Economics

BA Hons

  • UCAS code L110
  • Entry year 2024 or 2025
  • A level requirements ABB
  • Duration Full time 3 years

This course has Clearing vacancies for 2024

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Overview

Top reasons to study with us

  • 9

    9th for graduate prospects: Economics

    The Guardian University Guide (2025)

  • 10

    10th for Economics

    The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2025)

  • 10

    10th for satisfaction with teaching: Economics

    The Guardian University Guide (2025)

Introduction

What makes some countries richer than others? How should society fund social care? Why are footballers paid so much?

BA Economics provides you with the analytic skills and intellectual toolbox to help answer these pressing economics questions and many more. You will learn how to interpret data, understand (and quantify) the decisions made by individuals, organisations, and governments and evaluate economic policies.

Programme overview

The programme begins by introducing the foundational principles of Economic Theory. The BA then seeks to connect these analytical skills with insights from other Social Sciences such as Politics, International Relations, History and Sociology. This flexible programme is designed to allow you to take the skills you learn through an Economics degree and apply them to multiple careers.

You will cover the fundamentals of Economic theory and practice, and as your degree progresses and you discover more about both the subject and about yourself, you have the opportunity to flex this programme in ways that speak to your changing interests and strengths. This might lead you to choose modules in:

  • Development Economics
  • Economic Inequality
  • Health Economics
  • Labour Economics

Amongst many other specialisations. This leads to a degree unique to you, where you have played a major part in building the degree you want.

Our degree weaves theory and evidence into policy analysis. This allows you to understand fundamental issues and topical concerns. In the BA in Economics, we give students a broader appreciation of key issues in society, by combining Economic analysis with insights from the other social sciences. Therefore, in your first year, you will also choose at least one subject from the social science subjects: politics, international relations, history, or sociology, and another subject from a wide range of options. You will continue with your study of social science throughout your degree.

In the second year, you will progress to topics such as micro and macroeconomics, and quantitative methods, which provide many of the analytical tools used in economics, along with some economics options and one full unit from the social sciences.

Your final year sees you choosing six modules in economics and two in the social sciences. We offer a wide range of economics modules, from Public Economics to International Trade, Health Economics to Sports Economics, so you can tailor your studies to suit your aspirations.

Key facts

You do not need an A level in Economics Mathematics to enrol in BA Economics.

Throughout your degree, we’ll supply training in CV writing, interview assessment centres and telephone interviews. We are proud of our aspiring economists and aim to nurture the potential in every one of them.

This course is also available as a 4-year programme with a year in industry.

Programme outcomes

BA Economics offers a grounding in the fundamentals of Economics. The most powerful aspect of Economics is that it teaches a way of thinking which can then be applied to a specific field. If you want to be a government economist advising on tax or social/welfare costs, you need specific knowledge and skills. The same is true for a career in finance. You need specific finance models – how much to invest here, or advise clients to invest there. But the mode of thinking is the same for both: it is the critical, disciplined way of thinking that you will get from an Economics degree at Lancaster University. Economics opens up the world because the critical and analytical thinking skills that it inculcates are applicable to whatever your passion, be they politics, finance, the trading floor, or working for an NGO, all use the same skills.

Careers

Our degrees are designed to prepare you for a career in industry, business, finance, consultancy or government. Recent Economics graduates have joined banks and financial consultancies such as HSBC and Deloitte, while others have been employed on graduate schemes with major companies, including BAE and the Swire Group.

Many of our Economics students have gained places on postgraduate courses at top institutions and then pursued specialised careers as economists – for example, at the Bank of England, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and in academia.

Lancaster University is dedicated to ensuring you not only gain a highly reputable degree, you also graduate with the relevant life and work-based skills. We are unique in that every student is eligible to participate in The Lancaster Award, which allows you to complete key activities such as work experience, employability awareness, career development, campus community and social development. Visit our employability section for more details.

The Management School has an award-winning careers team to provide a dedicated careers and placement service offering a range of innovative services for LUMS students. Our high reputation means we attract a wide range of leading global employers to campus, offering you the opportunity to interact with graduate recruiters from day one of your degree.

Entry requirements

Grade requirements

A Level ABB

GCSE Mathematics grade B or 6, English Language grade C or 4

IELTS 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each component. For other English language qualifications we accept, please see our English language requirements web pages.

Other qualifications

International Baccalaureate 32 points overall with 16 points from the best 3 Higher Level subjects

BTEC Distinction, Distinction, Merit

We welcome applications from students with a range of alternative UK and international qualifications, including combinations of qualifications. Further guidance on admission to the University, including other qualifications that we accept, frequently asked questions and information on applying, can be found on our general admissions web pages.

Contact Admissions Team + 44 (0) 1524 592028 or via ugadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk

Course structure

Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and some which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.

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Fees and funding

Our annual tuition fee is set for a 12-month session, starting in the October of your year of study.

Our Undergraduate Tuition Fees for 2024/25 are:

Home International
£9,250 £24,475

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Scholarships and bursaries

You will be automatically considered for our main scholarships and bursaries when you apply, so there's nothing extra that you need to do.

You may be eligible for the following funding opportunities, depending on your fee status:

Unfortunately no scholarships and bursaries match your selection, but there are more listed on scholarships and bursaries page.

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We also have other, more specialised scholarships and bursaries - such as those for students from specific countries.

Browse Lancaster University's scholarships and bursaries.

Important information

The information on this site relates primarily to 2025/2026 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.

The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.

More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.

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