Economics with Foundation Year
Birkbeck, University of London
UCAS Code: 4B12 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Birkbeck, University of London
UCAS Code: 4B12 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE grade C or grade 4, or equivalent, in English and mathematics.
UCAS Tariff
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About this course
This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.
Our BSc Economics provides you with a core of rigorous, technically demanding, yet applications-oriented, skills in economics. It is designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to successfully compete in a competitive jobs market.
**Why choose this course?**
- You will be taught by academics who are professional practitioners in the world of economics and who provide specialist advice and in-house training for government departments and City firms and banks including the Treasury and Bank of England.
- Your tutors actively work to extend the boundaries of knowledge. Many of our academics are recognised as world-class experts in their fields and their research feeds directly into our teaching programmes.
**What you will learn**
You will learn the fundamentals of microeconomics and macroeconomics and understand the core principles driving economic systems. You will gain proficiency in statistics and econometrics to analyse real-world data and make informed decisions. Option modules give you the opportunity to specialise, tailoring your degree to your interests. You will develop critical-thinking, problem-solving and communication skills essential for success in diverse career paths, from finance and consulting to government and beyond.
**How you will learn**
You will learn via a combination of lectures which provide foundational knowledge and small-group tutorials which offer hands-on learning.
On this course you will be able to choose between full- and part-time study. **It has an evening timetable with classes taking place in the evening.**
**Foundation Year**
If you opt for the Foundation Year route, this will fully prepare you for undergraduate study. It is ideal if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied the relevant subjects, or if you didn't achieve the grades you need for a place on your chosen undergraduate degree.
**Highlights**
- Birkbeck was ranked in the top 25 universities in the UK for its Economics and Econometrics research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.
- We bring together research and teaching across economics and finance, mathematics and statistics which creates significant interdisciplinary synergies.
- Goldman Sachs and Birkbeck Diversity Scholarships are available for this course for students from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.
**Careers and employability**
On successfully graduating from this BSc Economics, you'll have a gained an array of important transferable skills, including:
- the ability to analyse data and evaluate trends
- the capacity to assess information critically and solve problems
- effective communication of ideas, findings and recommendations to diverse audiences.
Studying our course will prepare you for roles in a range of fields:
- Finance: investment banking, asset management or financial consulting
- Government: economic policy analysis, research, or in central banks, treasury departments or international organisations
- Business: business analysis, market research, strategic planning or corporate finance
- Data analysis: data analysis or econometrics in industries such as banking, insurance or market research firms
- Nonprofit and NGOs: economic development, policy advocacy, or research positions
- Academia: pursuing further education with a postgraduate degree for roles in research or academia.
We offer a comprehensive careers service - Careers and Enterprise - your career partner during your time at Birkbeck and beyond. At every stage of your career journey, we empower you to take ownership of your future, helping you to make the connection between your experience, education and future ambitions.
Modules
For information about course structure and the modules you will be studying, please visit Birkbeck’s online prospectus.
Assessment methods
For most modules, you will do coursework and sit examinations. The relative weights of these components will vary from module to module and you will be given this information on the individual module syllabus/reading list.
Coursework assignments will vary, but may include essays, problem-solving (modules involving quantitative techniques are likely to involve exercises designed to test your ability to apply these techniques to solve problems) and in-class and mid-term tests.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck Business School
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score 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.
£30k
£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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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?
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