mathematics is a fundamental subject that is critical to our understanding of the world. through the study of mathematics students will advance their problem solving skills, develop their reasoning and increase their analytical thinking. this is why mathematics forms a basis to so many careers. yes – it is a discipline in its own right, but it is also the thinking behind countless commercial, industrial and technological activities. mathematical models underpin engineering, the applied sciences, computing and many aspects of management today.

the mathematics bsc programme is broad-based, meaning that students will develop their skills across a wide range of areas. students will study many aspects of pure and applied mathematics, together with general concepts of mathematical modelling. when it comes to the application of mathematics, at brunel they cover finance, statistics, operational research (how maths can be applied to commercial and industrial problems), numerical analysis (the approximate solution of very hard problems) and mechanics.

students can follow the four-year ‘professional placement’ degree programme and benefit from their extensive experience in helping students to find well-paid work placements with blue-chip companies. brunel's sandwich students find that their mathematical and transferable skills are in demand in many sectors, both in the uk and abroad.

areas recently offering placements include: accountancy, aviation, banking, defence, finance, insurance, it (software development, network management and design), management (public and private sector), marketing and telecommunications.

in the final year, students will be able to study in-depth the areas of mathematics that particularly appeal to them. for example, students can choose to concentrate on statistics or financial applications or they can maintain a broad approach to the subject as a whole.

at brunel students understand that they may not be ready to choose exactly what programme to follow so they’ll have the chance to change their area of mathematics after the course starts.

this programme will meet the educational requirements of the chartered mathematician designation, awarded by the institute of mathematics and its applications, when it is followed by subsequent training and experience in employment to obtain equivalent competences to those specified by the quality assurance agency (qaa) for taught master's degrees.