'Lucrative careers' open to mathematicians

Graduates studying mathematics at university may find they have a number of career options open to them, one expert has stated.

Professor of Maths at Wadham College Oxford, Marcus du Sautoy, has noted that many City employees are maths graduates, with some 'making money' in the hedge-fund industry.

'The technology that is being used to change our voices into zeroes and ones; that is all using maths. Our world is built on the internet, on mobile phones, on new gadgets and that is all maths,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Maths is increasingly important in the world of today, he added.

Meanwhile, jobseekers have been urged to brush up on their maths skills by the Learning and Skills Council, with think-tank Reform revealing that £9bn a year is lost in the UK economy as a result of poor maths teaching.