Overview and entry requirements
BA Economics at SOAS University of London will provide you with training in microeconomics, macroeconomics and quantitative methods that will enable you to pursue a successful career in an economics-related profession or to go on to postgraduate work.
BA Economics offers ample flexibility to the quantitative modules students can select, including a pathway to graduate with a BSc Economics degree. Students will be given guidance on module selections and transfer opportunities between programme structures throughout their degree, including those aiming to graduate with BSc Economics. Moreover, the SOAS Economics Department is distinctive in offering a pluralist and critical approach to economic theory, policy and real applications.
The Department of Economics is one of the country's leading departments specialising in political economy and heterodox approaches to economics as well as in the economics of development. Research and teaching is pursued on a variety of topics and is unique in its depth and range of regional and specialised coverage including topics from contemporary banking and finance the economics of the environment, gender economics, global economic theory, as well as the economic development of a variety of regions from Japan to the Middle East.
See Department of Economics
Why study Economics at SOAS
- 12th in UK for course satisfaction Guardian League Tables 2021 and 5th in London Complete University Guide 2021
- we offer the broadest portfolio of modules on economics and political economy
- our unrivalled focus in the study of developing and emerging economies provides you with a more critical approach to economic theory
- our academic staff are specialists within an unparalleled range of emerging and developing economies, and a broad spectrum of theory and policy debates
- theoretical concepts and debates are expertly applied to real issues within the countries of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, as well as in the global economy and interdependencies therein
- you will be able to flexibly structure your programme using our Open Options modules to take advantage of the expertise of our other departments, including the opportunity to learn a language
- we are specialists in the delivery of languages. Your command of a language from SOAS will set you apart from graduates of other universities
Explore
Programme Code: UGSF0068
Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings
Start of programme: 2021
Mode of Attendance: Full-time
Entry requirements
- duration:
- 3 Years
Fees 2022/23
Fees for 2022/23 entrants per academic year
- UK fees:
- £9,250
- Overseas fees:
- £20,350
Please note that fees go up each year. Further details see 'Fees and funding' (tab on this page) or the Registry's undergraduate tuition fees page.
Structure
Students take 120 credits composed of Core, Compulsory and Optional modules.
Core modules: These are mandatory and must be passed in the year they are taken before the student can progress to the next year.
Compulsory modules: These are mandatory but in the case of a failure, students may carry this into their next year provided that they retake and pass the failed element or exam.
Optional modules: These are designed to help students design their own intellectual journey while maintaining a strong grasp of the fundamentals.
*Students who wish to graduate with a BSc Economics degree have to make sure to include and successfully complete Mathematics for Economists and Econometrics as part of their degree
Year 1
Core Modules
Compulsory Modules
- PLUS select modules from the Year 1 Guided Option list below to the value of 30 credits and a Language open option module to the value of 15 credits
- OR select modules from the Year 1 Guided Option list below to the value of 15 credits and Language open option module(s) to the value of 30 credits
Year 1 Guided Option Modules
Year 2
Compulsory Modules
The modules Elementary Statsitcs and Statistics must be selected if they were not taken in Year 1
- PLUS choose modules from the Year 2 Guided Option list below to the value of 30 credits
Year 2 Guided Option Modules
Year 3
Compulsory Modules
In addition to the above, students select from the following:
Year 3 Guided Option modules to the value of 90 credits from Lists A, B and C below. A maximum of 60 credits may be selected from List B.
Alternatively, students may select modules to the value of 60 credits from Lists A and B below AND Language or Non-Language Open Option modules to the value of 30 credits.
Year 3 Guided Option Modules - List A
Year 3 Guided Option Modules - List B
Year 3 Guided Option Modules - List C
The below modules are Summer School modules which can be taken at the end of Year 2, and which count towards Year 3.
- 151040084 Climate Change and Sustainable Finance (15 credits)
- 153401011 Asia Pacific Business (15 credits)
- 1534401012 China's Belt and Road Initiative: Challenge and Opportunities (15 credits)
- 151010055 Economic Globalisation in Asia (15 credits)
- 153401017 Entrepreneurship in Asia (15 credits)
- 153401018 Global Mega Trends: Opportunities and Challenges in Asia (15 credits)
Important notice
The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. If you are a current student you can find structure information on the previous year link at the top of the page or through your Department. Please read the important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules.
Teaching & Learning
Our teaching and learning approach is designed to support and encourage students in their own process of self-learning, and to develop their own critical grounds of the economics discipline.
Contact hours
All full-time undergraduate programmes consist of 120 credits per year, in modules of 30 or 15 credits. They are taught over 10 or 20 weeks. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which optional.
As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study (see Approaches to teaching and learning at SOAS). It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others. In the Department of Economics, most undergraduate modules have a two-hour lecture every week. Some, but not all, also have a one-hour seminar or tutorial every week.
More information is on the page for each module.
Modules
Teaching combines innovative use of audio-visual materials, practical exercises, group discussions and conventional lecturing. Modules are taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials, usually a two-hour lecture and an one-hour tutorial weekly. Tutorials are sessions in which students are expected to take lead in discussions and/or present reports or presentations or solve problem sets and applied exercises in quantitative modules. Assessment of most modules is through a combination of written examination and course works.
Learning resources
SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. The Library houses over 1.2 million volumes, together with significant archival holdings, special collections and a growing network of electronic resources.
Tuition fees
Fees for 2022/23 entrants per academic year
| Programme |
Full-Time |
UK
Students |
Overseas
Students |
|
BA, BSc, LLB
|
£9,250
|
£20,350 |
| BA/BSc Language year abroad |
£1,385 |
£10,175 |
Please note that fees go up each year.
For full details of undergraduate tuition fees, see our Registry's undergraduate tuition fees page.
Scholarships
For further details and information on external scholarships visit the Scholarships section
Employment
Economics graduates leave SOAS with a solid grounding in statistical skills and an ability to think laterally, take a global perspective, and employ critical reasoning.
Recent graduates from the Department of Economics have been hired by:
- Bain & Co
- Barclays
- Bank of America
- Cabinet Office
- Deloitte
- Ernst & Young
- NHS England
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- HSBC
- National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi
- UK Civil Service
- University of Bayreuth
- HM Treasury
- Department for International Development
- PwC
- UNDP
- King’s Investment Fund
- KPMG
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- The World Bank
- EY
- British Chamber of Commerce
- Oxfam
- RBS
Find out about our Careers Service
A Student's Perspective
What makes SOAS stand out among all the other universities in the UK (and possibly in the whole world) is its unique set of people: students and members of staff who carry within themselves an immense passion for what they are doing.
Hanna Szymborska
