What can I do with a mathematics degree?

This guide should help you think about the skills you have, the jobs they can be applied to, and the options available. You will also find out about what other maths graduates have gone on to do.

Skills for your CV

Skills you should have picked up include:

• logical and quantitative thinking
• numeracy
• ability to handle tricky intellectual challenges
• problem solving skills
• statistical inference

Job roles and career areas you could work in

Mathematicians are in high demand from software companies. If you can show you can program, you are likely to be in as strong a position as a computer science or IT graduate when applying for roles with these organisations.

Whatever career path you take after completing your degree, you may need to take further qualifications or training. Maths students are particularly likely to be suited to the following job roles:

• accountant
• actuary
• commodity broker
• consultant
• data analyst
• investment analyst
• investment banker (operations)
• software developer
• statistician
• teacher (secondary)
• trader

What do mathematics graduates go on to do?

Here’s what mathematical sciences graduates who finished their degrees in 2018 were doing around 15 months after graduating, according to the graduate outcomes statistics reported by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in 2020.

Destination

Percentage

Full-time employment

58

Part-time employment

4

Voluntary or unpaid work

1

Working and studying

10

Further study

14

Unemployed

6

Source: HESA's higher education graduate outcomes statistics, 2020

Key areas of employment for mathematics graduates

These are the top five areas of work taken up by 2018 mathematical sciences graduates around 15 months after graduation, according to the graduate outcomes statistics reported by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in 2020.

Areas of employment

Percentage

Finance and insurance

17

Professional, scientific and technical

17

Education

17

Information and communication

15

Wholesale and retail trade

6

Source: HESA's higher education graduate outcomes statistics, 2020

Which careers attract mathematical science and statistics students?

Investment banking and investment was the most popular career choices for students of mathematical science and statistics identified by a 2020 survey of more than 71,000 undergraduates carried out by Cibyl, a research company owned by the same company as targetjobs. Just under one in ten (9.2%) of mathematical science and statistics students who participated in the survey said they were interested in each of these areas. The most popular careers for students of mathematical science and statistics were as follows:

Career

Percentage

Investment banking and investment

9.2% expressed an interest

Accounting and financial management

8.3

Banking, insurance and financial services

8.2

Consulting

6.9

Logistics, transport and supply chain

4.3

Source: Graduate Survey 2020

What salaries can maths graduates earn?

Want to know what graduates in your degree discipline typically earn in different locations? The Pay Index has provided targetjobs with a handy graduate salary tool showing just that.

Famous people with maths degrees

There are plenty of famous people who have taken their mathematics degrees in other directions. Take these for example:

• Rachel Riley – studied at the University of Oxford before replacing Carol Vorderman as the presenter of Countdown.
• Dara Ó Briain – the host of Mock the Week has a degree in maths and theoretical physics from University College Dublin.
• Lewis Carroll – studied and later taught at Christ Church College, Oxford, where he wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.