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A Level Subjects for Economics

For a levels, I wanted to study maths, further maths, physics and history. I was planning to take economics afterwards at uni. Would these subjects be okay ? or should I replace physics with economics ??
Original post by studyomi
For a levels, I wanted to study maths, further maths, physics and history. I was planning to take economics afterwards at uni. Would these subjects be okay ? or should I replace physics with economics ??

You might need to check if you need economics a level as an entry requirement…. Can you explain why you didnt want to take economics a level but know for sure you want to take it as a degree?
Writing a personal statement without it might be a bit tricky because you might not know the key terminology :smile:
Reply 2
Original post by gracieex
You might need to check if you need economics a level as an entry requirement…. Can you explain why you didnt want to take economics a level but know for sure you want to take it as a degree?
Writing a personal statement without it might be a bit tricky because you might not know the key terminology :smile:

oh thank you i never thought about that. i wasn't sure about taking it for a levels because it wasn't a requirement for a degree, and i wanted to take it at uni because i enjoyed the subject and the work in it because i did a work experience and really enjoyed it. i think i will take economics for a levels thank you :smile:
Original post by studyomi
oh thank you i never thought about that. i wasn't sure about taking it for a levels because it wasn't a requirement for a degree, and i wanted to take it at uni because i enjoyed the subject and the work in it because i did a work experience and really enjoyed it. i think i will take economics for a levels thank you :smile:

No worries! An alternative idea would be taking Maths, Further Maths, Physics, and History… and also doing an EPQ project on an economics issue you find interesting? That might be a lot of work though so it’s definitely worth spending some time thinking about it/asking teachers etc :smile:
Yes your subjects are fine for economics. A-level Economics isn't required to study economics at uni level and unis don't presuppose any knowledge of economics from A-level.
Original post by artful_lounger
Yes your subjects are fine for economics. A-level Economics isn't required to study economics at uni level and unis don't presuppose any knowledge of economics from A-level.

I very much disagree, by the look of these a levels it seems like you are aiming high, and for these unis like oxbridge and russell groups they want you to know what you're talking about and will assume that you know most of the content at interviews and in personal statement. I personally did maths fmaths econ and phys and got 3A* and A in that order, and although I considered replacing phys with history as I really enjoy the subject in retrospect I likely wouldn't have gotten an A in history as it's probably quite a bit more difficult.
Original post by dmears55
I very much disagree, by the look of these a levels it seems like you are aiming high, and for these unis like oxbridge and russell groups they want you to know what you're talking about and will assume that you know most of the content at interviews and in personal statement.


This is wildly inaccurate on multiple levels.
Original post by artful_lounger
This is wildly inaccurate on multiple levels.

explain?
Original post by dmears55
I very much disagree, by the look of these a levels it seems like you are aiming high, and for these unis like oxbridge and russell groups they want you to know what you're talking about and will assume that you know most of the content at interviews and in personal statement. I personally did maths fmaths econ and phys and got 3A* and A in that order, and although I considered replacing phys with history as I really enjoy the subject in retrospect I likely wouldn't have gotten an A in history as it's probably quite a bit more difficult.

Economics at university is very different from economics at A level. Most people who have done A-level Economics and study Economics at university go on to say that they have been misled, particularly on the macroeconomics side. Also, A-level Economics is more essay writing whereas Economics at university is more about using calculus and statistics, etc. This is why you see most top universities for Economics requiring A-level Maths, and the very top require further Maths as well eg. LSE and Oxbridge. A-level maths is far more valuable than A-level Economics, and some may say to even not to do A-level Economics if you want to study Economics at university level.
Original post by Courtesy
Economics at university is very different from economics at A level. Most people who have done A-level Economics and study Economics at university go on to say that they have been misled, particularly on the macroeconomics side. Also, A-level Economics is more essay writing whereas Economics at university is more about using calculus and statistics, etc. This is why you see most top universities for Economics requiring A-level Maths, and the very top require further Maths as well eg. LSE and Oxbridge. A-level maths is far more valuable than A-level Economics, and some may say to even not to do A-level Economics if you want to study Economics at university level.

you are partly right but econ at uni is not homogenous, many unis do value maths massively bc the content is high in maths but many unis place a greater emphasis on the essay side as well and if you have no essay based subject it won't be easy
Original post by dmears55
I very much disagree, by the look of these a levels it seems like you are aiming high, and for these unis like oxbridge and russell groups they want you to know what you're talking about and will assume that you know most of the content at interviews and in personal statement. I personally did maths fmaths econ and phys and got 3A* and A in that order, and although I considered replacing phys with history as I really enjoy the subject in retrospect I likely wouldn't have gotten an A in history as it's probably quite a bit more difficult.

This is complete nonsense.
Original post by studyomi
For a levels, I wanted to study maths, further maths, physics and history. I was planning to take economics afterwards at uni. Would these subjects be okay ? or should I replace physics with economics ??

