The course is designed to prepare students with solid quantitative skills and technical groundings for applications in a wide range of practical problems involving financial consequences of risky events. It provides an opportunity to obtain exemption from the foundation level professional exams of the Australian Actuaries Institute and the UK's Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. The course also offers students the opportunity to participate in Macquarie's cooperative education program (Co-op). Students will alternate between classroom studies and workplace experience in the form of three work placements of three to six months each throughout their course to develop professional skills and networks across different workplace settings and use their practical experiences in the classroom.
This program employs a mixture of lectures, tutorials, practicals, vocational placements and seminars to meet its learning outcomes.
Lectures are oral presentations that are intended to present information or teach students about a particular subject. However, lectures are not purely passive experiences, and in many units students will be given problems to work on and discuss in groups before the lecturer summarises the main issues of the problem.
Tutorials are smaller classes where students get to work at their own pace on various problems and seek feedback from their tutor. Tutorials allow a level of feedback not possible in the larger lectures.
Practicals are usually held in computer laboratories and allow students to gain experience with relevant statistical software.
While the majority of the above classes are taught by university staff, several units also employ presentations by industry practitioners. This is particularly so in the Capstone unit, which is also a PACE (Professional and Community Engagement) unit, and involves extensive presentations by industry partners, who are also involved and assessing and providing feedback on a major assessment task where students tackle a real world project and provide an oral presentation on their findings.
Vocational placements in the Professional Practice component involve an extensive period working in a workplace setting. Students work on practical problems under the guidance of a supervisor. The staggered sequence of three placements allows students to apply knowledge and skills developed in the classroom to new and authentic workplace experiences over the course of their program. Workshops and online curriculum enable students to reflect on and articulate how 'theory and practice' work together, enhancing students' capacity for life-long, self-directed learning. The sequence of vocational placements also offers students the opportunity to explore career options in different areas of the actuarial profession and different types of firms, and to network with a range of industry partners.
Seminars are offered in units that contain vocational placements. Seminars cover information relevant to succeeding in the workplace, such as adapting to a new office environment, business communication, business ethics, reflection for further learning, soft skill development and translating work experiences into materials relevant for future job searches.
The course comprises tutorial exercises and a variety of graded assessment tasks to gauge students' performance and includes:
1. Final Exam. This course is accredited by the Actuaries Institute, the Australian professional actuarial body. To assist in meeting accreditation requirements, many units in the program have an assessment scheme strongly weighted towards a final exam. A unit's final examination is designed to assess a student's command of the entire unit's knowledge and skills. Actuaries do not work in isolation but rather need to be able to explain their results to members of other professions, so exam questions do include scenarios requiring non-technical explanations of the meaning of calculations.
2. Assignments: This may take a variety of formats such as the analysis of data using a spreadsheet or statistical software, the development of a mathematical argument or the production of a formal report explaining the results of any of the previous items.
3. Quizzes: A quiz is an online assessment. Quizzes usually consist of a short series of questions which may be true/false, multiple choice, or require students to enter a numerical answer.
4. Presentations: Presentations may be conducted on an individual or group basis.
5. Tests: Class tests are held during class time under normal exam conditions. They allow students to practice their exam skills in preparation for the final exam.
6. Reports: Extended written work. These will form a key part of the assessment for the work placements.
In the Professional Practice component of the course, indicative assessment tasks include:
7. In consecutive placements throughout the course, students will participate in learning and teaching activities and complete tasks in which they critically reflect on their application of disciplinary knowledge in the workplace, lessons learned regarding communication with different audiences, personal and professional skill development, professional judgment, application of workplace knowledge and skills in their academic programs, etc. With each successive placement, students will scaffold skills both in reflection and in these knowledge and skill areas.
8. Reports addressing aspects of professional behaviour in the workplace, such as adhering to ethical standards, sustainable practice, social inclusion and global citizenship. Knowledge and application of professional behaviour is scaffolded throughout the course.
