Honours Programme Convenor:
A/Prof. Francesca Little
Room 3-19, P D Hahn, North Entrance
(Building 28)
Phone: (021) 6503225 / 3219
Fax: (021) 6504773
Email: francesca.little@uct.ac.za
Contents:
Summary of Programmes:
The
following are the full honours programmes offered in the department:
| STA4006W |
BCom(Hons) in
Statistics |
| STA4007W
|
BSc(Hons) in
Statistical Sciences |
| STA4019H |
Statistical
Sciences for Actuaries (constituting 65% of the requirements for
BSc(Hons) in Actuarial Science)
|
| STA4010W |
Honours
year requirement for BBusSc (Quantitative Management)
(4
course credits for the BBusSc curriculum)
|
In
addition, to the above full honours programmes, opportunity is also
provided (primarily to 4th year BBusSc students in streams other than
quantitative management) to take a selection of course-work modules
from the honours programme, equivalent to either a full- or half-year
course:
| STA4011W |
This
requires completion of 10 credits from the honours programmes listed
below, and gives credit equivalent to a full fourth-year level course
(2 course credits for BBusSc)
|
| STA4016H
|
This
requires completion of 6 credits from the honours programmes
listed
below, and gives credit equivalent to a half fourth-year level
course
(1 course credits for BBusSc)
|
| STA4017H |
This
option allows students who have completed STA4016H in
a
previous year, to take the additional modules to complete the
equivalent
of the STA4011W course.
|
Basic Programme Structures:
Requirements
for each programme are expressed in terms of numbers of credits (which
may or may
not bear any relationship to the definitions of "credits" used anywhere
else in the
university!) Broadly speaking, one credit is the equivalent of half of
an
honours
semester module (typically about 12 formal lectures plus associated
practical
or
assignment work).
Each
programme has a set of core modules, all of which have to be passed,
plus a
number of
electives to make up a total required number of credits. Students may
fail
in one
elective module and still get the relevant credit, provided that a mark
of at
least 40%
is attained for that elective. Students are expected to take at least
one more
than the
the minimum number of electives, and the best of the marks for the
required
minimum
number of electives will be taken into consideration in calculating the
final
grade.
Electives may, with the permission of the programme convenor, be taken
from
honours
modules in other departments. At most one elective may be substituted
by an
undergraduate
course (again with the approval of the programme convenor).
Core
requirements and total numbers of credits depend on the programme
chosen, and in
some cases
also on the undergraduate stream followed. The requirements are
summarized
in the
following table.
| Core Courses or Modules |
Credits |
STA4007W/
STA4006W
(Math Stats)
|
STA4006W
(Bus Stats)
|
STA4019H* |
STA4010W
(Math Stats)
|
STA4010W
(Bus
Stats)
|
| Project |
6 |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Statistical
Computing & Practice |
2 |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Professional
Communications |
1 |
x |
x |
x |
|
|
| Matrix
Methods |
1 |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Theory
of Statistics A |
4 |
x |
|
|
x |
|
| Theory
of Statistics B |
6 |
|
x |
|
|
x |
| Operations
Research A |
2 |
x |
|
|
x |
|
| Operations
Research B |
2 |
x |
x |
|
x |
x |
|
Total Core
Credits
|
|
18
|
18
|
10
|
17
|
17
|
|
Total Required
Credits
|
|
24
|
24
|
16
|
21
|
21
|
* See
attached appendix for further details on rules for BSc(Hons) in
Actuarial Science.
The total
required credits (including the additional module referred to above)
must be made up by selecting additional modules, either from the core
list (where these are not "core" for the relevant programme), or from
the list of elective modules offered by the department (typically
counting 2 credits each), or (with the permission of the programme
convenor, as indicated above) from undergraduate or graduate courses in
other
departments.
