MSc Statistics

The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.

We offer a number of postgraduate taught scholarships and awards to outstanding UK and international students each year.

If you're a current or recent student at The University of Manchester and plan to start a master's course in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, you may be eligible for our  Manchester Alumni Scholarship Schemes .

The University of Manchester is committed to widening participation in master's study, and allocates £300,000 in funding each year. Our  Manchester Master¿s Bursaries  are aimed at widening access to master's courses by removing barriers to postgraduate education for students from underrepresented groups.

For more information, see the Department of Mathematics Fees and funding  page or visit the University of Manchester  funding for master¿s courses website for more information.

Expected Background

You are expected to have a first degree with a substantial amount of mathematics including Probability and Statistics. As a minimum you should have done Calculus or Mathematical Analysis, Linear Algebra, two courses in Probability and two courses in Statistics. A Mathematical Statistics course may count as one Probability and one Statistics course depending on the syllabus. If your course is called Advanced Mathematics, then we need to know how much calculus/linear algebra it contains. You can have a look at what Manchester students do in the first two years, or refer to the following list for a quick summary.

• Calculus or Mathematical Analysis (functions of a single and several variables, continuity, derivatives, integrals, Mean Value Theorem, Taylor series expansion, minimisation and maximisation, Lagrange multipliers)
• Linear Algebra (linear independence, determinant, inverse, eigenvalues and eigenvectors)
• Probability I (probabilities and conditional probabilities, Bayes Theorem, moments)
• Probability II (multivariate and conditional distributions, generating functions, Law of Large Numbers and Central Limit Theorem)
• Statistics I (descriptive statistics, normal, t, chi-square and F distributions, significance tests)
• Statistics II (Maximum likelihood estimation, Likelihood ratio tests, simple regression and analysis of variance).

You are expected to have done well in the above courses and your university should have a high national standing.

All applicants will need to demonstrate competency in English language. Applicants who do not already possess an acceptable English Language qualification will need to take a recognised test and attain the required English Language score:

• IELTS:  at least 6.5 overall with 6.5 in writing and no other sub-test less than 6.0.
• TOFEL iBT:  at least 90 overall with 22 or above in writing and no other sub-test less than 20. We do not accept 'MyBestScore'.
• Pearson PTE: at least 58 overall with 58 in writing and no other sub-test less than 50.

Further information on language requirements can be found on our website .

Pre-sessional English

We will consider applicants who do not meet these scores but you may be required to complete a pre-sessional English language course at the University of Manchester prior to the start of the course.

To be considered for a pre-sessional English language course for this programme we require the following minimum IELTS (Academic) scores:

• 6 Week Pre-Sessional Course:  Minimum 6.0 overall with 6.0 in three sub-tests including writing and at least 5.5 in the remaining sub-test.
• 10 Week Pre-sessional Course: Minimum 5.5 overall with no sub-test below 5.5.

If you have not yet completed your current academic study and are interested in studying a pre-sessional course, you must hold an IELTS for UKVI (Academic) test certificate.

We consider your full academic history including which course units you have taken and the marks obtained. Even if you have met our minimum entry requirements, we will take into account your marks in relevant course units in our final decision making.

If you graduated more than three years ago, we will also consider the information contained on your CV and any relevant work experience you have to assess if you are still able to fulfil the entry criteria.

Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1,000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.

Please upload a copy of your current valid passport with your application showing the photograph page with your application. For CAS purposes, this must show your full name, date of birth, nationality, passport number and the date the passport is valid until, which must be later than the date of your planned arrival in the UK, and the start date of your course.

If you have previously studied in the UK on a Tier 4 visa as an undergraduate or postgraduate student, please send a copy of your previous CAS statement to us as it will assist with the issue of your new CAS statement. This includes study in the UK on study abroad programmes and any study that you did not complete.

You cannot use your CAS to apply for a visa more than three months before the start date of your course. The Admissions Team will contact you at the appropriate time.

Your CAS number is only valid for one Tier 4 application.

Applications for deferred entry are not accepted for this course. If you receive an offer for 2021 entry and decide not to accept it, should you subsequently wish to be considered for 2022 entry you would be required to reapply.

The taught part of the programme is divided into two 12-week semesters, each followed by a two-week period of examinations.  This in turn is followed by a period of approximately 12 weeks of research work over the summer which is supervised by a  member of the academic staff  and ends with  submission of the MSc dissertation in September. In the taught part of the course, full-time students attend weekly lectures and support classes for four modules (4 x 15 credits) in each semester.  Students are also able to enrol on a part-time basis if they wish.  In this case they study over a two year period and only take two modules per semester, with the dissertation being completed at the end of the second year. Details of the programme structure are given below.

  Semester One:

• Linear Models & Nonparametric Regression
• Statistical Computing
• Statistical Inference
• Multivariate Statistics

  Semester Two:

• Generalized Linear Models & Survival Analysis
• Longitudinal Data Analysis
• Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)
• Design and Analysis of Experiments

Financial Statistics Pathway

This comprises a core of five modules which are common to the main programme, plus three specialist modules in financial statistics.

Semester One:

• Linear Models & Nonparametric Regression
• Statistical Computing
• Statistical Modelling in Finance
• Extreme Values and Financial Risk

   Semester Two:

• Generalized Linear Models & Survival Analysis
• Longitudinal Data Analysis
• Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)
• Time Series Analysis and Financial Forecasting

This degree programme (including the pathway) is accredited by the Royal Statistical Society.

Accreditation by the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) provides reassurance that our MSc programme produces graduates with the technical skills and subject knowledge required of a statistician. This provides our graduates with a competitive edge in the job market and provides employers with an assurance of quality of our degree.

Dissertation  Following the successful completion of the taught part of the programme (worth a total of 120 credits) students are then expected to work on a dissertation from June to September which is worth a further 60 credits, making 180 credits in total.  Information on the various topics and projects which will be available for dissertation are provided to the students in May from which they  are invited to state their preferences.