Those A levels are fine for economics - it's much more important that you go up to university with plenty of maths, rather than plenty of economics. I think roughly half of economics applicants also take it as an A level, and it is by no means mandatory - like law, it's a degree course which is taught 'from the bottom up, and presupposes nothing - as @artful_lounger says.
Original post by Reality Check
This is complete nonsense.

Those A levels are fine for economics - it's much more important that you go up to university with plenty of maths, rather than plenty of economics. I think roughly half of economics applicants also take it as an A level, and it is by no means mandatory - like law, it's a degree course which is taught 'from the bottom up, and presupposes nothing - as @artful_lounger says.

"In the 2018/19 academic year, there were nearly 1.7 million UK-domiciled undergraduate students enrolled on their first degree in UK universities, with 2% of these studying economics overall. Among those studying economics, 69% held an Economics A Level, though only 7% of all undergraduates do so. But even this understates the importance of the A Level.

While more than 1 in 5 with an Economics A Level studied the subject at university, only 1 in 150 of those without an Economics A Level did so. Economics A Level is therefore hugely important as a gateway into the discipline" - IFS


So yeah 69% is a lot and this is despite half of comp schools not offering it, yet they still represent a disproportionate amount of entries indicating its usefulness, more interesting would be to find the percentage of Oxbridge and russel groups entries who did econ A level, but couldn't find this data.
Original post by dmears55
"In the 2018/19 academic year, there were nearly 1.7 million UK-domiciled undergraduate students enrolled on their first degree in UK universities, with 2% of these studying economics overall. Among those studying economics, 69% held an Economics A Level, though only 7% of all undergraduates do so. But even this understates the importance of the A Level.

While more than 1 in 5 with an Economics A Level studied the subject at university, only 1 in 150 of those without an Economics A Level did so. Economics A Level is therefore hugely important as a gateway into the discipline" - IFS


So yeah 69% is a lot and this is despite half of comp schools not offering it, yet they still represent a disproportionate amount of entries indicating its usefulness, more interesting would be to find the percentage of Oxbridge and russel groups entries who did econ A level, but couldn't find this data.

I think you are misreading this IFS report (a link to the actual article would be better than a quotation from it). No-one is suggesting that economics A level isn't 'useful'. Neither is anyone suggesting that it isn't a useful gateway into economics as a subject. But that's not what the OP was asking. S/he was asking if maths, FM, physics and history are OK choices to study economics at university. The answer to that is, unequivocally, 'yes'.

You've gone off on a bit of a tangent about A level economics which, whilst interesting, isn't answering the OP's question.

So yeah 69% is a lot and this is despite half of comp schools not offering it, yet they still represent a disproportionate amount of entries indicating its usefulness, more interesting would be to find the percentage of Oxbridge and russel groups entries who did econ A level, but couldn't find this data.



You need to improve your online research skills then: I found this in about five clicks. This is the Cambridge data for entrants to economics:

Screen Shot 2021-08-13 at 15.52.09.png
As I said to you in my previous post - about half of offer holders for economics have taken the subject at A level. So in no way 'mandatory'.
I’m reading the Pro-Economics A-level VS Against debate… and the only thing I want to ask is how will the OP write a coherent personal statement for top economics universities if they have no baseline knowledge of economics?
It’s purely down to the OP to decide and honestly I’m not sure using statistics to decide will be that helpful.. its all about how they feel and whether they personally want to or not :smile:
(edited 2 years ago)
Reply 14
Original post by studyomi
For a levels, I wanted to study maths, further maths, physics and history. I was planning to take economics afterwards at uni. Would these subjects be okay ? or should I replace physics with economics ??

most unis requirements: maths.
unis like oxbridge/lse: maths furthermaths + essay subject combination

personally I think your choice of maths, furthermaths, physics and history is good.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by dmears55
"In the 2018/19 academic year, there were nearly 1.7 million UK-domiciled undergraduate students enrolled on their first degree in UK universities, with 2% of these studying economics overall. Among those studying economics, 69% held an Economics A Level, though only 7% of all undergraduates do so. But even this understates the importance of the A Level.

While more than 1 in 5 with an Economics A Level studied the subject at university, only 1 in 150 of those without an Economics A Level did so. Economics A Level is therefore hugely important as a gateway into the discipline" - IFS


So yeah 69% is a lot and this is despite half of comp schools not offering it, yet they still represent a disproportionate amount of entries indicating its usefulness, more interesting would be to find the percentage of Oxbridge and russel groups entries who did econ A level, but couldn't find this data.


All this data tells you is that people who have studied a subject in school tend to self select into that subject at university level. Which is neither surprising nor useful for the OP who is asking if their subjects are suitable from an admissions perspective - which they are.
Reply 16
Is it possible to study Economics ( a a joint degree with Economics) without having strong Maths skills ( ( and no A Level maths)?
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by clavic
Is it possible to study Economics ( a a joint degree with Economics) without having strong Maths skills ( ( and no A Level maths)?

Yes it is I’m doing that now !

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