Actuarial career with a non-mathematical degree?

[Gbob1]

(so annoyed, thread messed up had to type this second time!)

I am currently on a gap year and will be studying Music at King's College London this September. My Music course is predominantly academic i.e. writing essays, giving musical criticism etc so I'm not just going to be sitting at a piano all day! Obviously I am interested in the actuarial field. I sat the CT1 exam this April, which I paid for myself whilst working 2 jobs, and studying with no help from revision courses or tutors (except from people on this site). So I am currently waiting for the results...

I know that the minimum requirements state that a mathematical degree is preferable although not compulsory but what about a Music degree? In reality, am I at an obvious disadvantage; how competitive is this field exactly? Is my best bet just to carry on taking as many of the professional examinations as possible in the future (if I decide to pursue this career)? Do you know anyone that is/was in a similar situation as me - at least give me some hope

*If this helps at all: I achieved 15 GCSE's all A*/A including an A* in Maths, and 4 A's at A-level in Maths, Chemistry, Biology and ... Music. So there is a Maths somewhere in there!

I would appreciate your help and advice!

Thank you.

 

[Louise]

Check out this article from the latest edition of The Actuary magazine:

http://www.the-actuary.org.uk/874622

 

[Cardano]

Louise the philosophy graduate did two maths A levels, which are generally only attempted by 1.5% of sixthform students. He probably did a physics A level too. He certainly would be amongst the more mathematically capable in his generation.
Funnily enough when I first applied to join I got a pretty shirty letter saying that I was only being admitted because of my two maths A levels, inspite of the fact that I had done a chemistry degree (in fact I had been a university chemistry lecturer) and my maths was probably better than most top end maths graduates as I had been making a living teaching it.
I currently have four actuarial students, three doing BSc's in actuarial science and one doing the Institute exams. The three doing the degree all just have one maths A level, two have an A/S in physics and they are all struggling. The lad who is doing the institute exams is a physics graduate (I taught him physics too) and he has made good progress. The advice from the classics graduate that an A grade in maths A level is enough I feel is bad in most cases. Just look at the fallout amongst those that have substantially more.

Gbob - even though you have just one maths A level you clearly are good enough to do these exams (the exception that proves the rule ), though I would definitely improve your maths possibly by working through the further pure and later stats modules of further maths A level.

 

[Gbob1]

Thank you Louise that was an interesting read! I didn't know there was an Actuary magazine.

Gbob - even though you have just one maths A level you clearly are good enough to do these exams (the exception that proves the rule ), though I would definitely improve your maths possibly by working through the further pure and later stats modules of further maths A level.

Although my grades do look good on paper, I do have to say that I did find CT1 very difficult. However it was nothing to do with the Maths: having absolutely no prior knowledge in economics/finance made it difficult for me to grasp everything at first. I also started the course late and the complete independent teaching was a total shock from someone who had just finished their A-levels!

So yes, I am currently waiting for my CT1 results: I know I tried my absolute best during the exam so we'll see what happens. Even if I do fail it isn't the end of the world I guess. At least I can say that I enjoyed everything I learnt

 

[mattt78]

Actuarial career with a non-mathematical degree

like the magazine article said, its likely to be a bit of a struggle through the early exams (as it is for lots of people who have a mathematical degree), but if you were to approach potential employers in 3 or 4 years time for an actuarial position i'm sure they would be impressed if you'd managed to get a few CTs under your belt off your own back. That said, the larger firms may not consider you, but if you could demostrate how serious you are about an actuarial career by passing a few exams in your spare time, (and maybe getting some relevant work experience) I think most other employers would be interested. They may wonder why you didn't just take a mathematical degree though!

I studied maths and physics at uni, but I think most the maths i've used in the CTs is covered in A-level, so I don't think you'd be at too much of a disadvantage anyway.

By the way, I think the FAC course is intended to cover the background maths you need, so if you haven't already got that I'd suggest its probably worth considering.

 

[learner]

The Foundation ActEd Course is intended to cover the mathematics required for the CT Subjects. Although much of the material in the later subjects is non-mathematical, some of it involves more maths, such as ST6. Mathematics may also be encountered in the additional reading recommended for some of the subjects.

I think it is worth working through the FAC, although it does not carry any credit as an exam pass, but it is not a fully comprehensive study of actuarial mathematics.