Actuarial Studies

Are you a maths whiz who wants stimulating work, limitless potential and an ever growing salary? This is the esteemed degree that will make you a thought leader in financial fields. With an ANU Bachelor of Actuarial Studies you will excel your career literally anywhere in the world.Risk is all around us - in investment markets, on the roads, from our health and the climate. This degree will teach you how to apply your mathematical talent in understanding, measuring and managing the risks.Graduates will apply mathematical, statistical, financial, economic and other skills to untangle the most complex and difficult problems facing the commercial world.

Employment Opportunities

There are many attractive career opportunities for fully qualified actuaries in Australia. Some of the job titles associated with actuarial studies are listed below:

• Investment analyst

A financial expert trained to analyse the activities and future prospects and earnings of companies and securities for the purpose of investment.

• Fund administrator/investment manager

A person employed by an organisation that specialises in the investment of a portfolio of securities on behalf of individuals and/or organisations subject to the guidelines and directions of the investor.

• Liability manager

A professional person engaged by holders of liabilities, such as banks or industry superannuation funds, to advise on appropriate payment strategies and organisational structures to meet a stream of obligations.

• Actuarial insurance broker

An independent agent who values life, fire, accident and other forms of insurance for a range of insurance companies.

• Consultant

Offer their professional services for a fee, provide a wide range of services, including; advice on financial decisions, independent valuations, design of insurance funds, and future financial planning strategies.

• Senior manager

In addition to the roles described above, many actuaries successfully move into high-level administrative and management positions. Their broad training reflects the strong interdisciplinary nature of the actuarial profession, which mixes the need for strong theoretical skills with the need for sound practical intuition.

Learning Outcomes

• To develop a grounding in financial mathematics and applications, including the time value of money, annuities, bond and loan calculation  
• To develop the ability to interpret the accounts and financial statements of companies and financial institutions 
• To develop a grounding in mathematical statistics and regression modeling  
• To develop a grounding in stochastic processes, survival models and their application in actuarial contexts
• To develop a grounding in the mathematical techniques used to model and value cashflows dependent on death, survival, illness, retirement, and other contingencies. 
• To develop a grounding in the advanced mathematics which has particular relevance to financial work, including risk theory, bayesian statistics, generalized linear modeling, and time series techniques. 
• To develop a grounding in the fundamental concepts of micro and macroeconomics.

The Bachelor of Actuarial Studies requires completion of 144 units, of which a maximum of 60 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses

 The 144 units must include:

• 72 units from completion of the following compulsory courses:

BUSN1001 Business Reporting and Analysis

ECON1101 Microeconomics 1

STAT1008 Quantitative Research Methods

STAT2001 Introductory Mathematical Statistics

STAT2008 Regression Modelling

STAT2032 Financial Mathematics

STAT3004 Stochastic Modelling

STAT3032 Survival Models

STAT3035 Risk Theory

STAT3036 Credibility Theory

STAT3037 Life Contingencies

STAT3038 Actuarial Techniques 

• 6 units from completion of a course from the following list:

ECON1100 Economics 1 (H)

ECON1102 Macroeconomics 1 

• 6 units from completion of a course from the following list:

ECON2102 Macroeconomics 2 (P)

ECON2112 Macroeconomics 2 (H) 

• 12 units from the completion of courses on List 1 of the ANU College of Business and Economics.
• 48 units from completion of elective courses offered by ANU 

Admission to all programs is on a competitive basis. Admission to undergraduate degrees is based on meeting the ATAR requirement or an equivalent rank derived from the following qualifications:

• An Australian year 12 qualification or international equivalent; OR
• A completed Associate Diploma, Associate Degree, AQF Diploma, Diploma, AQF Advanced Diploma or Graduate Certificate; OR
• At least one standard full-time year (1.0 FTE) in a single program of degree level study at an Australian higher education institution; OR
• An approved tertiary preparation course unless subsequent study is undertaken.

 Requirements for domestic applicants:

ATAR:95

QLD Band:4

International Baccalaureate:38

For international students:

Refer to the table to see if you meet the requirements:

http://www.anu.edu.au/files/resource/IntAdmissTabl2014e.pdf 

English Language Requirements:

ANU recognizes a number of English language tests as meeting the University’s English language requirements. The acceptable tests are IELTS (an overall score of 6.5 with at least 6 in each component of the test), TOEFL-paper based test (a score of 570), TOEFL-internet based test (a score of 80, with a minimum of 20 in Reading and Writing and 18 in Speaking and Listening), Cambridge CAE Advanced (80, grade A), PTE Academic (overall 64, minimum 55 in each section

ANU offers a wide range of scholarships to current and future students to assist with the cost of their studies. The University is committed to enabling all students, regardless of their background, to achieve their best at ANU and realise their potential. 

Eligibility for ANU scholarships varies depending on the specifics of the scholarship and can be categorised by the type of student you are.  Specific scholarship application process information is included in the relevant scholarship listing.