Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

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The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) is the UK’s only chartered professional body dedicated to educating, developing, and regulating actuaries based both in the UK and internationally.

Established: 1848

No. of employees: 200

Career zones: Insurance & Pensions

Location: Nationwide

Website: actuaries.org.uk

About

What is an actuary?

Working with governments, charitable organisations, financial institutions, organisations and businesses around the world, they help to shape the thinking around huge financial, governmental, societal and environmental issues.

Issues like climate change. Social and health care. National and global economies. The impact of emerging technologies, and much more.

What actuaries do?

Using mathematical and risk analysis, behavioural insight and business acumen, actuaries examine incredibly complex issues, drawing insights that help decide how to address them.

Traditionally, actuarial roles have been in the financial sector, in pensions, insurance, investments and more.

Today, however, actuarial expertise is increasingly being applied to wider areas, like artificial intelligence, engineering, healthcare and sustainability. Governments and international agencies work with actuaries to consider global issues, like how to cope with pandemics and manage climate change.

What’s a Chartered Actuary?

Actuaries who gained their qualifications through the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) can describe themselves as chartered. They don’t have to, and some choose not to. But chartered status is a simple way to denote the level of training, professionalism and expertise its holder offers.

Anyone who does actuarial work can describe themselves as an actuary, even if they’re not qualified. Only qualified members of the IFoA, however, can call themselves a Chartered Actuary.

They’ve passed rigorous professional exams and made a commitment to continue developing their skills. And they’re governed by and adhere to the exacting standards of the IFoA’s Actuaries’ Code.

Recognising a Chartered Actuary

Chartered Actuaries use the designations Chartered Actuary (Associate) or Chartered Actuary (Fellow).

Associate members may also use the post nominals AIA C.Act or AFA C.Act

Fellow members may use the post nominals FIA C.Act or FFA C.Act

Work Experience

Finding a graduate or trainee role

Whether you choose to go to university or complete an apprenticeship, you will need to secure your first actuarial role. This role will help you to put the skills you gain thorough our exams into practice and will provide you with the necessary work experience you need to qualify as an Associate or Fellow of the IFoA. Many employers will provide you with study support and fund your exams. The entry requirements for trainees will vary depending on the employer and the specific role.

Read our careers blogs

Find out how you can improve your chances of securing a trainee role in our blog, 'How to secure an actuarial internship'.
You can also read Dr Mark Farrell's blog where he sets out five key skills graduates need to meet the rapid changes in the actuarial profession.

Stay up to date

Stay up-to-date with the latest news about trainee and graduate roles and employer events by completing our careers contact form.

Graduate

Most people interested in becoming an actuary start with a maths-based degree at 2:1 or above and begin taking actuarial exams once they have secured a graduate role.

If you don’t have a background in maths but are interested in an actuarial career, we recommend you take one of our non-member exams to gain an understanding of the level of maths required to become an actuary.

Choosing the right school subjects

As a minimum, we recommend that you start with an A Level or equivalent in Maths. This not only helps you build the groundwork for future exams, but it is also often a requirement for many employers. Beyond maths, it’s important to look at subjects you are most likely to enjoy and be successful at. This could be supporting subjects such as economics or physics. However, don’t underestimate the value of other subjects such as languages – these can help demonstrate your communication skills! Find out more about the different subjects you can choose in our blog 'What subjects you should study in school'.

What university course should I pick?

With so many university courses to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start. Firstly, we recommend a course that is maths-based. You can choose from a number of maths-based subjects such as economics, physics, pure maths or statistics. We recommend choosing a course that includes a significant amount of maths modules.

Find out more about the different maths-based degrees you could choose in our blog, 'What degrees can help'.

If you would like to study a course that is specific to the actuarial profession, there are a number of actuarial science degrees that are accredited by the IFoA, which will help you prepare for a career as an actuary. We accredit university courses around the globe which can provide you with exemptions to some of our exams. This means you’ll have fewer exams to complete after you graduate, giving you a head start with your exams.

Visit our university exemption page to find out more about our accredited degree programmes.

Whatever programme you pick, most employers will look for a 2:1 as a minimum so make sure that you study something that you will enjoy and excel at.

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