Economics (BSc)
- Subject area: Economics
- UCAS code: L101
- Next intake: September 2025
- Duration: 3 years
- Mode: Full time
Why study this course
A public value ethos
Engage with the grand challenges facing society, thinking about how economics can contribute to solving them.
Opportunities outside the classroom
Consider a professional placement year or year of study abroad between your second and final years.
Learn from the best
Benefit from the expertise of a large, diverse faculty bringing unique insights from their own research into the classroom.
Tailor your studies
All final-year modules are optional so you can choose the ones that best fit your interests and aspirations.
Economics is everywhere. From the decision about how much to give to charity to global efforts to tackle climate change, economists are contributing their insights to the public discourse. As an economics student, you will learn to apply cutting-edge mathematical and statistical tools to understanding, and predicting, the behaviour of individuals, firms, markets and countries. These techniques will enable you to not only explain the world around you, but also to quantify how target groups are likely to respond to, for example, the introduction of a new policy or a change in the behaviour of competitors.
Formal economic analysis is, however, only one dimension of the skills you will develop as a Cardiff economist. The world is a complicated place, and no analysis can hope to account for every eventuality. You will learn to make evidence-based decisions about how to simplify reality to make your analysis meaningful, and to defend your decisions convincingly. You will also learn how to communicate both the complexity and nuance of your analysis to a range of specialist and non-specialist audiences both verbally and in written form.
Cardiff Business School is focused on generating Public Value. For economists, this translates to working ethically and with integrity, but also feeling confident applying economics to understand and help address society’s grand challenges. Over your three years with us, you will develop a deep understanding of the most pressing issues facing society and will be equipped with the tools to help to do something about them.
As an economics graduate, you will be highly sought after in many different occupations because of the uniquely diverse skillset you will develop. Cardiff graduates also go on to have successful careers in government, finance, banking, accountancy and consultancy, or to continue their studies at postgraduate level.
Subject area: Economics
Entry requirements
We accept a combination of A-levels and other qualifications, as well as equivalent international qualifications subject to entry requirements. Typical offers are as follows:
A level
AAB-BBB. Must include Maths.
Extended/International Project Qualification: Applicants with grade A in the EPQ/IPQ will typically receive an offer one grade lower than the standard offer. Please note that any subject specific requirements must still be met.
- Our grade range covers our standard offer and contextual offer. We carefully consider the circumstances in which you've been studying (your contextual data) upon application. Eligible students will be given an offer that is lower than the standard offer (usually the middle or lower end of the advertised grade range).
- Where there is no grade range advertised and/or where there are selection processes in place (like an interview) you may receive additional consideration in the selection process.
Learn about eligible courses and how contextual data is applied.
International Baccalaureate
34-31 overall or 666-665 in 3 HL subjects. Must include grade 6 in HL Maths.
Baccalaureate Wales
From September 2023, there will be a new qualification called the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales (level 3). This qualification will replace the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (Welsh Baccalaureate). The qualification will continue to be accepted in lieu of one A-Level (at the grades listed above), excluding any specified subjects.
Other essential requirements
You must have or be working towards:
- English language or Welsh language at GCSE grade C/4 or an equivalent (such as A-levels). If you require a Student visa, you must ensure your language qualification complies with UKVI requirements.
We do not accept Critical Thinking, General Studies, Citizenship Studies, or other similar equivalent subjects.
We will accept a combination of BTEC subjects, A-levels, and other qualifications, subject to the course specific grade and subject requirements.
English language requirements
GCSE
Grade C or grade 4 in GCSE English Language.
IELTS (academic)
At least 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each subskill.
TOEFL iBT
At least 90 overall with a minimum of 17 for writing, 17 for listening, 18 for reading, and 20 for speaking.
PTE Academic
At least 69 overall with a minimum of 59 in all communicative skills.
Trinity ISE II/III
II: at least two Distinctions and two Merits.
III: at least a Pass in all components.
Other accepted qualifications
Please visit our English Language requirements page for more information on our other accepted language qualifications.
Criminal convictions
You are not required to complete a DBS (Disclosure Barring Service) check or provide a Certificate of Good Conduct to study this course.
If you are currently subject to any licence condition or monitoring restriction that could affect your ability to successfully complete your studies, you will be required to disclose your criminal record. Conditions include, but are not limited to:
- access to computers or devices that can store images
- use of internet and communication tools/devices
- curfews
- freedom of movement
- contact with people related to Cardiff University.
Other qualifications from inside the UK
Qualifications from outside the UK
Please see our admissions policies for more information about the application process.
Tuition fees for 2025 entry
Your tuition fees and how you pay them will depend on your fee status. Your fee status could be home, island or overseas.
Learn how we decide your fee status
Fees for home status
The University reserves the right to increase tuition fees in the second and subsequent years of a course as permitted by law or Welsh Government policy. Where applicable we will notify you of any change in tuition fee by the end of June in the academic year before the one in which the fee will increase.
Students from the EU, EEA and Switzerland
If you are an EU, EEA or Swiss national, your tuition fees for 2025/26 be in line with the overseas fees for international students, unless you qualify for home fee status. UKCISA have provided information about Brexit and tuition fees.
Fees for island status
Learn more about the undergraduate fees for students from the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.
Fees for overseas status
Learn more about our tuition fees
Financial support
Financial support may be available to individuals who meet certain criteria. For more information visit our funding section. Please note that these sources of financial support are limited and therefore not everyone who meets the criteria are guaranteed to receive the support.
Additional costs
Accommodation
We have a range of residences to suit your needs and budget. Find out more on our accommodation pages.
Living costs
We're based in one of the UK's most affordable cities. Find out more about living costs in Cardiff.
Careers
Career prospects
Economics is unique insofar as it develops the technical, analytical, and abstract thinking skills often associated with degrees in quantitative subjects alongside the critical evaluation, argument and communication skills more common in qualitative degrees. For this reason, UK economics graduates consistently have some of the highest employability rates and graduate earnings of any subject. Graduates from our programme regularly go on to work as professional economists, or in associated industries such as finance, banking, accountancy, consultancy or financial journalism.
Our Economics (BSc) degree embeds employability throughout the programme. Some modules, such as Professional Skills for Economists or Economic Analysis of Policy, explicitly focus on the range of skills a successful economist should bring to bear, and are strongly aligned to the University’s graduate attributes. The range of learning activities and assessments adopted on other modules, from 24-hour policy briefs and more detailed economic analyses of contemporary issues to presentations and short videos, provide the chance to hone your skills through the kind of activities economics graduates often go on to do in their careers.
For students considering postgraduate study in economics, we also provide advanced optional modules that delve even deeper into the core fields of macroeconomics, microeconomics and econometrics getting them close to the research frontier.
Next steps
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How to apply
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HESA Data: Copyright Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited 2021. The Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived by third parties from its data. Data is from the latest Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019/20, published by HESA in June 2022.