Mathematics

There are two Mathematics degrees, the three-year BA and the four-year MMath. You will not be asked to choose between the degrees until your third year.

The first year consists of core courses in pure and applied mathematics (including an introduction to statistics). The core part of the degree is completed in the first term of the second year, introducing complex analysis and ideas from topology. Options also start in the second year – five long options and three short options are taken – with the third and fourth offering a still wider variety of courses, with some options from outside mathematics. The fourth year will, naturally, be more challenging, when some of the courses offered will be shared with students reading for graduate degrees or require study by means of guided reading.

In the first two years, you will attend eight to ten lectures a week, with one or two tutorials and one or two classes within your college. In your third and fourth years, when you specialise, you may have fewer lectures, combined with classes.

In your first year, you will also have classes to develop computing skills, using mathematical packages to solve problems related to your studies. Later, there is practical work associated with options in numerical analysis and statistics.