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The route into quantitative analyst

Assembled backwards from the job: the degrees that lead there, the subjects those degrees require, the exams and when they are sat, and what the whole thing costs in years. Print it.

1. Subjects, chosen at fifteen or sixteen

Aggregated across every degree that leads here. Anything marked required closes the door if you skip it.

Saudi curriculum track

مسار علوم الحاسب والهندسة— Computer Science and Engineering · مسار إدارة الأعمال— Business Administration, or a science track · مسار علوم الحاسب والهندسة— Computer Science and Engineering, or مسار الصحة والحياةfor a biostatistics route

A-Level

  • Mathematicsrequiredfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics
  • Physicsrequiredfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, Physics
  • Further Mathematicshelpsfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics
  • Economicshelpsfor Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Statistics
  • Computer Sciencehelpsfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
  • Historyhelpsfor Economics
  • Biologyhelpsfor Statistics

IB Diploma

  • Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HLrequiredfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics
  • Physics HLrequiredfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, Physics
  • Economics HLhelpsfor Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Statistics
  • Computer Sciencehelpsfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
  • History HLhelpsfor Economics
  • Biology HLhelpsfor Statistics

Advanced Placement

  • AP Calculus BChelpsfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics
  • AP Statisticshelpsfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Mathematics, Statistics
  • AP Computer Science Ahelpsfor Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics
  • AP Physics C: Mechanicshelpsfor Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics
  • AP Microeconomicshelpsfor Economics
  • AP Macroeconomicshelpsfor Economics
  • AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetismhelpsfor Physics
  • AP Biologyhelpsfor Statistics

2. The degree

More than one route usually exists. They are not equivalent.

  • Computer Science

    Finance, for the mathematically strongest — and among the best-paid destinations from this degree.

    Three to four years in the UK, four to five in the Kingdom and the US, often with a placement year.

  • Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

    Finance, for the mathematically strongest.

    Three to four years in the UK, four to five in the Kingdom and the US.

  • Economics

    Reachable for the mathematically strongest, usually with a master's.

    Three to four years, with a placement or exchange year common.

  • Mathematics

    The best-paid destination, and the one that most often wants a master's or doctorate.

    Three years in the UK, four in the Kingdom and the US; four-year integrated master's routes are common.

  • Physics

    Finance actively recruits physics graduates for modelling ability; among the best-paid destinations from this degree.

    Three to four years, with four-year integrated master's routes standard in the UK for research-bound students.

  • Statistics

    Finance, for the mathematically strongest.

    Three to four years for the bachelor's, plus a master's that is close to an entry requirement rather than an advantage.

3. Exams, and when to sit them

Registration deadlines fall weeks or months before the exam. That is what people miss, not the exam.

  • TMUAOctober

    Required or advantageous at Cambridge, Imperial, Warwick and others — and now carries Oxford's computer science admissions since the MAT was retired from 2026 entry.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • Qudurat and TahsiliGrade 11 and 12

    The Saudi composite for computing colleges.

    • Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
    • Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
    • Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.
  • SAT or ACTGrade 11 to early Grade 12

    For US applications, where computer science is among the most competitive majors to be admitted directly into.

    • March, May, JuneSpring sittings. The standard first attempt, in Grade 11.
    • August, October, November, DecemberAutumn sittings. The second attempt, and the last one that reaches early US deadlines is usually the October or November date.
    • Two to four weeks after each sittingScores released; sending them to universities is a separate step with its own timing.
  • TSAOctober

    Oxford PPE and Economics and Management.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • STEPJune, alongside A-Levels

    Usually an offer condition at Cambridge and Warwick rather than a shortlisting test. Genuinely hard; begin a year early.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • PATOctober

    Oxford's physics and engineering test.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • ESATOctober

    Cambridge and Imperial, for natural sciences and physics.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • Postgraduate admissionFinal year of the bachelor's

    The real gate for this profession. Around seven in ten statisticians hold a master's or doctorate, so plan the bachelor's with that in mind.

4. After the degree

Training, licensing and the years between graduating and practising independently.

United Kingdom

  1. schoolA-levels including Mathematics and Further Mathematics2 yr
  2. undergraduateBSc in Mathematics, Physics, Statistics or Engineering3–4 yrs
  3. postgraduateMSc in financial engineering, mathematics or a PhD1–5 yrs
  4. practiceQuantitative analyst0 yr

LicensingNone. Unusually for a well-paid finance role, there is no professional qualification or licence — the degree and the interview are the whole gate.

United States

  1. schoolHigh school through calculus4 yr
  2. undergraduateBachelor's in a quantitative discipline4 yr
  3. postgraduateMaster's in financial engineering, or a PhD1–6 yrs
  4. practiceQuantitative analyst0 yr

LicensingNone required for the role itself.

Saudi Arabia

  1. schoolSecondary school, science track3 yr
  2. undergraduateBachelor's in mathematics, statistics, physics or engineering4–5 yrs
  3. postgraduateMaster's abroad in financial engineering or quantitative finance1–2 yrs
  4. practiceQuantitative analyst0 yr

LicensingNone for the role. Capital Market Authority registration applies to certain regulated activities rather than to quantitative work itself.

5. What the route costs

Not tuition — time. The years spent training are years not spent earning, and that is the largest cost of a long route by a wide margin.

United Kingdom

School-leaving to independent practice: 4–9 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is management consultant at 3 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 6 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of £27,000–35,000, that is roughly £162,000–210,000 of earnings deferred.

United States

School-leaving to independent practice: 5–10 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is aircraft maintenance engineer at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 6 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of $48,780–62,630, that is roughly $292,680–375,780 of earnings deferred.

Saudi Arabia

School-leaving to independent practice: 5–7 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is air traffic controller at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 3 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of SAR 140,000–220,000, that is roughly SAR 420,000–660,000 of earnings deferred.

How that figure was reached, and what it leaves out

It is arithmetic on the sourced figures elsewhere on this site — training years multiplied by the shortest route’s entry pay — not a measurement of anything. It ignores what trainees earn while training, which in medicine and several other routes is a real salary. It ignores the pay you reach afterwards, which for long routes is usually higher and can overtake the gap entirely. And it excludes tuition, deliberately: Saudi public universities charge nationals no tuition, and fees abroad vary so widely by country and university that any single figure would be misleading. Treat it as a sense of scale for the years, not as a calculation of whether a career is worth it.

Everything on this page is assembled from the career page, the majors that lead to it and the exams those majors require, so it cannot say something they do not. Entry requirements change every year — confirm on the course page for the year you apply.