Leicester is a leading centre for pure and applied mathematics with 97% of our research activity being identified as world-leading, internationally excellent or internationally significant.

Full entry requirements

Mathematics at Leicester

Our various degrees are built around a common core of modules in mathematics that in the First Year take up two thirds of a student’s time.

What the other third contains will depend upon the degree choice – economics and finance modules in the financial mathematics degree, and management in the mathematics with management degree, whilst students on straight mathematics degrees can opt to do further mathematics modules or a supplementary subject from elsewhere in the University, including computing.

The BA degree allows a choice of supplementary modules and, in particular allows a modern language supplementary to be continued into the Second Year. This structure allows a fair degree of flexibility, and transfers between our degrees are usually possible, in particular it is possible to move onto the MMath degrees from the BSc (subject to examination performance), or conversely from the MMath to the BSc. It is usually possible to transfer into or out of the Europe and the USA degrees.

Why Choose Mathematics at Leicester?

National Student Survey Ranking: 91% of students satisfied with their course.
Research rating: 97% (100% Pure Mathematics, 95% Applied Mathematics).
Places: 130
Applications: 1313

Our interdisciplinary Mathematical Modelling Centre is at the forefront of current applied mathematics, whilst in pure mathematics our research has led to surprising applications of algebra and geometry to physics.

We are a friendly and supportive department with an excellent staff-student ratio and a strong reputation for the quality of our teaching. As well as the regular teaching sessions we offer a range of additional ‘drop-in’ learning opportunities run by both staff and fellow students. Our students find that staff are freely available for individual consultation and help.

Our internationally acclaimed research informs all our degrees and means our graduates are in touch with the latest developments and applications of their subject.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Our philosophy is to provide a strong core of key mathematical topics in the first and Second Year leading into a range of options in the third and fourth years, allowing you to follow, to some degree, your own particular interests in mathematics. As well as lectures, our courses involve regular meetings where students’ work is discussed. In the First Year this is in small tutorial groups, whilst later in the course larger problem classes are held. We encourage all students to become comfortable with presenting mathematical arguments to their group, and a number of courses give training in writing reports. Mathematical software such as Maple and Matlab is introduced into the teaching early in the First Year through computer laboratory classes.

You will have access to the university wide computer system and are encouraged to use its facilities in your work. No previous knowledge of computing is needed for any of our degrees.

All our courses involve a degree of coursework assessment. Often this will be 10% or 20% coming from the weekly mathematical problems, but on other courses a larger part may be played by continuous assessment, for instance on projects and workshop based courses where it may provide 100% of the assessment. For courses with an examination component the examinations are held in January and May. The First Year is regarded as a qualifying year and the results in that year do not contribute to the final degree classification.

Course Opportunities

Study Abroad

If you choose to undertake a Europe degree, you will, after your first two years, take a year out of your studies at Leicester to study at a European university under the Erasmus exchange scheme, before returning to Leicester to complete the Third Year of your degree course. Our partner universities are in Copenhagen, Denmark; Hamburg, Germany; Pavia, Italy, INSA Toulouse, France and Athens, Greece. You will receive an Erasmus grant and language training. Results obtained during the year in Europe do not count towards your final degree classification but the experience offers you an invaluable opportunity to develop your skills and knowledge whilst studying in a different culture.

If you choose to undertake a USA degree you will spend your Second Year at our partner universities in Buffalo and Miami. On returning to Leicester you enter the Third Year of our degree course. Results obtained in the USA are converted in a standard way to contribute to your final degree classification.

Courses with Industry

We offer a number of degrees that give you the option of spending a year in a sponsoring company, industry or organisation. These are sandwich courses with the undergraduate placed with a sponsoring company for one year between the end of the Second Year and the start of the Third Year of academic study.

Skills Gained

The courses are designed to enable you to develop your mathematical abilities, including solving mathematical problems, understanding mathematical processes, and the presentation of mathematical ideas in verbal and written form. Students see modern mathematical ideas and learn to use mathematical software. You will develop logical reasoning and mathematical writing skills, together with independent study skills and familiarity with IT.

In addition, our joint degrees have their own particular contributions to make, how to use mathematics in the world of management, or how to model the financial world (economics).

Project work allows you to see how to tackle a large problem, and how to present your results so that they are accessible to others.

Career Opportunities

Our graduates are equipped for a wide range of careers and have gone into the financial sector, including accountancy and actuarial work, management, the Civil Service, industry and teaching (both primary and secondary education). All our courses, but particularly the MMath degrees, provide a suitable preparation for postgraduate study in mathematics, computer science and related areas.

Full entry requirements

Opportunities to Visit and Further Information

Choosing where and what to study at university is an important decision for you. We believe it is important to give you the opportunity to talk to us, so you can find out whether our programmes are the right choice for you.

For further information, please contact the Admissions Tutor: Dimitrina Stavrova

0116 252 3896
Fax: 0116 252 3915
mathsug@le.ac.uk
www.le.ac.uk/maths

Request a prospectus

Book an open day