The Master of Statistics program is the longest running program of its kind in Australia. It covers a wide range of statistical theory and practice and provides advanced training for those who are currently or are aiming to become, practicing statisticians. The program may be completed in one and a half years of full-time or three years of part-time study.


Entry is available to graduates with a pass degree in Statistics or an honours degree in a related field (commonly Mathematics) with supporting studies in Statistics. Honours graduates in Statistics may be exempted from a maximum of one third of the lecture subjects and could complete the degree with one year of full time study. Graduates from other suitable fields of study such as engineering, commerce or business studies can be admitted to the program via an individually specified qualifying program of study - please contact the course coordinator below for further details. More general information about postgraduate coursework studies in mathematics is available online.

More specialised Masters Programs available are:

The academic requirement for the degree is 72 units of credit (uoc). Unless otherwise noted, all courses listed below are 6uoc each.

Please note that the courses MATH5905 Statistical Inference and MATH5835 Stochastic Processes are compulsory for all students enrolled into the Master of Statistics Program.

The core set of compulsory courses is designed to strengthen and deepen knowledge of the fundamentals of statistical science and to develop consulting and project writing skills. The electives are designed to give variety and to provide opportunities to learn in depth some important applications of Statistics in Finance, Biological and Medical Science, Industry and Economics.

Please refer to the timetable for Semester 1
Semester 1 Timetable

Please refer to the timetable for Semester 2 when it becomes available.

Up to 24 UOC may be taken in graduate courses offered by other Departments or Schools within the University, subject to the approval by the course authority. Examples include areas such as econometrics, theory of finance, market research, optimization, operations research, transportation planning, business forecasting, total quality management, population genetics.

The project provides an opportunity to specialise in a particular area of Statistics to develop research capability and to understand, interpret and use in practice results published in scientific journals. The candidate presents a typed project report, in the layout of an article along with an oral presentation summarising the main points. Typical projects require analysis of a substantial data set using advanced statistical software. A convenient room is available for the students where they can work on their projects. The room is equipped with modern computing facilities.

The statistical consulting subject provides the opportunity to analyse real data sets and to give professional advice to university researchers.

Students have access to PC and linux laboratories. The latest versions of Splus, SAS, SPSS, Matlab, Minitab, Excel, Mathcad and other Windows and X-Windows packages are widely available.

The formal requirements are listed above in the Overview. However, we encourage applications from candidates who have a strong quantitative background such as in economics, econometrics, science and engineering. Individually tailored Masters qualifying programmes can be arranged where appropriate.

Students may enrol by February to start in Semester 1 or by June to start in Semester 2.

For the convenience of part-time and full-time students, classes are typically taught from 5:30pm to 8:00pm on weekdays during term.

All coursework masters programs at UNSW are fee-paying. Australian residents, eligible for the HECS will be able to apply for means tested HECS scholarship for coursework master programs. The Master in Statistics course is included in this scholarship scheme. This means that it will remain fee-paying, but students who meet the criteria will pay on a HECS basis.

Dr Donna Salopek
School of Mathematics and Statistics
University of New South Wales
Sydney 2052 Australia
Phone: (02) 9385 7030
Fax: (02) 9385 7123

Inquiries via e-mail must be sent to pg.MathsStats@unsw.edu.au

The academic staff of the Department of Statistics covers a wide range of teaching, research and consulting interests. All academic staff are active in research. They also have extensive consulting experience within the research community at UNSW as well as for leading commercial clients in areas such as financial mathematics, expert witnessing in legal cases, meteorological modelling, epidemiology and market research. International visitors to the Department may lecture in current topics to the Masters students.

Our graduates find employment very quickly after graduation. Prospective employment opportunities exist in the area of Finance and Insurance, Industry, the Public Sector, in Computing Companies and other Private Companies. The starting salaries are quite good. Many overseas students attend the course. An incomplete list of our graduates from recent years includes students from Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Lebanon, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka and other countries around the globe.

"The Master of Statistics degree has provided me with a much greater understanding of how to value and think about complex financial products. The selection of courses has been highly relevant to my career in financial markets and has provided me with a solid base from which to move (should I so desire) into a diverse range of job functions. As a part-time student with full-time work commitments I have been particularly impressed with the level of support provided by academic staff-both in terms of the quality of teaching and in their willingness to discuss subject material outside of designated hours. I would recommend the degree to anyone with an interest in probability and statistics and a desire to enhance their knowledge, understanding and career potential".
Gordon Browne, Equity Derivatives Trader, BNP Equities, Sydney.

"Three years ago, when I first enrolled in my Masters of Statistics, it was clear that another qualification was necessary to further my career. The number of choices was enormous. Should I take a course in Finance or Management would be more to my taste? Research revealed that the Mstat at UNSW contained 3 courses in Financial Mathematics, from Stochastic Calculus to the Heath-Jarrow-Morton Model. This made up my mind. Statistics was it! The course proved to be much more interesting (and better taught) than I expected. It was also obvious that the skills I was learning were adding significantly to my worth as a financial statistician. Competition in the Australian finance industry is intense, especially for technical staff, and the UNSW Mstat is an invaluable career edge".
Edmund Bosworth, Assistant Group Treasurer, Credit Union Services Corporation, Australia, NSW Branch Secretary of the Statistical Society of Australia