Study statistics and probability for safety flexibly, 100% online.
Join us online to gain the important mathematical tools you’ll need as an engineer working in safety, risk, and reliability.
In this Masters-level online short course, you’ll develop vital professional knowledge and a career advantage as a graduate or practising engineer.
Expert teaching
You’ll learn from internationally experienced engineers and academics, and a university at the forefront of professional training for ambitious engineers.
Flexible study
Access our teaching and support wherever you’re based, no student visa required, with flexible study hours that fit around full-time work.
Build credits towards a Masters degree
This online course is part of:
You can use the credits you earn on this short course towards this MSc qualification.
What you’ll study
In this course, you’ll develop an in-depth understanding of applied probability and statistics.
With expert guidance, you will:
- learn how to apply probability and statistics in your own field
- undertake calculations necessary to quantify risk and assess reliability
- grow your financial skills in understanding the investment side of risk calculation
- gain a solid mathematical foundation for the analysis of safety, reliability and quality.
You will also cover the following topics
- Revision of elementary concepts in statistics and probability
- Important uni-variate distributions
- Bi-variate and multi-variate normal distribution
- Parameter estimation and goodness-of-fit
- Analysis of statistical data
- Treatment of outliers
- Analysis of variance
- Introduction to continuous and discrete stochastic processes
How you’ll study
Online learning
This distance-learning Statistics and Probability course is delivered flexibly, 100% online.
You can learn with us anywhere in the world, no student visa required, and manage your study hours to suit you.
Your teaching
This course is taught at Masters level.
Teaching is delivered through MyAberdeen, our online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It holds all the materials, tools and support you’ll need in your studies. Take a look around MyAberdeen.
You can access your learning materials on computer, smartphone and laptop, 24 hours a day. You’ll find a range of resources available, including:
- online lectures and tutorials
- reading materials
- discussion boards with your tutors and fellow students
- the online resources of our award-winning Sir Duncan Rice Library.
Your tutors
This Masters-level short course is delivered by our School of Engineering.
You’ll learn from highly qualified and experienced engineers and academics with strong backgrounds in research and industry.
Industry input
You’ll also benefit from the direct input of an Industry Advisory Board. It reviews your course content to ensure that you’re gaining the latest industry knowledge and are up to speed with emerging trends, technologies, and career opportunities.
This course is assessed online.
You’ll be assessed throughout the teaching term. Types of assessment for this course may include:
- coursework
- online quizzes
- timed online open-book assessments.
Timed online open-book assessments
- For this type of assessment, you’ll view questions online, handwrite your answers on paper offline so that you can show your working, then scan or photograph your answers and upload these in MyAberdeen.
- You’ll find detailed instructions for how to scan, photograph, and upload your answers in the assessment section of MyAberdeen.
Assessment deadlines
Your assessments will have submission deadlines, either during or at the end of the course.
Your course coordinator will let you know when your assessment deadlines are, so you can plan your study time accordingly.
The course totals approximately 150 hours of study and assessment time. That’s around 10 – 15 hours per week.
This is an indicative guide to the time required for a typical student at this level to achieve the learning outcomes. This includes time for independent study, as well as teaching and assessments.
You can largely set your own study hours each week to cover the materials. MyAberdeen is available 24/7, so you can log in and study when it suits you.
Activities at fixed times
There may be some activities scheduled for fixed times. This could include coursework and assessments with deadlines, or online meetings with your tutor. Otherwise, you can access and work through the course at your convenience.
Our first-class support structure will ensure that you aren’t alone in your studies.
You’ll have contact with your coordinator via email, MyAberdeen and Microsoft Teams.
You can use social media and discussion boards to chat with your fellow students too.
We provide a wide range of services to support you in your studies:
- Careers and Employability Service
- Disability support
- IT support
- Library support
- Student Support Service – help with finances, wellbeing and non-academic issues
- Student Learning Service – support with academic skills, writing and maths, with advice sessions and workshops available
- Aberdeen University Students’ Association (AUSA) – run by students for students
- Toolkit – a guide to apps and free training that can make your study life easier
Wherever you are in the world, you’ll feel part of our very special Aberdeen learning community.
See a more in-depth guide to all of our online support services.
Your course coordinator
Dr Srinivas Sriramula
Srinivas is a Reader in our School of Engineering.
His research interests include safety engineering, structural mechanics, composite materials, energy engineering, and risk management.
View Srinivas’ profileWhere this will take you
Towards a Masters
You’ll earn 15 credits at Masters level (SCQF Level 11) with this course. You can use these credits towards our:
Masters in Safety and Reliability Engineering
Become a world-class safety engineer, wherever you’re based, with this accredited online MSc. Train online with internationally experienced safety engineers and learn direct from industry.
View MSc Safety and Reliability EngineeringBuild your learning
We offer a range of specialist online engineering and technology courses you can use to build your skills.
Many carry credits you can build up into postgraduate qualifications, including Masters degrees:
Careers
This course is designed to prepare you, as a graduate or practising engineer, for a career in safety and reliability engineering and risk management.
There’s a continuing high demand for people with specialist knowledge in these areas.
You could also continue on to research work in risk quantification.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Your employer or professional institute may recognise this course for CPD hours. Talk to your employer or institute to find out more.
Free career support
Access our free careers service while you study.
