Mathematics with a Professional Placement Year Cardiff University

Overview

Gain valuable hands-on experience and develop your professional skills whilst delving deeper into the fascinating world of mathematics. This four-year version of the Mathematics with a Professional Placement Year programme from Cardiff University includes a year of paid work in a mathematician and/or statistician position during year three. You will return to Cardiff following the successful completion of your work placement at the start of the autumn semester ready for your final year of studies.

Key facts

A mathematics qualification is well-respected by employers. The numerical, logical thinking and problem-solving skills that you’ll develop will enable you to tackle a wide variety of roles. 

In a competitive graduate job market, a placement can help you gain extra skills and experience to make you stand out from the crowd. It could help you secure a permanent role after you graduate, as well as providing real-world context to support your studies. If you're not sure what career path to follow, it's a great opportunity to explore your options and might even help you make those all-important decisions about your future.

The strong links with industry give you a wide range of placement providers to choose from. The students have completed exciting placements at organisations including:

• HM Revenue & Customs
• The Ministry of Defence
• NHS Wales
• Nationwide
• BAE Systems
• IBM

• Disney

Career prospects

You can use your BSc in Mathematics with a Professional Placement Year as a pathway to the workforce where you may meet our alumni working in traditional pursuits such as teaching, actuarial work, and accountancy through to IT, pharmaceutical research, engineering and more. Or, you might choose to widen your career options to include a range of related fields by completing postgraduate studies in the sciences, computing or engineering.

Maths careers support

In the spring semester of your first year, there are a range of masterclasses available to you to help support your future career prospects. The classes cover work experience, CV and covering letters, application forms, interview techniques, and an introduction to LinkedIn.

The program has a regularly-updated student jobs board featuring a range of volunteering, internship, placement, and graduate opportunities. Plus, we organise a full programme of student and employer presentations every year with employers, such as Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, PwC, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Sainsburys, Network Rail, GSK, Office of National Statistics, Welsh Government, the MOD, Welsh Water, and the Met Office.

The School of Mathematics also has a Careers Management Skills Programme, presentations by students returning from industry and a range of sponsored prizes awarded for academic achievement.