The
electives which are being offered in the department for 2010 are as
follows:
| Analysis
of Survey data |
Semester 2 |
| Biostatistics |
Semester 1 |
| Decision
Modelling |
Semester 2 |
| Econometrics
|
Semester 1 |
| Multivariate
Analysis |
Semester 1 |
| Portfolio
Theory |
Semester 2 |
| Spatial
Statistics |
Semester 1 |
| Time
Series Analysis |
Semester 2 |
Applicants fulfiling the minimum
requirements above with an average of 65% or more in their 3rd year
courses (at first attempt) can be confident of admission into the
programme. Those not achieving the 65% level will be considered on a
case-by-case basis, taking into consideration performance in other
courses, provided that space is available. It is unlikely that those
averaging less than 60% will be admitted.
Application
for Admission:
All students who may be considering
application for admission to any of the programmes listed above (even
if not yet certain) should complete the form headed Notification
to the Department of Statistical Sciences of intention to enter Honours
Programmes in the Department, and hand it in at the reception desk
of the Department of Statistical Sciences, or fax it to 021-650-4773,
not later than 29 October 2010.
In addition, those intending to register
for BCom(Hons) or BSc(Hons) (i.e. STA4019H, STA4006W or STA4007W) must
also apply to the University Central Admissions on the prescribed form
(as they are in effect applying for entry to a new programme). The
relevant forms are available from the Central Admissions Office or the
Faculty Offices, and must be submitted with the necessary deposit to
the UCT Admissions Office.
Successful applicants will be informed of
their admission into the programmes by 31 December 2010.
Commencement
Date:
The letter of acceptance into the
programmes will state the precise dates and times of the first meetings
of the class. However, applicants should plan on being available from
Monday 31 January 2011 (i.e. two weeks before the start of the
undergraduate lectures).
RULES FOR
BSc(Hons) IN ACTUARIAL SCIENCE
Candidates for the degree of BSc(Hons)
in Actuarial Science need to pass all three of the following courses:
STA4019H - Statistical
Sciences for Actuaries (see curriculum details below)
BUS4027W - Assets,
Liabilities and Asset-Liability Management
BUS4028F -Financial Economics
Students who have previously received
credits for BUS4027W or BUS4028F or their equivalents, are required to
substitute these by other courses from the Division of Actuarial
Science (in consultation with the heads of the Department of
Statistical Sciences and the Division of Actuarial Science, or their
deputies).
The overall grade for the honours
degree will be a weighted average of the three courses, with weights
allocated as follows: STA4019H 65%; BUS4027W 28%; BUS4028F 7%. In the
event of other courses being substituted in terms of rule 2, the
relative weights will be determined by the Honours Convenor in
Statistical Sciences, but with the requirement that the weight of
STA4019H remains at 65%.
Students will be permitted to register
for BUS1034S (professional communications for actuarial science) in
place of the internal module on professional communications. In this
case, they will register as occasional students concurrently with the
Honours programme (and will pay the fee).
Students passing STA4019H, but failing
in BUS4027W or BUS4028F, may repeat BUS4027W or BUS4028F once and still
qualify for the BSc(Hons) degree.
Course Content for STA4019H
The curriculum for STA4019H will consist
of a minimum of 16 internal departmental credits for the honours
programme (or 15 credits if they opt to complete the BUS1034S course on
professional communications for actuarial science) . These credits must
include the core modules:
Project
- 6 credits
Statistical Computing and
Practice - 2 credits
Matrix
Methods
- 1 credit
Professional
Communications
- 1 credit (if BUS1034S not taken)
The remaining 6 credits may be selected
from honours modules in the Department of Statistical Sciences, or may
include 2 credits from honours modules in other departments (with the
remaining 6 credits from the Department of Statistical Sciences).
Students are required to take at least one more than the minimum number
of electives, and the best of the marks for the required minimum number
of electives will be taken into consideration in calculating the final
grade.
Each core module must be passed (i.e. a
mark of 50%). A sub-minimum of 40% is allowed for at most one elective
module, provided that the overall average for the course is above 50%.