9. Presentations and/or reports to deliver on projects completed in the workplace.
Honours
Honours Classification is based on the calculation of a “Honours Weighted Average Mark” (HWAM) for the following units: ACST3006, ACST3007, ACST3058, ACST3059, ACST3060, ACST4008, ACST4009, PROF4000, ACST4002, ACST4003 and ACST4005. These units correspond to the professionally accredited curriculum, the professional practice component as well as the Honours thesis component. Each unit carries the same weight in the calculation of HWAM except for PROF4000 which carries 3 times the individual weight of the other units.
Honours is awarded based on performance as measured by the HWAM as described above.
Note that any attempt with a fail grade in these relevant units would also be included in the calculation of HWAM. The academic requirements for the actuarial studies Co-op program are also applicable here for the Honours degree.
Career opportunities for actuaries exist in the fields of:
Employers:
The Bachelor of Actuarial Studies with Professional Practice (Honours), also referred to as the Actuarial Studies Co-op, is a professional course with academic performance requirements. The academic requirements set out in this handbook are in addition to those requirements set out in both the Academic Progression Policy and General Coursework Rules.
For continued eligibility in the Actuarial Studies Co-op, students must:
If a student’s WAM falls below 70 but remains above 65 at any point during the course, they will be given the opportunity to raise their WAM to 70 or greater in the following session. In such cases, students will be notified by the University and provided with support to assist them to achieve the course requirements. Students who fail to raise their WAM to 70 or above by the end of the following session will be excluded from the Actuarial Studies Co-op Program.
Notwithstanding the above, if:
the student will be immediately excluded from the Actuarial Studies Co-op Program.
A student may be eligible for a waiver of the academic requirement to attain a mark of at least 65 in an Exemption Unit and therefore avoid exclusion if:
All applications for a waiver should be:
If a student is excluded from the Actuarial Studies Co-op Program, their scholarship payments will be discontinued in accordance with the scholarship terms and conditions.
In cases of a permanent exclusion, students will still be permitted to continue with the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies, subject to compliance with any applicable academic progression requirements set out in the Academic Progression Policy or other applicable University policies.
The Bachelor of Actuarial Studies with Professional Practice (Honours), also referred to as the Actuarial Studies Co-op, is a professional course with fitness to practice (FTP) requirements. The Actuarial Studies Co-op includes embedded placements and other mandated requirements, which are covered by the University’s Academic Progression Policy and the Fitness to Practice Procedure. Enrolment in this course is also governed by the General Coursework Rules.
Fitness to Practice Requirements
FTP is the demonstration of professional competence, acceptable professional behaviour, freedom from impairment and compliance with program specific requirements needed for a student to practice properly and safely throughout their professional course. Students of the Actuarial Studies Co-op complete placements with external partners, so they must demonstrate that they meet the FTP requirements across the following domains:
1. Conduct: Students are required to conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times throughout the course and while on placement reflecting the behaviours, ethics and attitudes expected of professionals. In particular, students must:
2. Performance: Students must demonstrate the required level of competence and work to the best of their ability, diligently, with due care and in accordance with their current level of knowledge. For example, students must:
3. Compliance: Students are expected to comply with course specific requirements and to carry out their placement roles commensurate with a professional at their stage of learning. Students must:
4. Health and Disability: Students must demonstrate awareness of their own health condition or disability and ensure that any health condition or disability does not provide nonacceptable risk to themselves or others. In particular, students must:
We note that reasonable accommodations will be made for students with a disability in accordance with University policy (link to Student Disability Support policy).
If a student is excluded from the Actuarial Studies Co-op Program, their scholarship payments will be discontinued in accordance with the scholarship terms and conditions.
In cases of permanent exclusion, students will still be permitted to continue with Bachelor of Actuarial Studies, subject to compliance with any applicable academic progression requirements set out in the Academic Progression Policy or other applicable University policies.
