MMath Mathematics / Course details

This flexible single-honours undergraduate Masters degree programme offers you the widest choice of options, ideal if you are mathematically gifted and wish to keep your options open. You get good all-round mathematical knowledge together with the ability to experience more specialised results, methods and ideas. You can choose courses from other disciplines and from a huge variety of mathematics options allowing you to graduate with finely-honed skills in your own chosen areas. You get an education in sufficient depth in these specialised areas to enable you to undertake postgraduate studies, conduct mathematical research or work as a specialist mathematician in industry, business or higher education.

The programme has a core of basic mathematics which provides you with the fundamental mathematical knowledge and skills, and the basis for more advanced work later on. This core material is covered in the first three semesters, up to the mid-point of your second year. You develop your capacity to learn and apply mathematical ideas, to understand the significance and power of mathematics, and to acquire a thorough knowledge and understanding of those mathematical topics that any employer would expect of a mathematics graduate. After your first three semesters, you choose your lecture courses from a widening range of options in order that you can pursue whichever areas of mathematics most interest you. You can also, from your second year onwards, choose options from other subject areas.

• Generous entrance scholarships are available.
• Small group teaching is a significant part of the first year.
• A wide range of options is available in the third year.
• All undergraduate students have affiliate membership of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.
• Students have an opportunity to spend a year on a work based placement. This gives an opportunity to gain invaluable work based experience and learn more about themselves and the workplace so that they are better able to make good choices about a career post-graduation. Many students who have a year placement are taken on by the same employer once they have finished their studies. For students who take the 4 year MMath course, there is the choice of taking a placement year either between years 2 and 3, or between years 3 and 4.  Guidance will be given.  Whilst students wanting to take the work based placement are responsible for finding their own placement, they will be supported in this through a special programme set up to help them. This will be done by working closely with dedicated advisers from the Careers Service and support and mentoring within the Department. 

Most teaching takes the form of lectures, with various support classes (example classes, small group tutorials or sessions in one of the computer clusters) to help you get to grips with the material, exploring topics and working on examples set by the lecturers.

Most course units have some continual assessment (which may be, for instance, a combination of homework and in-class tests), which is put together with the result of an end-of-semester examination to provide the final mark. Some course units (such as a project) are assessed entirely by your submitted work during the semester. The class of your degree is normally based on only your last two years' work.

The Department of Mathematics is based in the brand new, purpose built £40 million Alan Turing Building, set at the heart of the University Campus.  Students benefit from extensive facilities for computing and study, relaxation and refreshment, in an attractive, light and comfortable environment.  Computing: The Department of Mathematics has a number of computer clusters that run the standard software as well as powerful mathematical and statistical software, such as Matlab, Minitab and Mathematica.  All our students have free access to email and the internet.  Other larger clusters are available in the University libraries and clusters are situated in most Halls of Residence; most student rooms also have Ethernet connection.  Library: You will have access to the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, one of the largest and best-equipped libraries in the UK.  A special section of this library provides a short loan facility, where you can reliably obtain textbooks that are recommended for particular courses and borrow them on an overnight basis.  The Department of Mathematics also houses a mathematical library of more advanced books and other material used mainly by research students and staff.