Anyone know if you do PPE can you drop the economics if you find it too hard, thinking of York and other unis

[KitKatChunkyCat]

My young adult is awaiting results day
thinking of doing PPE but a bit scared of the economics side
does have a a in gcse maths which is the entry requirement

just wondering can you drop the economics part of you find it too hard

My ds is also hoping to pick up PPE/P&E in clearing, having rejected four PPE offers already! I've looked at lots of courses and they all vary, for example UEA insist on 1/3 each subject for all three years, whereas Lancaster seem to have a lot of flexibility over modules. I think you'd need to speak to the individual universities.

It's usually compulsory in year 1, then you can pick appropriate modules in years 2 & 3. DD did 1 economics modules (not numerical), 4 politics & 3 philosophy in years 2 & 3, technically giving her PPE (Phil & Pol). Many drop or minimise one of the elements

It will depend on the university. I know someone who went to a very prestigious university who started a course doing History in the first year then transferred to PPE for years 2&3 but it was a modular course with no rules for mandatory options after y1 so she has a PPE degree having never studied Economics at any point.

I started with 50/50 economics and dropped economics are the first year due to the high level of stats involved. Things may have changed since then in term of options.

Need to check with the uni. If they offer degrees in politics and philosophy then it should be fairly straightforward. If they don’t then they’d either have to continue with economics, or switch to a straight politics or straight philosophy degree - note that might mean taking extra modules to catch up on compulsory modules.

Having looked at quite a few courses, I noticed that generally the compulsory modules for say Philosophy or Politics single honours, or even joint, won't necessarily have been done as part of a PPE course, so it might not be possible to move across for year 2. My dd at Nottingham was on a Psychology BSc and enquired about switching to Philosophy and Psychology at the end of year 1 but it was a no.

It’s tough doing Econ without A Level maths, even for a year.

A friend’s did PPE at Birmingham. Said they were split into 2 groups for Econ - those with an A or above in Maths and those with less than that (talking A Level) - those in the group with less than A apparently still found it extremely difficult and performed significantly less well. They had more flex in choices after 1st year but still had to do Econ. They said that the following year they had to take students in Clearing and more had weaker Maths A Level. This meant those with B were in the upper group. But it backfired as quite a few failed or dropped out.

I’d think many would struggle through but it could be pretty miserable. And those who haven’t done A level for some courses might not have used their Maths for 2 years. Someone with a 7 got well under 50% on a GCSE spec. Their maths isn’t strong for a numerate degree.

DD found she reached peak maths in her 4th term. Oxford splits it essentially onto Pol & Phil, with econ & stats. She found the stats surprisingly easier than the numbers based econ papers. She was very good at maths at school, but still decided to specialise in the wordy papers.

Look for a Poltics and International Relations course or Politics and Philosophy on its own - I know Nottingham does this as do others, he could perhaps do this in clearing depending on the grades. Make a short list of 5+ unis who do this with varying grades you'd be happy with or ask admissions. Shat university is it @KitKatChunkyCat ? I'd also get the modules online most universities have a breakdown of how the course works - this can change, but doesn't that much and it's unlikely the structure and many modules will change. Check that and see how it works.

Thank-you all so mucn for the help and advice, my dc only piped up with this at the last moment as has actually applied to do politics and Ir

But at the last min is considering swapping to PPE

So hard to know what to advise as with only gcse a maths
Meets the entry requirements
But as we all know the maths side will be challenging
I dont want to put my dc off or discourage, as want them to aim for the best they can, but it does worry me.

Guess will have to see what happens Thursday am.
And try n do as much research as possible beforehand

Thank you so much for your time

York offers both a BA & BSc in PPE. The course outline for all 3 years clearly shows that their structure has at least 1 compulsory combined PPE module each year. You can't drop economics completely.

DD is completing a masters in IR at York. It is a strong dept.

I do know Warwick does PPL - poltics, philosophy and law and a few more universities are starting to do this, KCL does as well. I would honestly just stick with Polticis and IR (what unis have they applied for?) - even in 1st year you normally have 40-60 credits of optional modules (so 2-3 modules as its a broad course anyways). Most universities especially for humanities subjects let you choose out of subject modules for some of your optional modules, you have to run it past the department but the majority of the time it's fine. So if they saw a economics modules they really loved they could do that, but wouldn't have to do the other bits. Would that work? I'd see if it's in clearing and the grades for PPE but I think it will be a hard jump so it depends on how much they think they'll like it. I'd also point out IR to Philosophy is quite the change as they are quite different and they'll likely lose the IR in-depth modules, though they get some in politics - are they willing to do this?

Yes we now need to find out how much difference there is in the courses
dc isn’t keen on Warwick which is a bit nuts as I know it’s v well known and regarded for politics

thanks for the advice

this last min dithering is making me feel more stressed

Possibly before @Dearover ’s DD was there, but my DD did PPE at Oxford and - like others at her college - dropped E completely after the first year.

If York has one compulsory PPE module every year, can there be that much compulsory Economics in one third of a module?

@AugustDieSheMust DD set out with good intentions at the start of year 2 and wanted to continue all 3. She actually studied more economics modules than she was examined in, then decided she couldn't face coming back to a numerical paper 5 terms later and in her finals and staring blankly at the page. The economics paper she did rolled nicely into her masters.

Both Warwick and York see the 3 elements as being intertwined, unlike many others which have followed Oxford's lead. DD has had a great year at York and I would recommend going to the open day next month to talk to those taking PPE to find out more.

My dc is now asking about PPE at Nottingham
and if the economics side can be dropped later if needed or wanted

talk about last min

@KitKatChunkyCat
any news on this? Did your DC find a course in clearing?