Tell me about Economics courses at Uni

[blueshoes]

I read on another thread that Economics courses are very different depending on which university you do it at. Would love to know how they are different and which universities.

Ds (Year 12) is considering doing economics at uni but dh and I are not from a finance background, so no idea which course is good or for what or what he can do after uni.

Ds is not a superstar on grades. Maybe AAB. Much as I would love him to go to LSE or Warwick (he does not want Oxbridge), those would be aspirational choices. So we are looking at other Russell Group unis.

His other subjects are Maths and Physics. He can cope with numbers, I think.

I tend to feel it is a bit of a waste - you can do economics at home with a text book, or online, at any time of your life - I think ideally a university course that you are moving away to do, should be something you can't do alone at home. Such as almost any other subject! Accountancy, even, is better done in a class, as you do questions and case studies ,and corrections, etc in lectures, which is not easily replicated alone. But most subjects have equipment or experiences that you can't replicate sitting in your bedroom with a book.

Some Economics degrees are more mathsy than others and will demand an A or higher in Maths A levels. They can be BSc or BA so don’t let that throw you. Many unis aren’t bothered if your DC studied economics at A level or not. It’s whether they have maths or not. There are other economics degrees that are a lot less mathsy and do not request maths at A level. Don’t assume that because one economics degree has the same or similar code to another economics degree it’s the same. Look at the module content. They can vary hugely.
DD1 also liked the look of LSE. Her other choices were Bath, Nottingham, Bristol and Manchester if I remember rightly. But definitely encourage your DS to look at the course content, module choices etc and if it’s what he wants.

What an odd previous comment, of course there is value in studying economics at university. As with many subjects there is value in discussing different theories with peers and course leaders. Problem sets to work through and discuss answers to. Employers also seem to value it as a degree with economics graduates regularly near the top of graduate earning surveys. If you've only got a passing interest of course do some private study but if you are interested in taking it further then a degree is going to be essential.

If your DS is good a maths make sure they look for a BSc, it will have a good maths content and is generally much more useful going forward. BA economics degrees are also offered at some universities and these will have more of an essay focus, some incorporate more on economic history for example.

Does your DS have any ideas about what they might like to do after university? What are their other interests? Some courses might incorporate more on climate economics, or health or stronger links in finance etc.

If they want to work as an economist check about the government economic service degree apprenticeship it's a brilliant scheme that means they'll combine working (and getting paid) with getting their degree (without fees).

My dc is also interested in econ.

Personally, I'd avoid LSE. They take ages and ages to respond to UCAS applications and even then they will reject excellent candidates who are predicated A stars. IMO it's a waste of a space on the UCAS form.

@firsttimekat not all BA econ degrees are less mathsy. I can’t recall which uni it was now but there was a very mathsy BA when DD1 was looking a couple of years ago. But yes, BAs ‘tend’ to be the less mathsy but there’s definitely exceptions.

ridiculous. why wouldnt you apply to the best economics university?

economics, to my understanding, is quite focused on theory rather than the mathematical side. finance incorporates more maths I believe.
for a uni, 100% LSE is the best, but otherwise I would suggest a uni in a city with a big financial sector, London ideally - makes post grad employment much easier, as many unis will hold industry talks with professionals and companies and these are invaluable when it comes to building a network for potential future employment.

DD1 wasn’t looking at Oxbridge but both of those are BA Econ as is Durham.

Best thing to do is look at the different courses in detail - Discover Uni has links to all the economics courses and their contents and where students went and earnings. https://discoveruni.gov.uk/course-details/10007786/9ECON001UU-202223/Full-time/ It is a very competitive degree and sometimes what the university has as offer grades the students getting in have in excess of - LSE I think normally would be 4 A stars or 3 A stars and they prefer candidates to have FM but as a 4th not a 3rd. LSE and Warwick are both known for mathematical economics but many will have maths and FM A levels. For the civil service economics jobs a course with 50% economics counts. Finance won't really have a preference between types of economics degrees unless the role is very specialised and then often a Masters or phD is required. All courses will have macro (unemployment, inflation, growth, trade etc) and microeconomics and some maths / stats then its varies. Mine had lots of options in history, sociology, politics, different countries, development economics and was definitely worth being at university for. The less mathematical will be more essay based. Generally a policy based role would take less mathematical and maths based finance jobs like econometric modelling would take more mathsy. General economist roles in banks would take either, more come from less mathematical ones in my experience as you have to do things like write press releases, speeches, attend dinners, radio/TV interviews, presentations so needs more writing skills.

Economists don't just work in finance companies....

AAB isn't going to be enough for LSE or Warwick, the other big hitter. Any other RGplus would be well regarded though. It is a very competitive subject these days be warned - he should check course and modules carefully, and bear in mind that the range of options may well shrink given the dire straits HE is in right now.

My son went to Leeds studying Economics. He is 24 ,living the life in Vancouver.
He is a hard worker, great people person and scrubs up well !

It's not ridiculous. Read the OP that has predicted grades in it. Your comment is ridiculous, not mine.

Yes economists work across a range of sectors - the civil service jobs site has a section for economics jobs and a lot of government departments have roles in them. Industry bodies often have economists working for them. Finance economist roles.

Many will go into accountancy or general finance. Can also go into political related roles as well. Environmental economics is another one. Lots of economists in consultancies. Some into academia or teaching.

