Course summary
Our MSc Optimisation and Data Analytics will appeal if your first degree included mathematics as its major subject. We expect you to have prior knowledge of statistics – for example, significance testing or basic statistical distributions – and operational research such as linear programming. Businesses, organisations, and individuals all strive to work as effectively as possible. Operational research uses advanced statistical and analytical methods to help improve the complex decision-making processes to deliver a product or service. Working in this field, you might be identifying future needs for a business, evaluating the time-life value of a customer, or carrying out computer simulations for airlines. You specialise in areas including:
- continuous and discrete optimisation
- time series econometrics
- heuristic computation
- experimental design
- machine learning
- linear models
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for this course can be found on the course finder on the University of Essex website – www.essex.ac.uk
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
| England | £8400 | Year 1 |
| Northern Ireland | £8400 | Year 1 |
| Scotland | £8400 | Year 1 |
| Wales | £8400 | Year 1 |
| Channel Islands | £8400 | Year 1 |
| Republic of Ireland | £8400 | Year 1 |
| EU | £18200 | Year 1 |
| International | £18200 | Year 1 |
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
Fees displayed are for the 2025-26 academic year. Fees may increase for each academic intake and each academic year of study.
Provider information
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester
CO4 3SQ