International students. We recommend that international students apply as early as possible to ensure that they have time to apply for their visa.
Admissions policy
University of Leeds Admissions Policy 2025
This course is taught by
Leeds University Business School
School of Mathematics
Contact us
Postgraduate Admissions Office
Email: masters@lubs.leeds.ac.uk
Telephone:
Fees
UK: £18,000 (Total)
International: £34,750 (Total)
Read more about paying fees and charges.
For fees information for international taught postgraduate students, read Masters fees.
Additional cost information
There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more on our living costs and budgeting page.
Scholarships and financial support
We’re offering up to 50 Business School Excellence Scholarships to UK and International students starting one of our Masters courses in 2024. These scholarships offer a 50% fee reduction and will be awarded to particularly deserving applicants who demonstrate excellent academic, professional and personal achievements.
You do not have to submit a separate application for our Excellence Scholarships – you will be automatically considered when your course application is reviewed.
International Excellence Scholarships (International applicants)
Career opportunities
From day one, we encourage you to think beyond your time at Leeds and reflect on a meaningful career. You have a wide range of opportunities open to you as a Financial Mathematics graduate, including quantitative analysis, risk management, investment banking, financial consultancy, insurance, accounting and academia.
Previous graduates have gone on to secure employment with a range of organisations, including Allianz (London), AstraZeneca, Barclays, CITIC Group, Deloitte, Gaz de France, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the UK Government Actuary’s Department.
Careers support
Careers support and professional development activities are built into your course. You can access advice and guidance on your career choices, help in identifying and applying for jobs, and support to boost your employability. We offer support on how to develop the professional skills you’ll need to start a successful career, and how to evidence these to prospective employers.
As part of the Accounting and Finance Department you can benefit from commercial awareness networking events and guest lectures from high-profile speakers from industry or regulatory bodies. Students have had the opportunity to develop their knowledge of financial markets through a one-week trading simulation with Amplify Trading.
You’ll also benefit from the University’s award-winning Careers Service, where you can access a range of support to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions, even after you graduate.
Read more about our careers and professional development support.