Timing and Pathways

MSc in Mathematical Finance
by Online Distance Learning

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TIMING

The online MSc programme has two 4-month Teaching Periods in each academic year, October-January and March-June (each Teaching Period equivalent to a 10-week term for campus-based programmes) and two 2-week Induction Periods for new students joining the programme in September or February.

There are two intakes of students to the online programme in each year, in September and February.

The programme is divided into three stages: Certificate, Diploma and Dissertation.

Online students have the choice to follow the programme either as Fast Stream or Standard Stream. Fast Stream students complete each of the three stages, Certificate, Diploma and Dissertation within a single 4-month Teaching Period. Standard Stream students need two consecutive Teaching Periods to complete each stage.

To allow flexibility, students are able to transfer between the Fast and Standard Streams at the end of each stage. It can therefore take between 1.5 and 3 years to complete the online MSc programme.

For a list of modules taken at each stage please see the Programme Structure section.

PATHWAYS

The following examples show some typical pathways leading to the MSc degree, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate.

Because of in-built flexibility, other combinations are possible.

In addition, it is possible to follow selected individual modules.

Example 1: September 2010 intake, 180 credits, MSc degree in 1.5 years
Example 2: February 2011 intake, 180 credits, MSc degree in 2 years
Example 3: September 2010 intake, 180 credits, MSc degree in 3 years
Example 4: September 2010 intake, 120 credits, Postgraduate Diploma in 1.5 years
Example 5: February 2011 intake, 60 credits, Postgraduate Certificate in 0.5 years
Example 6: September 2010 intake, 20 credits, individual module in 0.5 years

Example 1: September 2010 intake, 180 credits, MSc degree in 1.5 years

Stages	Stream	Duration	Teaching Period	Modules & Credits	1-to-1 Contact Time	Assessment
Induction		2 weeks	Sep 2010	induction module no credits	2 one-hour induction meetings
Certificate	Fast	4 months	Oct 2010 -Jan 2011	3 taught modules 3x20 credits	10 one-hour tutorials abt. 2 weeks apart	4 pieces of coursework per module, recorded viva
Diploma	Fast	4 months	Mar 2011 -Jun 2011	3 taught modules 3x20 credits	10 one-hour tutorials abt. 2 weeks apart	4 pieces of coursework per module, recorded viva
Dissertation	Fast	4 months	Oct 2011 -Jan 2012	dissertation 60 credits	6 one-hour sessions abt. 3 weeks apart, 6 times written feedback	dissertation refereed, recorded viva

Example 2: February 2011 intake, 180 credits, MSc degree in 2 years

Stages	Stream	Duration	Teaching Period	Modules & Credits	1-to-1 Contact Time	Assessment
Induction		2 weeks	Feb 2011	induction module no credits	2 one-hour induction meetings
Certificate	Fast	4 months	Mar 2011 -Jun 2011	3 taught modules 3x20 credits	10 one-hour tutorials abt. 2 weeks apart	4 pieces of coursework per module, recorded viva
Diploma	Standard	2x4 months	Oct 2011 -Jan 2012 and Mar 2012 -Jun 2012	3 taught modules 3x20 credits	10 one-hour tutorials abt. 4 weeks apart	4 pieces of coursework per module, recorded viva
Dissertation	Fast	4 months	Oct 2012 -Jan 2013	dissertation 60 credits	6 one-hour sessions abt. 3 weeks apart, 6 times written feedback	dissertation refereed, recorded viva

Example 3: September 2010 intake, 180 credits, MSc degree in 3 years

Stages	Stream	Duration	Teaching Period	Modules & Credits	1-to-1 Contact Time	Assessment
Induction		2 weeks	Sep 2010	induction module no credits	2 one-hour induction meetings
Certificate	Standard	2x4 months	Oct 2010 -Jan 2011 and Mar 2011 -Jun 2011	3 taught modules 3x20 credits	10 one-hour tutorials abt. 4 weeks apart	4 pieces of coursework per module, recorded viva
Diploma	Standard	2x4 months	Oct 2011 -Jan 2012 and Mar 2012 -Jun 2012	3 taught modules 3x20 credits	10 one-hour tutorials abt. 4 weeks apart	4 pieces of coursework per module, recorded viva
Dissertation	Standard	2x4 months	Oct 2012 -Jan 2013 and Mar 2013 -Jun 2013	dissertation 60 credits	6 one-hour sessions abt. 6 weeks apart, 6 times written feedback	dissertation refereed, recorded viva

Example 4: September 2010 intake, 120 credits, Postgraduate Diploma in 1.5 years

Stages	Stream	Duration	Teaching Period	Modules & Credits	1-to-1 Contact Time	Assessment
Induction		2 weeks	Sep 2010	induction module no credits	2 one-hour induction meetings
Certificate	Standard	2x4 months	Oct 2010 -Jan 2011 and Mar 2011 -Jun 2011	3 taught modules 3x20 credits	10 one-hour tutorials abt. 4 weeks apart	4 pieces of coursework per module, recorded viva
Diploma	Fast	4 months	Oct 2011 -Jan 2012	3 taught modules 3x20 credits	10 one-hour tutorials abt. 2 weeks apart	4 pieces of coursework per module, recorded viva

Example 5: February 2011 intake, 60 credits, Postgraduate Certificate in 0.5 years

Stages	Stream	Duration	Teaching Period	Modules & Credits	1-to-1 Contact Time	Assessment
Induction		2 weeks	Feb 2011	induction module no credits	2 one-hour induction meetings
Certificate	Fast	4 months	Mar 2011 -Jun 2011	3 taught modules 3x20 credits	10 one-hour tutorials abt. 2 weeks apart	4 pieces of coursework per module, recorded viva

Example 6: September 2010 intake, 20 credits, individual module in 0.5 years

Stages	Stream	Duration	Teaching Period	Modules & Credits	1-to-1 Contact Time	Assessment
Induction		2 weeks	Sep 2010	induction module no credits	2 one-hour induction meetings
Individual module	Fast	4 months	Oct 2010 -Jan 2011	3 taught modules 3x20 credits	10 one-hour tutorials abt. 2 weeks apart	4 pieces of coursework recorded viva

Department of Mathematics

MSc in Mathematical Finance by Online Distance Learning