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Wanted: maths graduates

Three dimensional plastic 3d printerAutomatic three dimensional 3d printer performs product creation. Modern 3D printing or additive manufacturing and robotic automation technology.
Both theoretical and practical maths skills are in high demand in the thriving tech sector. Photograph: Getty Images

Demand for maths graduates is soaring as technology, data and machine learning become the driving forces of our economy. From financial services to retail, from analysing sports data to drugs trials, a maths degree is a passport to a fascinating, well-paid career.

Two million people work in jobs where maths qualifications are essential and this figure is growing rapidly, according to the Council For Mathematical Sciences. Nationally, about 50% of people in jobs where a maths qualification is needed earn £29,000 or more, compared to 19% of the national population.

“A maths degree opens all doors – you can go into pretty much anything,” says Noel-Ann Bradshaw, faculty director of employability in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Greenwich.

“The jobs that are most popular are things like data scientist, statistician, and any sort of analyst – there are so many roles open in all sorts of companies with analyst at the end,” she says.

A bachelor of science degree in mathematics equips graduates with computer skills, as they use a variety of software programmes in their studies. And they gain valuable experience in solving some tricky problems – an essential part of studying maths.

Maths graduates are suited for careers as systems analysts – examining how well computer software and hardware fits the needs of a business – or operations analysts, crunching data for the operations department in a business. They are as well placed to step up to management roles as they are versed in the key management skills of data and problem solving. Financial roles such as accountancy or actuarial work are also open to maths graduates. Or they can do mathematical modelling on engineering projects. Then there is the academic route, involving research or teaching.

Bradford says different universities offer mathematics degrees with varying levels of theoretical and practical applications: “If you are doing a maths Bsc at a Russell Group research-intensive university, it is probably going to have a lot more pure maths than if you do it at a post-92 university [the former polytechnics], where maths tends to be more applied.”

Many of the jobs taken up by maths graduates involve a high level of statistics, which are usually taught as part of a maths master’s course.

Neil Sheldon, vice-president for education and statistical literacy at the Royal Statistical Society, says: “To enhance one’s position in the jobs market, people should build up their statistical skills.” He says some universities have considered offering statistics training to all undergraduates, as everybody needs to understand and interpret data these days. “Whatever you are doing, statistics is going to be a vital part of doing it well,” he says.