Economics at undergraduate level

Im currently studying economics at a level (y13) and I'm interested in doing economics at uni. Does anyone know how much/the difficulty of the maths involved for an economics degree? I got a 7 at gcse and the a level Econ maths seems super easy but I've heard that it's a lot more difficult at uni.

Reply 1

BenRyan99

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by charliep8

Economics is generally a fair bit different at university level, compared to a-level. Essentially, the better the university/course, the more maths there is usually, therefore the bigger the difference between a-level and undergrad level content. You're right that there's very little maths in a-level, this is done to make it accessible which I think is good. But maths and statistics is a very necessary part of degree level economics. To put it into perspective, most decent to good economics degrees generally range from about 1/2 economics and 1/2 maths/stats, to 1/3 economics and 2/3 maths and stats.

Given you've said you got a 7 at GCSE, I'm assuming you're not doing maths a-level. In which case, this already restricts a relatively large proportion of the top unis. But there are still some very decent economics courses that don't require maths a-level, so you should be looking at these. When you go through the modules on the courses, you'll see there's often a course or two at the start of your first year which will provide you with all the a-level maths and statistics content which is relevant for an economics degree, so most degrees where a-level maths isn't required will catch you up straight away rather than assume you know a-level maths.

In terms of how difficult the maths is, how long is a piece of string? There is no answer, some find it difficult, some find it easy. The important thing is to figure out which unis offer economics courses that are difficult enough to challenge you, but no so tough that it makes you hate the degree - and all of these varies person to person.

Whether an economics degree is for you, this depends on dozens of things such as academic interests/career goals/etc. Another thing to think about is the possibility of doing a joint economics degree (e.g. economics and ....) with another subject you enjoy, these courses typically have lower entry requirements and sometimes contain less of the difficult maths/stats classes than a degree in straight economics.

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 2

vp__

Original post by charliep8

I am currently in my final year studying economics at a top 10 UK uni and top 15 uni for economics. The maths is tough, and does get more challenging as you progress, but definitely doable if you are systematic with your approach to learning ie splitting your time and treating the degree as a 9-5 and most days 8-6, ofc give yourself breaks but if you do not stay on top of readings and matrerial you will become overwhelmed quickly.

My course had a compulsory quantitative economics module in first year which gives you an idea of what type of maths you will be using. Effectively economics from A-levels to undergrad goes from 'What does x graph say will happen if y happens' and it becomes 'Here is a mathematical model, derive the insights through calculus and algebra and tell us what happens if y happens' that is more of a Macro economics lens tbh. My final year Micro looked more at game theory, specifically things like subgame perfect nash equilibrium, cooperative vs non cooperative bargaining, signalling etc with little/no emphasis on market structures.

Any pure economics degree is tough and a grind most of the time, but I have friends who did not do A-level maths and have managed well (high 2:1/1st) with a good work ethic. If you are curious to see what the maths is truly like, send me a private message and i can send you over some of my notes.