Breadcrumb

Choosing Your Degree

Explore the units offered in each year of the programme.

Terminology

We use the term programme for a whole degree course such as BSc Mathematics (G100) lasting 3 or 4 years. A unit is a smaller part of that course, typically of 12 or 24 weeks duration and concentrating on a specific topic or area of Mathematics. A year of full-time study corresponds to 120 credit points. Most units are worth 20 credit points; some are worth 10, 30 or 40.


Programme Structure

Our single honours programmes have a common structure during the first year. You will study a fixed range of mathematical units, including:

  • Calculus
  • Analysis
  • Linear Algebra & Geometry
  • Number Theory & Group Theory
  • Probability
  • Statistics
  • Mechanics
  • Computational Mathematics

Explore the units offered in each year of the programme.

In the second and subsequent years, you can follow your interests by choosing from a wide range of units in Mathematics. You will also be able to choose open units from other subject areas such as Economics, Physics and foreign languages. This gives a very flexible structure to your degree course.


Degree Programmes

The School of Mathematics offers six Single Honours degree programmes and seven Joint Honours degree programmes with four partner disciplines. The Single Honours programmes are:

Joint Honours students study a range of Mathematics units relevant to their partner subject. Admissions to the Joint Honours courses are managed by our partner departments. In all these joint honours programmes, you will study 80 credit points worth of Mathematics (ie two thirds of your academic workload) in your first year. Please bear this in mind if you are thinking of applying for such a course. Your Mathematics must be strong. Choices over the remainder of the course will ensure a 50:50 balance over the whole 3 or 4 year duration of the programme.



Frequently Asked Questions

Which of the six single honours programmes should I choose?

The answer is that at this stage your choice is not critical. All single honours students study exactly the same course in their first year. (A slight exception are students on one of the Mathematics with Study in Continental Europe programmes, who usually substitute a language for one of their first-year Maths units in order to prepare for their year abroad.) We are happy for you to transfer between single-honours mathematics course before you enrol (for G101 and G104, provided you meet the foreign language requirement), and many such transfers continue to be straightforward throughout your first two years of study and thereafter. The only advice we would offer is that, if you are undecided between a three-year and a four-year course, you should apply for a four-year course. This is a funding decision rather than an academic one. You can always drop down to a three-year course at a later date, but extending your programme from three to four years is potentially more difficult as far as funding bodies are concerned.

Please note that we assess applications to all single honours courses on the same basis, and your chances of success will not depend on which course you apply to. Therefore, you should not apply to more than one single honours course.

How flexible is the Mathematics course if Year 1 is the same for everyone?

The answer is that it is a very flexible course. By giving all students a common mathematical foundation in Year 1, we prepare them for a wide range of informed choices in later years. Also, the University offers a large number of Open Units which can be studied as part of your degree. The course structure enables you to focus on areas where you have the greatest interest and strength.

Should I apply for a single honours or a joint honours programme?

While our single honours courses focus mainly on mathematics, you should realize that mathematics is a very broad discipline which includes pure and applied mathematics and probability and statistics. The single honours courses provide a broad background in all of these areas while allowing you to concentrate on the areas you find most attractive. In Years 2 and 3, single honours students can take up to 40 credit points (one-third of their units) in outside subjects, although many choose to take only mathematics units. Year 4 MSci students can take 20 credit points of outside units.

Joint honours courses allow you to study mathematics together with a second discipline where mathematics can play an important role. We offer joint courses with Computer Science, Economics, Philosophy and Physics. Joint degrees tend to focus on the mathematics most relevant to the second discipline, eg, pure mathematics (logic and set theory in particular) for Mathematics and Philosophy and applied mathematics for Mathematics and Physics. There is little scope for taking outside units, as your course will be fully occupied by your two subjects. A joint degree is ideal if your interests span mathematics and the other discipline involved.

What happens if I want to change between single honours mathematics courses?

The fact that single honours share a common programme in Year 1 makes it easy to move between programmes, and in many cases you can transfer at any time in your undergraduate career (some caveats: to transfer onto a Mathematics with Statistics programme you'll need the appropriate statistics units, and transfers onto a Study with Continental Europe course require time to make arrangements abroad). You can also transfer from a three-year to a four-year programme. However, to ensure that funding is available for an additional year, this should be done by the end of your first year. For this reason, we advise students wishing to leave their options open to apply for a four-year rather than a three-year programme.

Can I transfer from a joint honours to a single honours programme?

If you have successfully completed your first year, you can normally transfer onto the second year of a single honours mathematics course. You will be encouraged to take some of the first-year mathematics units that you missed. Requests to transfer to a single honours maths before the start of your first year will be considered but are not automatically approved.

Can I transfer from a single honours to a joint honours programme?

Normally this is not possible once you have started your course.

Are there other mathematics programmes available at Bristol?

The University of Bristol has a Department of Engineering Mathematics in the Faculty of Engineering, which offers degree programmes in Engineering Mathematics.