Physics, Mathematics and Economics is it Possible?

Hello, I have been researching university courses for a while now. My two main interests, despite how different they may seem, are Business and Physics. From what I have heard a Physics degree is a very good platform for many careers in the future this combined with my great interest in the subject makes it seem logical to pursue. However, I do not see myself as an Engineer in the future and would much rather use these problem solving and mathematical skills within business as this is the type of field I would like to go into when I graduate. My main problem is that I cannot seem to find the 'Ideal' degree; I live in Scotland and there is an extreme lack of degrees that offer Physics and Business related subjects as a joint honours whereas in England and Wales they are found in abundance. I have tried Emailing a few universities and much of them say that they cannot do a joint honours between Sciences and Arts due to high enrolment numbers. Some universities say they offer elective modules within a physics degree which enables you to choose some business related subject but the degree is still classed as a single honours in Physics. Has anyone been in a similar situation and did they manage to sort it out through clever choice of modules?

I think Durham allow Economics in their Natural Sciences degree

I'm a Heriot Watt student so most of this will be quite specific to our physics degree. Physics used to have electives in 1st and 2nd year where you could have done 1 business/finance/economics module per semester. This has changed and you now have to do some combination of engineering and introductory mat lab over the first 2 years. Most physics students did engineering as their elective anyway so it wasn't much of a change. You could still do it the old way if you did combined studies which is basically Heriot Watt's version of what other unis normally called natural science. I only know one person doing it as its not that popular for some reason. He's in 3rd year doing mostly physics with a bit of economics on the side and he thinks it's going pretty well but had to sacrifice two "physical maths" modules to keep experimental lab ect - you can't do all the physics with this route.

Most other Scottish unis should allow you to do some business/finance/economics elective in first and maybe second year but I don't think I've heard of anything being offered beyond that (probably for good reason). There wouldn't really be anything wrong with doing a BSc(Hons) in physics then doing a MBA to get you that business side of things to set you up for a strong career. We're constantly being told by staff and external organisations how great physics degrees are for employment purposes.


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Thanks a lot for the reply, I have also heard how well praised and diverse a physics degree is for employment purposes and this is what is attracting me to it the most. My other main interest at Higher level at secondary school was business management, which I found a lot easier than physics despite getting an A in both. If I was to study Management I would be doing a joint honours with economics as Management on its own isn't classed as a numerate degree and if I wanted a good job in business e.g. banking of some sort a numerate degree would be required. I have always had an interest in a wide range of fields from physics to computer science to Business and this is drawing me towards physics as it would enable me to do all in the future. My main concern is that Physics, despite previously doing well in it will be a lot harder and with it being more maths intensive than economics I may find myself getting bored at university whereas with the maths being less intensive with economics and the joint honours with management I might enjoy it a bit more. With regards to the availability of studying physics and economics together I have emailed several universities and both Glasgow uni and St Andrews said it would be subject to availability and Strathclyde said it wouldn't be possible.