Economics
University of Portsmouth
UCAS Code: L100 | Bachelor of Science in Economics (with Honours) - BSc Econ H
Entry requirements
A level
120-128 points from 3 A levels, or equivalent, to include Mathematics.
Cambridge Pre-U score of 56-60 to include a minimum of 3 Principal Subjects, to include Mathematics or Further Mathematics.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
5 GCSEs at grade C or above to include English at grade C and Mathematics at grade B/5 GCSEs at grade 4 or above to include English at grade 4 and Mathematics at grade 5
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
29 points from the IB Diploma. 664 at Higher Level, with 6 points from a Higher Level in Mathematics. - 30 points from the IB Diploma. 665 at Higher Level, with 6 points from a Higher Level in Mathematics.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
H3,H3,H3,H3,H3-H2,H2,H3,H3,H3
To include Higher Level Mathematics.
120-128 Tariff points to include Advanced Level Mathematics.
UCAS Tariff
120-128 points from 3 A levels, or equivalent, to include Mathematics.
120-128 points from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate including 2 A levels one of which must be Mathematics, plus the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate.
About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
**This is a Connected Degree**
Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.
**Overview**
Economics is about more than maths. When you study economics you get a set of tools that allows you to understand how the world works. And when you understand how something works, you can change it.
You'll learn all the core economic theory you need to be an economist using real, topical data from organisations such as HSBC, Barclays, the Bank of England and the UK Government's annual budget. You'll also learn a set of skills that you can use in roles beyond finance.
You'll learn:
- how to use data to communicate a variety of challenging financial, ethical and social issues
- how to present an argument
- how economics influences decision making in a wide range of scenarios, from people's behaviour, to environmental sustainability, to investments and government policy making
After your second year you can apply this knowledge on an optional paid placement. Previous students have worked at places like the Office for National Statistics, Amazon, or the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
**Course highlights**
- Benefit from expert teaching that's informed by our academics' close relationships with organisations such as the Bank of England and the Office for National Statistics
- Gain a Bloomberg Certificate (a trading platform that's used by 250,000 financial service professionals) in our dedicated Bloomberg Suite
- Be employment-ready by using the same software as professional economists, including Eviews, Datastream and STATA
- Understand how economics affects society through our research expertise in behavioural economics and environmental resource economics
- See economics from a different angle by spending a year abroad at a partner university in the USA, Canada, Australia, Europe or the Far East
- Get support to set up your own business from our Entrepreneurs in Residence Programme
- Learn a foreign language as part of your degree
**Accredited by**
This course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). This means that you won't have to take some of the CIMA exams if you want to be CIMA certified after you graduate. You'll have completed part of your professional qualification by doing this degree.
**Careers and opportunities**
You'll get ongoing career support – up to 5 years after you graduate.
Get work experience while you study with support to find part-time jobs and volunteering opportunities. Towards the end of your degree and after graduation, you'll get 1-to-1 support from our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy to find your perfect role. On top of this you'll get bespoke careers support through our faculty 'career-ready' programme.
Modules
**Year 1**
Core modules in this year include:
- Issues in Economics
- Macroeconomics
- Mathematics For Economics
- Microeconomics
- Personal Development Planning For Economists (Level 4)
- Statistics For Economics
- Introduction to Finance, Accounting and Banking
- General Language Grade 6 (English)
- Independent Study Project
- Strategic Management
There are no optional modules in this year.
**Year 2 core**
Core modules in this year include:
- Data and Research Methods For Economics
- Econometric Methods
- Intermediate Macroeconomics
- Intermediate Microeconomics
- Personal Development Planning For Economists (Level 5)
Options to choose from in this year currently include:
- Behavioural Economics and Game Theory
- Economics of Money, Banking and Financial Markets
- International Economics
- Investment Analysis
- Modern Foreign Language
- Managerial and Decision Economics
- Study Abroad 120 Credits (Year Long)
- Corporate Financial Management
- Psychology and Altruism in Economics and Finance
**Placement year (optional)**
On this course, you can do an optional work placement year between your 2nd and 3rd years to get valuable experience working in industry. We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your situation and ambitions. You’ll get mentoring and support throughout the year.
**Year 3**
Core modules in this year include:
- Advanced Economics
- Econometric Analysis
- Personal Development Planning For Economists (Level 6)
- Economics Research Project
Options to choose from in this year currently include:
- Advanced Corporate Financial Management
- Crime, Conflict and Terrorism
- Development Economics
- International Banking and Financial Instruments
- Public Policies and Labour Markets
- Behavioural Finance and the Psychology of Investment
- Economics and Finance of Sport
- Energy and Environmental Economics
- Financial Economics
- Market Economics and Business Strategy
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies. Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.
Assessment methods
You’ll be assessed through:
analysis of topical case studies
exams
written reports
essays
presentations
self-led independent study project
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.
The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows:
Year 1 students: 62% by written exams, 4% by practical exams and 34% by coursework
Year 2 students: 62% by written exams and 38% by coursework
Year 3 students: 33% by written exams, 5% by practical exams and 62% by coursework
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
University of Portsmouth
Faculty of Business and Law
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.
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
£31k
£41k
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...
Higher entry requirementsLower entry requirementsSame University
Nearby UniversityThis 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
