Get degree ideas using our A level explorer tool

Economics and Politics

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B-C,C,C

The University welcomes undergraduate applications from students studying the Access to Higher Education Diploma, provided that relevant subject content and learning outcomes are met. We are not able to accept Access to Higher Education Diplomas as a general qualification for every undergraduate degree course.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

A minimum grade C or grade 4 pass in GCSE (or equivalent) English or Welsh is a requirement for entry to all our degree schemes. Level 3 KS/FS Communication may be acceptable in lieu of GCSE English or Welsh. For this degree scheme minimum grade C or grade 4 pass in GCSE (or equivalent) Mathematics is also required. GCSE Mathematics-Numeracy is acceptable in lieu of GCSE Mathematics.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

26-30

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM-MMM

UCAS Tariff

96-120

Aberystwyth University welcomes the Welsh Baccalaureate as a valuable qualification in its own right and considers completion of the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate to be equivalent to an A level grade.

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Economics

Politics

The BSc Economics and Politics degree at Aberystwyth University offers an enriching experience with exciting intellectual challenges from two departments that have strong reputation for teaching and research. The combination of Economics and Politics will allow you to develop a solid understanding of global markets and how they are affected by pandemics, natural disasters and how political systems respond and shape that response to them.

**Why study Economics and Politics at Aberystwyth University?**
Economics is the study of how individuals firms, markets, governments and other institutions combine to produce and distribute goods and services in order to achieve desired outcomes for society, and how effective they are in doing so. The application of economic theory has also evolved to explore contemporary issues such as the causes and impact that pandemics such as COVID-19 has on society at domestic and international levels, the subsequent financial crisis and the proposed solutions to ameliorate the impacts upon trade, globalisation, corruption and ultimately climate change.

Politics explores how society tackles challenges. Politics stands at a fascinating but difficult historical juncture, one that as political beings, we all need to understand, explain and, in part shape. The politics element of this degree offers you the opportunity to study the concepts, practices, policies, histories and regions that make up politics as a discipline and to explore the ways in which, all these factors influence their economics.

**What will I learn?**
The holistic approach of economics in your first year explores the foundational elements that allow you to discover and understand the fundamental principles of business, these include the mechanisms by which management is discharged in various industry, the impact of the business environment and macro-environmental elements (such as Brexit, COVID-19) have on management. Finally, the contemporary economic concepts, models and frameworks are introduced allowing you to explain impacts to customers and markets. Within Politics, you will be immersed in political theory, key political ideas and how they are applied to international and domestic politics. You will also explore key political issues facing the world and economics will compliment and expand your understanding of the wider social and financial consequences of such issues.

In your second and third years you will undertake core economics concepts that include organisational behaviour and theory, impacts of market structures and pricing strategies, the effective development and utilisation of industry specific techniques for operation management, such as econometrics in addition to macroeconomic behaviour and systems. To solidify your understanding, you will have the opportunity to apply the theories identified above into an independent research project allowing you to explore the analytical skills associated with economics and politics excellence. Within politics, you will be given the opportunity to delve deeper into political themes such as nationalism, devolution, global inequality and multiculturalism.

**Employability**
Your Economics and Politics degree will provide an excellent foundation for a professional career within business, financial or political settings. Aberystwyth Business School offers a dedicated consultancy employability module where students apply as consultants within industry.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,000
per year
England
£9,000
per year
EU
£16,520
per year
International
£16,520
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,000
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,000
per year
Scotland
£9,000
per year
Wales
£9,000
per year

Extra funding

Aberystwyth University offers a valuable package of scholarships and bursaries to support students. Our long-established Entrance Examination competition means you could get up to £2,000 a year towards your living and study costs. You can combine that with any or all of our other awards, to make your financial package more valuable. Our awards include Sport and Music Scholarships, Bursaries for Care Leavers/Young Carers/Estranged Students and a range of department specific awards. Please visit our website for full details.

The Uni


Course location:

Main Site (Aberystwyth)

Department:

Aberystwyth Business School

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

90%
Politics

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Economics

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

80%
UK students
20%
International students
80%
Male students
20%
Female students
74%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
C

Politics

Teaching and learning

87%
Staff make the subject interesting
95%
Staff are good at explaining things
89%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
79%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

85%
Library resources
92%
IT resources
87%
Course specific equipment and facilities
87%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

85%
UK students
15%
International students
68%
Male students
32%
Female students
74%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
B

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Economics

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
100%
high
Employed or in further education
58%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

14%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
13%
Administrative occupations: finance
8%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

This is a degree in demand, as business increasingly needs workers who can examine and explain complex data. And yet the number of economics graduates fell by nearly 10% last year, which means demand is even greater. As so many economic grads go into banking and finance, it's not surprising that over half of all 2015's economics graduates who did go into work were working in London. And don't think it's just the finance industry that's interested in these graduates - there's a significant number who enter the IT industry to work with data as analysts and consultants. It's quite common for economics graduates to go into jobs such as accountancy and management consultancy which may require you to take more training and gain professional qualifications - so don’t assume you won’t have to take any more exams once you leave uni. And the incentive to take them, of course, is better pay, which will be on top of an already healthy average starting salary of over £30,000 for graduates working in the capital.

Politics

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£17,500
low
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education
70%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

17%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
15%
Teaching and educational professionals
15%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

The numbers of people taking politics degrees fell sharply last year and we'll keep an eye on this one - it can't really be because of graduates getting poor outcomes as politics grads do about as well as graduates on average. Most politics or international relations graduates don't actually go into politics - although many do, as activists, fundraisers and researchers. Jobs in local and central government are also important. Other popular jobs include marketing and PR, youth and community work, finance roles, HR and academic research (you usually need a postgraduate degree to get into research). Because so many graduates get jobs in the civil service, a lot of graduates find themselves in London after graduating. Politics is a very popular postgraduate subject, and so about one in five politics graduates go on to take another course - usually a one-year Masters - after they finish their degrees.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Economics

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£30k

£30k

£32k

£32k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Politics

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£19k

£19k

£22k

£22k

£27k

£27k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Explore these similar courses...

Share this page

This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here