economics

i have not done economics or maths at a level, so if i choose it for my uni course will i struggle with it because ive never done econ before?

i have not done economics or maths at a level, so if i choose it for my uni course will i struggle with it because ive never done econ before?

Most economic degrees are more concern whether you have the mathematical skills for it as opposed to whether you have studied economics at A Level (some even ask for further maths). In other words, the maths is more of a concern than the economics.

Whether you will struggle will depend on the nature of the course.

If you are being accepted onto the course without an A Level in maths, I am guessing it's more likely to be a BA than a BSc. The BA involves more economic analysis and not so much maths. If you read through some of the material for A Level Economics, you should get an idea of what the content will be like, albeit more theory than application. You can also read Principles of Macroeconomics by Gregory Mankiw, a popular text for first year economics.
The level of maths needed for BScs (except for those that require Further Maths), tend to focus on stats and pure maths. The level of maths tend not to really go beyond AS Level (one or 2 people might disagree becuase they are doing the more quantitative degrees). Main concepts you will need to learn are logarithms, differentiation, hypothesis testing, regressions, and series. You can either pick up a book on A Level maths and look up these concepts, or you can selectively read the following: Mathematics for Economics and Business by Ian Jacques
Chances are with your BA, you won't be likely to be asked questions on logarithms and differentiation. You might have to do a stats module though, so you should really read up hypothesis testing.

I find economics a fun degree to do. The sort of stuff that got me interested in the subject are books like Freakanomics, Undercover Economist, The Economist, World Economics Forum, Economics Explained, Financial Times. Sure, the degree won't resemble anything like the content mentioned in these books, YouTube channels, and publications, but the theory behind how they think economics work is interesting. You might want to have a read to see if you're interested.

If you want me to look through your chosen degree(s), I can advise on the sort of books that would give you some idea of what the content will be like, so you could judge for yourself.

Will a BA in economics give you a better or worse job prospect than a Bsc in economics? Or does it not matter?

The answer is it depends (apologies haha). The typical difference is that BSc's have more maths however a-level students often overthink this. For example Cambridge's economics course is a BA, yet is the most mathematical straight undergrad economics course in Europe. Another would be Durham who only offer a BA yet is quite mathematical and is a top10 uni for economics.

However, on average BSc Economics courses tend to be mathematical, this is especially true if the university offers two Economics courses, one BA and one BSc. In terms of career prospects, I think the uni matters more than whether it's a BA or BSc. A BA from a better uni is likely better than a BSc from a worse uni. It's worth remembering that you can still do a BSc without maths a-level at some unis.

BSc's are perceived as more valuable in the job market because you typically do more econometrics and statistics modules than a BA and this knowledge is increasingly valuable as the ability to analyse data and make robust inferences becomes ever more important. Although if you want to work in finance or banking, you have to remember that they don't even care what degree subject you do (ik people who work in IB who have English, classics or even music degrees). So if they're willing to accept any degree subject, you can start to see how unimportant the distinction between a BA and BSc is especially for banking/finance careers.

I genuinely don't think any employer would care or judge a candidate differently based on if they had a BA or BSc. A-level students really overemphasize this difference when in reality it's small if even present. There's probably some self-selection bias in career prospects where people with greater maths ability apply for more quantitative jobs that tend to pay better but that's more about choices and tastes than ability. Ultimately, people think if you had two candidates that were exactly the same and the only difference was the BA/BSc they'd pick the BSc and they're right, but in reality no two candidates are identical other than their degree title so it's a silly comparison. Job applicants vary wildly over academic results, application test scores, interview ability, interests, personality and fit so I wouldn't overthink this too much.

Just go to the best uni with the most rigourous course you can regardless of whether it's a BA or BSc (most unis offer BSc's now anyway so the difference is sorta devalued now anyway)