Students must have completed their secondary level/high school studies or have never studied at university before are eligible to apply Bachelor degree at UCD.
There are minimum entry requirements that all applicants, applying based on school leaving results, must meet.
Leaving Certificate: Passes in six subjects including English, Irish, Mathematics (Min HB1) & three other recognised subjects. Two of the six subjects must be minimum HC3.
IELTS - An average score of 6.5 over all components and a minimum of 6.0 in each band on the Academic Version; A minimum score of 600 in the paper-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL PBT), with Test of Written English at 475 +. In the computer based TOEFL, a minimum score of 250 is required. A minimum score of 90 is required in the Internet based TOEFL (IBT).
If you enjoy studying Mathematics and you have strong analytical and problem-solving skills, the UCD BAFS (Hons) degree could be for you. It will prepare you for a professional career in the actuarial or financial professions, but it has also been designed to be broader and more diverse than most traditional courses in actuarial science. It takes a combination of strong analytical skills, business knowledge and understanding of human behaviour to design and manage programmes that control risk and guarantee sufficient funds for the insurance and pension sectors. For example, the actuary works out the risk (e.g. the likelihood of a fire happening) and calculates how much the customer should pay for insurance cover to ensure that the insurance company has sufficient funds to pay out if the incident occurs.
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This is a sample pathway for a degree in Actuarial and Financial Studies. Subjects include accountancy, finance, mathematics, information management and statistics.
First Year
Mathematics
Economics
Statistics
Accounting
Computer Science
Elective modules
Second Year
Actuarial and Financial Studies
Elective modules
Third Year
Actuarial and Financial Studies includes a six month supervised professional placement in insurance and financial institutions in Ireland, the UK or the USA
Fourth Year
Actuarial and Financial Studies
The Actuarial & Financial Studies course is full time and includes a mixture of lectures, tutorials and practical assignments.
Assessment for each module will vary and may comprise a written exam, multiple choice questionnaires and continuous assessment activities.
Most BAFS graduates take positions as actuarial trainees in the following:
Life insurance
Pensions
Health insurance
General insurance
Should you achieve a sufficiently high standard in the degree, you will gain some (or all) exemptions from the Core Technical series examinations (CT1:8) as well as the Core Applications CA1 examination of the Institute of Actuaries, or the Faculty of Actuaries. Some graduates also work in banking or finance as business or financial analysts. As a graduate of the BAFS degree, you are also eligible to pursue graduate study in statistics, computer science, economics, mathematics, management science, finance and other specialist business subjects.
