Quant Guide 2021: University of Technology Sydney

Sydney, Australia

Photo: Sleepytiger

 

 

Covid didn’t disrupt the University of Technology Sydney’s (UTS) Master of Quantitative Finance programme quite as much as it may have affected others. Despite its relatively small size — with an average class size of 20 students in compulsory modules — the programme attracts a high number of part-time students. The present cohort comprises 16 full-time students and 12 part-timers.

The move to online teaching and pre-recorded lectures for much of 2020 did not faze students who are mixing study with work or other efforts, although there was mixed feedback about some aspects of the shift, according to programme director and senior lecturer in finance Nadima El-Hassan.

“Students seem to really like the pre-recorded lectures: they give students a lot of flexibility in how and when they learn,” she says. However, some report that they “miss the interaction with academics and other students, especially in lab sessions”, she adds.

Exams were also given as take-home or timed online tests.

For the latest intake, applications increased slightly over the previous year – from 72 to 78 – and UTS extended 43 offers versus 41 for the prior intake. Contact hours, homework hours, and rates of employment and further study have all remained static, as have post-graduation salaries.

In a slight shift in employment choices following the completion of the programme, there was an increase in the percentage of graduates entering banking jobs versus the previous year’s cohort.

View this institution’s entry in the 2020 guide

View other universities and a guide to the metrics tables