This page is still being updated for the academic year 25/26. Students will be informed when the Handbook update is complete.
Course Transfers
Note: All course transfers must be requested before 1st August for the changes to take effect by the start of the new academic year.
Transfers within the Mathematics Department
Transfer between courses while your home department is Mathematics (i.e. BSc. Maths all years, MMath all years, Maths/Business years one and two, Maths/Economics years one and two) is straightforward provided you have taken the necessary prerequisite modules.
For example, as a maths student, to transfer to GL11 Maths and Economics (where you spend the final year based in the Economics department) you must either transfer immediately at the start of year 1, in which case you take EC107 Economics 1 as a Core module, or you take EC106 Introduction to Quantitative Economics for Option List A during year 1 and then you are eligible to transfer at the end of year 1.
Discuss it with your Personal Tutor and, when you are sure, initiate the course transfer on eVision. It will then be checked and approved (if you satisfy any requirements) by the department (ultimately by the Director of Undergraduate Studies).
Transfers out of the Mathematics Department
If you wish to transfer to a course outside of the Mathematics Department then you will need to talk to the department you wish to transfer to in person about their criteria and whether or not they are prepared to take you.
You should also discuss this with your Personal Tutor, although the decision would not be up to us. Once they have accepted you, they will ask us to initiate the transfer.
If you are interested in transferring to Data Science or transferring to MORSE then we recommend pursuing this right at the start of your degree programme. You should enquire with the Statistics Department about this. If you are interested in data science, operational research, statistics and economics then it is still possible to study a good number of the modules that students on Data Science or MORSE would study without transferring.
If you are interested in transferring to Maths and Statistics, which is the most common route for Maths students transferring to the Statistics department, at the end of your first year, you should take
- ST121 Statistics Laboratory.
See the Statistics Department's Handbook for External Students for general information about course transfer into programmes run by the Statistics Department, including into Maths and Statistics at the end of year 2.
If you are interested in transferring to Maths and Physics at the end of your first year, the Physics Department recommends the following three modules,
- PX156 Quantum Phenomena. This module deals, from first principles, with one of the major components of modern Physics. It leads on to several options in 2nd year Physics (see the second year options for details).
- PX155 Classical Mechanics and Special Relativity
- PX157 Electricity and Magnetism. These lectures treat the classical description of the behaviour of particles, waves and matter.
If you are interested in transferring to Maths and Philosophy at the end of year 1, you must take both of
- PH142 Central Themes in Philosophy (as an Unusual Option)
- PH136 Logic I: Introduction to Symbolic Logic (from List A).
See this Philosophy Department webpageLink opens in a new window for more details.
The Computer Science department does not take transfers to Discrete Maths at the end of year 1.
Transfers into the Mathematics Department - first years
Please note that, due to current student numbers, we do not expect to take any transfers into the first year of a Mathematics degree during 24/25.
Transfers into the first year of a Mathematics degree from a non maths related course whilst unusual, may be possible in exceptional circumstances. As a minimum you would be required to hold our entrance requirement.
Transfer from a joint degree (e.g. Discrete Maths, MORSE, Maths/Philosophy or Maths/Physics) to a degree within the Mathematics Department (e.g. Maths BSc. or the MMath) is not possible during the academic year except in exceptional circumstances (and even then a bare minimum you will have to have achieved our entrance requirement but even this is not a guarantee of acceptance).
Transfers into the second year of the Mathematics Degree
Please note that due to current student numbers it is very unlikely that we will take transfers from other departments into the second year of a Mathematics degree during 24/25.
If you wish to transfer to the Mathematics department once you have completed your first year, into year 2 of a Mathematics Degree, then you should contact the Mathematics Department (Director of Undergraduate Studies), but only after you have your end of year results in June/July.
The Mathematics department will only accept high calibre students who have shown an ability to cope with the core maths modules, and even then only if there is room to take them on.
For most years, as a minimum, to be considered for a transfer you must gain at least 80% overall (your end of year average) and over 70% in all of the following modules (although evidence of a higher standard in at least some of the modules would be required).
- MA149 Linear Algebra or MA148 Vectors and Matrices
- MA147 Mathematical Methods and Modelling 1 and MA145 Mathematical Methods and Modelling 2
- Both MA140 Mathematical Analysis 1 and MA152 Mathematical Analysis 2 or both MA142 Calculus 1 and MA143 Calculus 2
- MA138 Sets and Numbers
- ST120 Introduction to Probability would be desirable for students not from the Statistics Department
Note that you will know the final result of MA140 or MA142 during Term 2, so if that result is less than 70% then you will not be able to transfer. Acceptance would still be at the discretion of the Mathematics department, and fulfilling the above criteria would not be a guarantee of success.
Transfer is entirely at the discretion of the Director of Undergraduate Studies who will take other things into consideration (not limited to: number of maths modules considerably above 70%, whether there is room in the second year, comparison to other students requesting transfer):