Generally I would do what interests him and where he thinks he would enjoy.

LSE only has a 7% acceptance rate and is similar difficulty to Oxbridge (Cambridge I think is maybe 10% and Oxford 5% and earnings from LSE are only slightly below) for getting an offer albeit a much easier process apart from the endless waiting. But some people with 4 A stars are rejected instantly.

But someone has got to get in and that someone could be your DC and they have 5 choices on their form, so why not apply?

Economics is really competitive but less so at the AAB level which is where my DS was aiming his application last year and he got offers from 4 Russell group universities with AAA predictions. Two very quickly and two after around 6 to 8 weeks. Places like Warwick and LSE reject loads of applicants for economics with stellar A* predictions because so many people apply.

Some are more maths heavy than others - definitely get DS to look at the course structure.

Its worth looking at where will give contextual offers as well if state or special circumstances - Bristol reduces quite a bit for many state schools.

Bristol contextual is AAB https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2024/economics/bsc-economics/. I know they make quite a lot of offers though less sure of what grades get offers, could try The Student Room but that one may be worth listing if interested and contextual.

Appreciate all the replies and am reading them carefully.

Ds has set aside next weekend to peruse course content. Some universities like UCL seem to offer more Economics courses than others such as Kings. Is that an indication that Economics is their speciality and hence a better uni for the course?

@titchy, the shrinking number of Econs courses could very well be a function of the dire straits of HE you mentioned.

Sadly Ds' grades are not good enough for LSE, Oxbridge, Warwick or any of the big hitter unis. We have to cut our coat according to the cloth.

In the same vein, is a career in Finance in the City out for him? I imagine he would be competing against the cream from LSE.

What other career paths are available to him with a Economics degree that is not super competitive. He likes the subject and can also do Maths. He seems to be more interested in a role in industry than government or policy.

@firsttimekat He does not have any burning interests like climate or health. He likes physics and engineering too (though his mock grades in Physics were bad and has lost confidence there). He wants to go to uni rather than an apprenticeship.

@Penguinsa what are general economist roles in banks? Is that front office? Interesting you also mentioned economists in consultancies. Would you able to elaborate what that is? PS your posts are packed with info! Bristol is on his list.

@SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun , my ds is also aiming at the AAB level. Your ds' experience gives him hope, as does @Cannotbeasked ds 🙏

Ds is not contextual. He really should be getting better grades but that is another story.

a finance career in the city is certainly not out. he needs to go to a good London university with good connections that can help him with future employment after the degree. 99% of it is down to the connections in the industry

There are plenty of accountancy jobs that don't require stellar a levels. Get 3 good years in audit or tax under your belt or try and understand the different advisory areas and apply to them. Many career options result from doing that.

I would not recommend doing accounting or finance at uni. Do something more interesting like economics. I much prefer an economics graduate who can write a decent report. I honestly don't rate the accounting grads I continually have to interview. It does not make then any better at the job. I do rate work experience that shows Mr you care enough about the career choice to do something in advance. Otherwise you could be applying to and accounting job along with any number of other careers.

@OP a career is Finance is not out at all. Please don't believe the hype that you have to study this and that to get into the Finance industry. Most just ask for any degree from a 'good university' (try and get into the best university possible). DS is studying Management (which many look down on) at one of those mentioned above & got offers to do a yrs placement in 2 banks and 1 Asset management company and 1 Consultancy. So they definitely aren't bothered about wether the degree is in Economics at all.

He would definitely still be able to get a role in finance - the graduate schemes can be very competitive but would be worth trying but there are also many other routes in, some people have A levels only for example. An accountancy qualification after is quite a common thing to do and then move into banking or stay in accountancy - it is quite full on, didn't do that myself but had a friend that did and hers was studying at night whilst working in the day but it may have changed now. Accountancy I think is pretty dull but you can always get well paid work and you can move on to more interesting roles if you prefer.

I did an economist role at 2 banks, it depends on the bank if its front office or not - the first role was macroeconomics and based in the corporate risk department and involved studying several European economies and having conference calls with the countries, reports for management, writing UK industry sector reports, few black tie dinners, and few conferences. We got merged with the investment bank team as well. From there I got approached to join another bank and joined - that initially was front office, within the sector teams but then after a reorganisation I was moved to the economics team which was much better. They did tours round the country giving speeches on the economy, staying overnight in hotels sometimes and then rest was researching and writing reports and meetings like for corporate strategy - which sectors should the bank go into most, forecasts for the sectors.

The grades that count are the predicted grades and sometimes schools will predict 1 grade up so that could make quite a difference. I had no connections with finance but got into it from a rural state comprehensive though we did get asked to look after the directors sons and teach them about economics for a day about once every couple of months so some people definitely have advantages. Lots of international people speaking multiple languages. There are loads of roles in banks though - risk was a good area for people who were very mathematical though I think a lot had maths or physics phds. But once you are in you can move roles so can be worth getting in to a headquarters role and then seeing what advertised. We all used to get calls from recruiters a lot as well in the economics team.

Sorry but I disagree my son is absolutely flying. He applied for jobs with contenders from the BIG London Unis . He was at Leeds.He was whittled down amongst over 1000 competitors,he did all the group activities and one to one . He was offered 3 really amazing jobs from the finance companies…they liked him 🤷‍♀️
Now working for same company in Vancouver but London office want him as well!