- 1:1 appointments
- CV checks
- Interview prep
- Job opportunities
Entry requirements
Entry requirements
We welcome students from all over the world.
This course has no formal entry requirements. You do not need to provide proof of your qualifications.
But you do need to check the entry guidance above to understand the level of teaching delivered, to decide if this course is right for you.
If you do not have qualifications from the UK, check the equivalent teaching level for your country.
Visa requirements
You do not need a student visa to study online with us.
English language requirements
Teaching is delivered in English.
You do not have to provide proof of your English language skills to join this course. But we want to make sure that you can use English well enough to study successfully.
Recommended level of English
For this course, we recommend the following level of English language proficiency.
These are our Postgraduate Standard requirements, and these are minimum scores.
IELTS Academic, IELTS UKVI Academic, or IELTS Online (not IELTS Indicator or IELTS General Training)
- 6.5 overall
- 5.5 for listening, reading and speaking
- 6.0 for writing
TOEFL iBT or TOEFL iBT Home Edition
- 90 overall
- 17 for listening
- 18 for reading
- 20 for speaking
- 21 for writing
- TOEFL DI code is 0818
Cambridge English: B2 First, C1 Advanced, or C2 Proficiency
- 176 overall
- 162 for listening, reading and speaking
- 169 for writing
LanguageCert Academic / LanguageCert Academic SELT
- 70 overall
- 60 for listening, reading and speaking
- 65 for writing
Oxford ELLT Digital – English Language Level Test Online
- 7.0 overall
- 5.0 for listening, reading and speaking
- 6.0 for writing
PTE Academic (online test not accepted)
- 62 overall
- 59 for listening, reading, speaking and writing
Skills for English: SELT
- B2 pass with merit
Duolingo – tests taken from 1 July 2024 onward
- 120 overall
- 95 for listening, reading and speaking
- 105 for writing
University of Aberdeen English Pre-sessional Programme (PSE)
- Pass
- Valid for one year. Refresher can be offered if out of date
Pre-sessional academic English preparation programmes undertaken at other UK universities
- Pass at an equivalent of 6.5 (C1)
- B2 in all four skills
- Certification must be within one year prior to the start of your course
For full information about language requirements, see our English Language Requirements page.
You will need access to:
A computer (PC, laptop or Mac) with an up-to-date operating system
Most teaching materials are smartphone- and tablet-friendly. But we recommend a proper laptop or desktop for completing assignments comfortably.
Reliable internet access
We recommend:
- a wired connection
- a minimum download speed of 2 Mbps so you can take part fully in live sessions.
A smartphone, tablet with camera, scanner, or digital camera
This is so you can photograph or scan handwritten solutions for any assessments that require this and upload these photos or scans to MyAberdeen.
- You can use any device that allows you to take a clear and legible scan or photo of a document that you can then upload to MyAberdeen.
- Full instructions for doing this are provided within the assessment section in MyAberdeen.
Speakers or headphones
- We recommend a headset with built-in microphone and earphones if you’re likely to study in an environment with background noise.
- A webcam is optional, but you may like to use one for some interactive sessions.
Software
We’ll give you access to Microsoft 365 applications. This means you can use online versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneDrive and install these programs on up to five personal devices.
If your course requires specialist software, we’ll provide you with access to this and a licence that lasts throughout your studies.
See our detailed IT requirements for more information.
When you study with us, you can expect a first-class support structure so that you’re never alone in your studies.
But learning online does mean you have to motivate yourself and manage your own time.
Your most important commitment will be time – the time to work through, reflect on and understand your teaching materials.
Before you start a course that involves a high degree of independent study, we recommend looking at the time you will be able to devote to your studies each week:
- Be realistic
- Create a weekly schedule as a guide
If you have any questions about studying online, get in touch with our friendly team. We’re here to help.
Fee payment
Your course fee needs to be paid in full before you start your course.
We accept payment via Visa Debit, Visa Credit and Mastercard.
Ways to save
You may be able to get help funding this course via:
- discounts – if any discounts are available for this course, they’ll appear in the section below
- employer sponsorship – we accept full and partial fee payments from sponsors.
Find out more about funding options.
Student card
All our students are entitled to a University of Aberdeen student card. This gives you access to a range of student discounts around the city and online.
For your studies, you will need:
- paper or notepads for working out questions
- a smartphone, tablet with camera, scanner, or digital camera – so you can photograph or scan handwritten solutions to any assessments that require this and then upload the photos or scans to MyAberdeen.
Optional book purchases
Access to all the essential books and resources you need are included in your tuition fee. These will be made available to you online and you do not have to buy your own copies.
We also provide optional recommended reading lists. Many of these resources are available electronically through our library, although purchases may be required if you wish to read the full list.
Printing
You may want to set aside a small budget for printing, depending on how you like to work.
This course has no formal entry requirements. You decide if it’s suitable for you.
The course is delivered at Masters level. For this course, you’d usually have:
- a 2:2 UK honours degree (or equivalent) in Engineering or Science, and
- a very good understanding of engineering mathematics concepts.
The course will also need basic competence in Excel/Matlab or a similar software for applying the related concepts.
Your right to cancel starts on the date of payment of the tuition fees for this course and expires 15 days after the start date of this course.
The University of Aberdeen is not responsible for resolving any issues concerning software, hardware, or internet, in relation to your personal computer and this course.
Please read our full terms and conditions.
Apply for this course