Our BSc Mathematics (including foundation year) is open to Home and EU students. It will be suitable for you if your academic qualifications do not yet meet our entrance requirements for the three-year version of this course and you want a programme that increases your subject knowledge as well as improves your English language and academic skills.

This four-year course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three years of study. During your Year Zero, you study four academic subjects relevant to your chosen course as well as a compulsory English language and academic skills module.

You are an Essex student from day one, a member of our global community based at the most internationally diverse campus university in the UK.

After successful completion of Year Zero in our Essex Pathways Department, you progress to complete your course with the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

Mathematics provides the logical foundations on which all of science, engineering and technology are built. Our BSc Mathematics course gives you the chance to study both fundamental topics and their modern applications, including:

As well as these mathematical topics, your degree will develop your programming skills in languages such as Python and SQL, and you will learn to solve sophisticated problems using computational toolkits such as Matlab, Maple and R.

Our department recognises the stand-alone and interdisciplinary aspects of mathematics, and your degree provides an exceptional range of in-demand transferrable skills for mathematically oriented careers, from business, to finance and commerce, industry, research, government, education and beyond. All our mathematical sciences degrees feature an employability component in every year, explicitly training sought-after skills and incorporating careers day events and seminars from speakers in industry.

Find out what it's like to live and study at Essex from those who are already here.

As well as being world-class academics, our staff are award-winning teachers. Many of our academics have won national or regional awards for lecturing, and many of them are qualified and accredited teachers – something which is very rare at a university.

We are a small but influential department, so our students and staff know each other personally. You never need an appointment to see your lecturers and professors, just knock on our office doors – we are one of the few places to have an open-door policy, and no issue is too big or small.

Our innovative research groups are working on a broad range of collaborative areas tackling real-world issues. Here are a few examples:

By studying within our Essex Pathways Department for your foundation year, you will have access to all of the facilities that the University of Essex has to offer, as well as those provided by our department to support you:

Our Department of Mathematical Sciences also offers excellent on-campus facilities:

Clear thinkers are required in every profession, so the successful mathematician has an extensive choice of potential careers.

Mathematics students are in demand from a wide range of employers in a host of occupations, including financial analysis, management, public administration and accountancy. The Council for Mathematical Sciences offers further information on careers in mathematics.

Our recent graduates have gone on to work for a wide range of high-profile companies including:

We also work with our University's Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

“I’m happy to say that I am working in a field that I genuinely enjoy. As a software developer for HM Land Registry my responsibilities change depending on the team I am working with. So far I’ve had experience in software development, software testing, data analysis and project architecture. Problem solving is the number one skill from my degree that I need to use every day. In fact, most maths graduates have really good problem-solving and critical-thinking skills which helps us become proficient in the software development field.”

Vilius Gudziunas, BSc Mathematics, 2018