Economics (BSc)

Applicants come from a diverse range of backgrounds and we accept a broad range of qualifications. Special consideration will be given to mature applicants, and we are happy to consider applicants with other qualifications, including QAA-approved Access to HE courses.

Students from overseas should visit the International| pages for further information on the entry requirements from their country and English language requirements.  Royal Holloway International offers an International Foundation Programme and English language pre-sessional courses, allowing students the opportunity to develop their study skills and English language before starting their undergraduate degree.

We make decisions based on achieved or predicted grades, personal statements and references. More information on how your application will be assessed, and tips for your personal statement can be found on our Applying| pages.

• Develop an in-depth understanding of economics at all levels – from the company to the state, and beyond.
• Gain a broad spectrum of transferable skills that can be applied in the workplace.
• Enjoy excellent employment prospects – economics graduates' starting salaries are amongst the highest in the country.
• Teaching in the department received a score of 22 out of 24 by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).
• The department is recognised as joint 9th in the country for its the high quality research.

In the first year, you will study course units in Principles of Economics and Quantitative Methods, participate in the Economics Workshop and study another elective course unit. The second year is more technical and covers Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Quantitative Methods and an elective course unit. Your final year will be made up entirely of elective course units with an optional dissertation.

Throughout the course, you will:

• appreciate and apply the core theories of micro and macroeconomics
• understand and apply mathematical and statistical techniques to analyse and solve economic problems
• gain experience in logical and philosophical reasoning.

All undergraduate degree courses at Royal Holloway are based on the course unit system. This system provides an effective and flexible approach to study, while ensuring that our degrees have a coherent and developmental structure.

See the Department’s website| for additional details.

View the full course specification for Economics (BSc) in the Programme Specification Repository|.

Teaching is mostly by means of lectures and seminars, the latter providing a forum for students to work through problem sets and applications in a smaller and more interactive setting. Outside of scheduled teaching sessions, students work independently, or collaboratively, researching, reading and preparing for seminars. 

Assessment is usually carried out by end of year examinations as well as class tests and assignments. Final year students can choose to complete an extended essay, which offers students the chance to conduct an original piece of research

Studying Economics at Royal Holloway will equip you with an enviable range of practical skills. You will enhance your knowledge of the financial markets, gain experience in analysing data and applying statistical techniques as well as learning how to think strategically.

Our graduates are highly employable and have, in recent years, launched careers with a wide-range of organisations, including investment advisors Royal Capital Management, and government departments. Some of the economics-related roles our graduates have entered are those of financial analyst, finance broker, government economist and chartered accountant.

To learn more about what our graduates do, please visit the Department’s website|.