Economics

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.

Course overview
The course 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 degree 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 course 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 or 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 four-year programme with a year in industry.

Course 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 that can be applied to a specific field. You need specific knowledge and skills if you want to be a government economist advising on tax or social/welfare costs. 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 can be applied whatever your passion: politics, finance, the trading floor, or working for a Non-governmental organisation; all use the same skills.