Economics
Birmingham City University
UCAS Code: L100 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Birmingham City University
UCAS Code: L100 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
A Level: 112 UCAS tariff points / BBC (or equivalent). AS Level: Must be in a different subject to A Levels. A maximum of four subjects will be considered.
Pass with 60 credits. At least 45 credits at level 3.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE Maths at grade C/4 or above. If you do not have this or are not undertaking it, we accept other level 2 equivalents, or we may ask you to pass BCU's GCSE equivalency tests.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Obtain a minimum of 28 points overall. For students who do not already hold a GCSE in Mathematics at grade C/4 or above, grade 5 in Maths (Standard Level) from the IB Diploma will be accepted.
Minimum of 112 UCAS tariff points, achieved in five Higher level subjects
112 UCAS tariff points. Diploma accepted with one A Level or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Extended Certificate accepted with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications
112 UCAS tariff points. Diploma accepted with one A Level or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Extended Certificate accepted with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications
112 UCAS tariff points. Diploma accepted with one A Level or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Extended Certificate accepted with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications
112 UCAS tariff points from three Advanced Highers (CCD) or two Advanced Highers (CD) plus two Highers (CC)
112 UCAS tariff points from three Advanced Highers (CCD) or two Advanced Highers (CD) plus two Highers (CC)
T Level
Merit overall. All subjects considered
UCAS Tariff
Please note: If you qualify for our BCU Accelerate scheme, you could receive an offer that is two grades below our normal entry requirements.
About this course
The applied nature of our BSc (Hons) Economics degree prepares you to work as an economist, or in a related role which is concerned with the study of the economy and its impact on society and the natural environment.
Economics is a major social science which informs major challenges faced by our societies today, including inequality, environmental sustainability and economic policy. Economics draws on and influences other social sciences and humanities and it is also a core business discipline which is integral to understanding organisational behaviour, strategy and corporate performance.
The unique offering of this course lies in its use of a pluralist approach to teaching, which will empower you to understand the relevance of competing economic theories and their application in your daily life and in your future workplace.
The course will provide you with a firm foundation of economics to interpret, analyse and question diverse economic theories and policies in a real-life context. To do so effectively, this course equips you with a vast analytical toolkit, which includes mathematical and statistical analysis, critical thinking, qualitative techniques and proficiency in a range of industry-specific software packages that are relevant to the Economics profession. You will also learn how to communicate results and ideas concisely to a variety of specialist and non-specialist audiences.
**Professional Placement Year**
This course offers an optional professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, following successful completion of your second year, and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies.
If you choose to pursue a placement year, you will need to find a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional, and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you are able to secure a placement, you can request to be transferred to the placement version of the course.
Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year.
**£1,000 scholarships for 2025/26**
If you apply to BCU by 30 June 2025, you could be eligible for one of our £1,000 scholarships:
- Accelerate – if you are from a lower income family or household
- High Achievers’ – if you achieve 144 UCAS points or more from your main three qualifications
For full details and terms, visit www.bcu.ac.uk/scholarships
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Curzon Building Campus
Birmingham City Business School
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
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
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
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.
£23k
£25k
£34k
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.
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Higher entry requirements
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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?
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