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Can I study economics at Uni without a level maths?

I really want to study economics at university however I don't do maths at A level, what good universities will let me study economics without A level maths (I do all essay subjects)

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Reply 1
Do some research, it should tell you on the universities' page showing entry requirements for the course. I suspect that for most 'good' universities at least AS maths will be required.

I think there are certain areas of economics that are quite maths heavy aren't there? My friend also initially wanted to study economics without doing A Level maths and now they're applying for politics.
Most of the universities in the top ten tend to require A level maths, I do economics A level and it doesn't seem to require a lot of maths
Reply 3
It depends, do you have a valid reason for not doing Maths?
Original post by Artimus
It depends, do you have a valid reason for not doing Maths?


Yes, I do history, politics, English lit and economics. I choose subjects that I would enjoy and that I wouldn't mind working for, with maths I didn't fancy doing something which I wasn't going to enjoy
I went to Liverpool to do economics without maths...regretted it. It is very hard and they expect you to know A-Levels maths even without having done it. Dropped out. Did a different course. First year you may be able to blag, but when they start looking at econometrics in second year, you'll be in trouble.
Reply 6
Original post by Legallyblonde8
Yes, I do history, politics, English lit and economics. I choose subjects that I would enjoy and that I wouldn't mind working for, with maths I didn't fancy doing something which I wasn't going to enjoy


I thought that Economics at university was heavily maths based, are you sure you would enjoy it at university?
I'm not sure why you are asking other people to research for you. It isn't hard to find the entry requirements on a university's website. Off the top of my head, I don't think Nottingham asks for maths. :curious:
Original post by Legallyblonde8
Yes, I do history, politics, English lit and economics. I choose subjects that I would enjoy and that I wouldn't mind working for, with maths I didn't fancy doing something which I wasn't going to enjoy



Original post by Artimus
I thought that Economics at university was heavily maths based, are you sure you would enjoy it at university?

Yeah...Artimus is right. There is a lot more maths in it than you'd expect. I loved economics at GCSE and A-Level. I won awards at school for it and thought I had a genuine passion for it...but really be careful because if you don't like maths...in fact even if you like maths, if you haven't done it up to A-Level you will really struggle.

This is assuming you're going for BSc.
Original post by Snufkin
I'm not sure why you are asking other people to research for you. It isn't hard to find the entry requirements on a university's website. Off the top of my head, I don't think Nottingham asks for maths. :curious:

I've been on about ten different university websites, I'm aware of the requirements, I just want to find out if maths is actually an essential from people who have or who are doing the course
Economics at Uni is composed of heavy use of mathematical models. You'll be required to use calculus quite extensively and many other mathematical techniques. So its ideal to have done A level Maths and preferred if you do atleast an AS in Further Maths.
Original post by Airfairy
Yeah...Artimus is right. There is a lot more maths in it than you'd expect. I loved economics at GCSE and A-Level. I won awards at school for it and thought I had a genuine passion for it...but really be careful because if you don't like maths...in fact even if you like maths, if you haven't done it up to A-Level you will really struggle.

This is assuming you're going for BSc.
Im having second thoughts ngl
Original post by Legallyblonde8
Im having second thoughts ngl


Well put it this way, I seriously wish that I'd looked into it more before doing it. You've done the right thing by asking. Maybe Google econometics or maths for economics and have a look at the things you're going to be expected to do.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I was putting in sooooo much extra work just to do assignments others were finding easy and then only getting like 40%. I didn't feel like I could try hard enough.

Have you considered doing a BA in economics?
Original post by Legallyblonde8
I really want to study economics at university however I don't do maths at A level, what good universities will let me study economics without A level maths (I do all essay subjects)


Reading Uni offers a BSc Economics and a BA which is for people who do not enjoy maths. The BA is more essay based and theoretical, with an emphasis on economic philosophy etc.
Original post by Legallyblonde8
Yes, I do history, politics, English lit and economics. I choose subjects that I would enjoy and that I wouldn't mind working for, with maths I didn't fancy doing something which I wasn't going to enjoy

If you enjoy economics then you enjoy maths!
I received 5 offers to study Economics and recently firmed Nottingham. I haven't done A-level Maths.
Original post by Mike_123
If you enjoy economics then you enjoy maths!


Unbelievably wrong.

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Reply 17
If you work hard you can do it... What did you get in GCSEs? Will you be able to get back into maths if you put in the effort?

You'll be veryhappy that you did maths for most BSc Econ courses, especially for the top 5-10 unis. The jump from 1st to 2nd year can also be very large for some unis (in terms of how much mathematics is used). You might get past 1st year but in the 2nd-3rd years you'll be expected to understand the maths, you'll be deriving formulae/theories/models, so you do need to be (or at least work to be) comfortable with it.

Personally I think I would have hated my first year if I hadn't done A level maths tbh. We had Mathematics 1 as a compulsory unit in our course. It was an optional unit for politics & econ students, and I know some of those students did struggle a little bit to keep up.

You could always do a joint course eg. politics and economics or BA (which tend to be less mathsy) and see your options from there, if you're worried about pure Econ.

You can also take up C1 and S1 in your own time. It will be really helpful and it will show your dedication.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Exceptional
I received 5 offers to study Economics and recently firmed Nottingham. I haven't done A-level Maths.


Wow. I guess you must've been... exceptional.

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Original post by Legallyblonde8
Yes, I do history, politics, English lit and economics. I choose subjects that I would enjoy and that I wouldn't mind working for, with maths I didn't fancy doing something which I wasn't going to enjoy


Have you considered doing a BA in Economics? Which tend not to be too mathematical intensive, and you can focus more on the qualititative aspect. Or perhaps you can do a joint Economics degree? Such as Econ & History, Econ & Politics, PPE etc... which would suit your subject choice while at the same time you won't get too bogged down with the maths.

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