We welcome applications from the United States of America

We've put together information and resources to guide your application journey as a student from the United States of America.

Overview

Top reasons to study with us

  • 9

    9th for graduate prospects: Economics

    The Guardian University Guide (2025)

  • 10

    10th for Economics

    The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2025)

  • 10

    10th for satisfaction with teaching: Economics

    The Guardian University Guide (2025)

Introduction

What makes some countries richer than others? How can we measure inequality or the impact of climate change, and what should we do about it? What makes a business successful? Are education or healthcare investments like other investments?

As a student who is comfortable and fluent in mathematics, BSc Economics provides you with the analytic skills and intellectual toolbox to help answer these pressing economics questions and many more. You will learn how to interpret data, understand (and quantify) the decisions made by individuals, organisations, and governments and evaluate economic policies.

Course overview

BSc Economics begins by introducing the foundational principles of economic theory. The BSc then provides quantitatively rigorous training in economics. Whether your goal is to use economics in the business world or reshape public policies, this course is flexible enough to allow you to pursue either.

You will cover the fundamentals of economic theory and practice, and as your degree progresses and you discover more about both the subject and yourself, you will have the opportunity to flex this degree in ways that speak to your changing interests and strengths. This might lead you to choose modules in:

  • Econometrics
  • Environmental economics and policy
  • Advanced macroeconomics
  • Experimental and behavioural economics

Amongst many other specialisations. This leads to a degree unique to you, where you have played a major part in building the degree you want.

Key facts

Your economics module choice can also be combined with modules in

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • International relations

and many more, such that you can complement your economics pathway in its own unique way. You do not need an A level in Economics to enrol in any of our degrees, although the BSc Economics does require A level Mathematics.

Throughout your degree, we’ll supply training in CV writing, interview assessment centres and telephone interviews. We are proud of our aspiring economists and aim to nurture the potential in every one of them.

This course is also available as a four-year programme with a year in industry or with a study abroad year.

Course outcomes

BSc Economics offers a grounding in the fundamentals of economics. The most powerful aspect of economics is that it teaches a way of thinking which can then be applied to a specific field. You need specific knowledge and skills if you want to be a government economist advising on tax or social/welfare costs. The same is true for a career in finance. You need specific finance models – how much to invest here or advise clients to invest there. But the mode of thinking is the same for both: it is the critical, disciplined way of thinking that you will get from an Economics degree at Lancaster University. Economics opens up the world because the critical and analytical thinking skills it inculcates apply to whatever your passion; politics, finance, the trading floor, or working for a Non-governmental organisation; all use the same skills.

Careers

Our degrees are designed to prepare you for a career in industry, business, finance, consultancy or government. Recent Economics graduates have joined banks and financial consultancies such as HSBC and Deloitte, while others have been employed on graduate schemes with major companies, including BAE and the Swire Group.

Many of our Economics students have gained places on postgraduate courses at top institutions and then pursued specialised careers as economists – for example, at the Bank of England, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and in academia.

Lancaster University is dedicated to ensuring you not only gain a highly reputable degree, you also graduate with the relevant life and work-based skills. We are unique in that every student is eligible to participate in The Lancaster Award which offers you the opportunity to complete key activities such as work experience, employability awareness, career development, campus community and social development. Visit our Employability section for full details.

The Management School has an award-winning careers team to provide a dedicated careers and placement service offering a range of innovative services for management school students. Our high reputation means we attract a wide range of leading global employers to campus offering you the opportunity to interact with graduate recruiters from day one of your degree.

Entry requirements

These are the typical grades that you will need to study this course. You may need to have qualifications in relevant subjects. In some cases we may also ask you to attend an interview or submit a portfolio. You must also meet our English language requirements.

Find more about these qualifications and others not shown here

Learn about how we will assess your application

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Contact Admissions

If you are thinking of applying to Lancaster and you would like to ask us a question, please complete our enquiry form and one of our team will get back to you.

International foundation programmes

Delivered in partnership with INTO Lancaster University, our one-year tailored foundation pathways are designed to improve your subject knowledge and English language skills to the level required by a range of Lancaster University degrees. Visit the INTO Lancaster University website for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.

Contextual admissions

Contextual admissions could help you gain a place at university if you have faced additional challenges during your education which might have impacted your results. Visit our contextual admissions page to find out about how this works and whether you could be eligible.

Course structure

Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and some which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.

Core

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Optional

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Fees and funding

Our annual tuition fee is set for a 12-month session, starting in the October of your year of study.

Our Undergraduate Tuition Fees for 2025/26 are:

Home International
£9,535 £25,450

Fees and funding information

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Scholarships and bursaries

You will be automatically considered for our main scholarships and bursaries when you apply, so there's nothing extra that you need to do.

You may be eligible for the following funding opportunities, depending on your fee status:

Scheme Based on Amount
Lancaster ScholarshipBased on Entry grades Amount £2,000 in your first year of study
Lancaster Opportunity ScholarshipBased on Contextual offer Amount £1,000 per year of study
Lancaster BursaryBased on Household income Amount £1,000 per year of study
Lancaster Global Scholarship - UndergraduateBased on Entry grades Amount £2,000 in each year of study for applicants joining Part 1 of our undergraduate programmes.

We also have other, more specialised scholarships and bursaries - such as those for students from specific countries.

Browse Lancaster University's scholarships and bursaries.

Alumni profiles

Link: click to see Zoe Watson-Field
portrait photograph of Zoe Watson-Field

Zoe Watson-Field

BSc Economics, 2022

I appreciate how the course overall helped me to develop key skills such as data analysis, communicating complex ideas, essay writing, and more. These skills are vital for the work I do today as a government economist.
Link: click to see Shacind Ananthan
portrait photograph of Shacind Ananthan

Shacind Ananthan

BSc Economics, 2022

The leading research that LUMS was involved in was a huge factor that inspired me most.

Important information

The information on this site relates primarily to 2025/2026 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.

The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.

More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.

Our Students’ Charter

We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. View our Charter and other policies.

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