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Economics and Finance

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B

For First Year Entry a minimum of 3 A Levels at BBB. For Second Year Entry a minimum of an A in the subject selected for Single Honours plus BB, or AB in the subjects selected for Joint Honours plus a further B. In addition GCSE Maths is required, as well as GCSE in English or English Language is also required.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

For entry into First Year, a minimum of 32 points required, including at least 5,5,5 at HL. For entry into Second Year, a minimum of 36 points, including at 6, 6, 6 at Higher level in subject(s) selected. English and Maths at a minimum of Standard level required.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H2,H2,H2,H3,H3

A minimum of 5H with 3 at H2 AND 2 at H3 OR AAABB, obtained in a single sitting (B must be at B2 or above). English AND Maths required at O.

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

DDM

Minimum entry requirement: DDM in related subjects.

Scottish Higher

A,A,B,B

Applicants who achieve AABB or better over S4 and S5 are likely to be made an offer of admission. This may be unconditional or it may be conditional, dependent upon academic profile. Good performance in additional Highers / Advanced Highers may be required. Note: we do not double count a Higher and Advanced Higher in the same subject, but we do consider that a B at Adv Higher is equivalent to an A grade at Higher. National 5 English at minimum grade C and National 5 Mathematics or Applications of Mathematics

UCAS Tariff

120

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Finance

Economics

Economics and Finance at Aberdeen is a brilliant subject combination and springboard to an exciting career in international business and finance. Economics gets to grips with the global economy and what influences the wealth of nations and Finance adds a powerful understanding of the principles and practice of finance, giving you all-round business skills to take advantage of the many opportunities available to sought-after Aberdeen graduates.

In Economics, you will explore the microeconomics of business and society, macroeconomics of the world economy and economic problems in political, social and historical contexts, with a strong emphasis on applied learning. You will be taught by experts including leading petroleum economist and government adviser Professor Alex Kemp and our health economists whose work influences Scottish and UK policy decisions on public health.

Finance will give you skills in financial management, corporate finance, personal finance, financial institutions, derivatives and the stock market. You will develop intellectually by analysing and evaluating financial problems and the practical skills to understand and use information from financial newspapers and documents. You will have close links with employers, work on real-life business scenarios and use sophisticated financial management technology and software, such as our virtual Thomson Reuters Eikon trading floor, used by major financial services companies across the world, integrating real activity in financial markets directly into students’ courses. You will thrive in the dynamic, international environment of our Business School of over 40 nationalities. You will be taught by renowned experts in their fields and dedicated careers advisers, who will guide you on the skills and attributes sought by employers from large multinational blue-chips to small and medium-sized enterprises in all sectors of business.

**17th best UK University for Economics (The Complete University Guide 2021).
4th best UK University for Accountancy and Finance (The Complete University Guide 2021).**

Modules

View all modules on the programme page to find out more about what you will be studying and when. University of Aberdeen modules are designed to give you breadth and depth to your degree. The range of modules you study will allow you to become proficient in all subjects which are directly relevant to your degree giving you greater career options.

Assessment methods

Students are assessed by any combination of three assessment methods: Coursework such as essays and reports completed throughout the course; Practical assessments of the skills and competencies they learn on the course; Written examinations at the end of each course. The exact mix of these methods differs between subject areas, years of study and individual courses.

Honours projects are typically assessed on the basis of a written dissertation.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£20,800
per year
International
£20,800
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£1,820
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

View the University of Aberdeen Online Prospectus programme page to find out about any scholarships and funding you may be able to apply for.

The Uni


Course location:

University of Aberdeen

Department:

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.

83%
Finance
74%
Economics

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.

Finance

Teaching and learning

74%
Staff make the subject interesting
86%
Staff are good at explaining things
80%
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

84%
Library resources
89%
IT resources
91%
Course specific equipment and facilities
80%
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?

43%
UK students
57%
International students
59%
Male students
41%
Female students
82%
2:1 or above
2%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
B

Economics

Teaching and learning

78%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
70%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
67%
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

83%
Library resources
94%
IT resources
84%
Course specific equipment and facilities
80%
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?

70%
UK students
30%
International students
71%
Male students
29%
Female students
91%
2:1 or above
5%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
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.

Finance

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.

£22,000
med
Average annual salary
99%
high
Employed or in further education
79%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

34%
Business, research and administrative professionals
34%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
6%
Administrative occupations: finance

Over 2,000 students graduated with a degree in finance in 2015, and a sign of the strength of the finance industry, numbers are on the up. Over half of finance graduates go into the finance industry, with accountancy and financial advice roles particularly popular. It's also quite common for finance graduates to go into jobs which require you to take more training and gain professional qualifications — finance graduates who take further study are more likely to be studying accountancy than finance. About a third of graduates start their careers in London - but Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham are other popular locations for finance graduates to work.

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.

£24,000
med
Average annual salary
94%
med
Employed or in further education
73%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

29%
Business, research and administrative professionals
29%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
13%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

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.

Finance

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

£20k

£20k

£29k

£29k

£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.

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.

£32k

£32k

£33k

£33k

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...

Lower entry requirements
Heriot-Watt University | Edinburgh
Economics and Finance
MA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 96-128
Higher entry requirements
The University of Edinburgh | Edinburgh
Economics with Finance
MA (Hons) 4 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 152-165

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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