MSc Economics
- MSc
Overview
Suitable for graduates in economics or a highly quantitative discipline, this intensive one-year programme offers advanced training in economics and will equip you with the required skills for a career as an economist. Opting for MSc Economics will place you in high demand across both the private and public sectors, opening doors to roles in a wide range of fields.
The programme offers specialist pathways that allow you to focus on economics, economic policy or macroeconomics, tailoring your study to your academic interests and future career plans. Each pathway combines core and specialised units, helping you build depth of knowledge and a coherent set of skills in your chosen area.
You will join an international, forward-thinking and collaborative academic community committed to helping students reach their full potential. Our postgraduate student reviews reflect this, with 96% of our Economics students reporting overall satisfaction with their course and educational experience (PTES 2026).
Bristol is a top 5 UK university for research (REF 2021), and the programme is informed by current economics research with direct relevance for policy and practice. We are home to the Economics Network, which improves the teaching and learning of economics in universities throughout the UK and Europe, and the Economics Observatory, which helps the public understand the most pressing economic issues we face today.
Programme structure
Our programmes are cutting-edge and exciting, and you will be taught by leading academics who are tackling real problems and influencing economic policy worldwide.
You will study compulsory units in the first term and choose from a selection of optional units in the second term. In the final term, you will complete a dissertation, applying the skills and perspectives developed throughout the programme to a project devised in consultation with a supervisor.
There are three available exit degrees, depending on the combination of units you choose:
- MSc Economics
- MSc Economics (Macroeconomics)
- MSc Economics (Economic Policy).
Visit our programme catalogue for full details of the structure and unit content for our MSc in Economics.
Entry requirements
- Accounting and Finance
- Actuarial Sciences
- Computer Science
- Data Science
- Economics
- Engineering
- Finance
- International Economics and Trade
- Maths
- Physics
- Commerce (with specialism in Accounting/Finance/A and F/Economics).
OR
if your degree subject is not listed above, you will typically need an upper second-class honours degree or an international equivalent with three different units of mathematics with 60% or above (or an international equivalent) in each unit, from the units listed in the Maths qualification requirements list below
OR
A-level Mathematics with grade A if no mathematics or quantitative units in your degree.
If you are currently completing a degree, we understand that your final grade may be higher than the interim grades or module/unit grades you have achieved during your studies to date.
We will consider your application if your interim grades are currently slightly lower than the programme's entry requirements and may make you an aspirational offer. This offer would be at the standard level, so you would need to achieve the standard entry requirements by the end of your degree. Specific module requirements would still apply.
We will also consider your application if your final overall achieved grade is slightly lower than the programme's entry requirement.
- five years relevant work experience related to data analysis, economics modelling, data informed policymaking e.g. a relevant civil service role
- a relevant postgraduate qualification. Specific module requirements would still apply, which can be met in either undergraduate or postgraduate qualifications.
See international equivalent qualifications on the International Office website.
Read the programme admissions statement for important information on entry requirements, the application process and supporting documents required.
If English is not your first language, you will need to reach the requirements outlined in our profile level B.
Further information about English language requirements and profile levels.
- Accounting ('principles of', 'fundamentals' or 'intermediate')
- Advanced Maths
- Algebra
- Analysis
- Analytical Chemistry
- Auditing
- Banking
- Bayesian Modelling
- Business Analytics
- Business Economics
- Business Maths
- Business Statistics
- Calculus
- Complex Functions/Systems
- Computational Methods (including in the social sciences and research)
- Computer Science (including programming, algorithms and physical computing)
- Corporate Finance
- Cost Accounting/Analysis/Management
- Data Analytics
- Data Mining
- Data Science
- Decision Analysis and Simulation
- Decision Maths
- Decision Science
- Derivatives
- Differential Equations (including Ordinary Differential Equations)
- Discrete Maths
- Econometrics (including 'introductory', 'foundations of' and 'advanced')
- Economics
- Electrical Engineering
- Electricity Magnetism
- Electronic Engineering
- Engineering (including materials and structural)
- Equilibrium
- Experiment (including experimental design, experimental studies, experimental research and control trials)
- Finance ('principles of', 'fundamentals' or 'intermediate')
- Financial Analysis
- Financial Markets
- Financial Maths
- Financial Modelling
- Financial Reporting
- Financial Statement Analysis
- Forecasting
- Game Theory
- Geometry
- Geotechnical
- Information Theory
- Investment Analysis
- Kinematics
- Kinetics
- Linear Algebra
- Linear Programming
- Logistics Management
- Machine Learning
- Macroeconomics/Microeconomics (also called Economics III/IV)
- Management Science
- Mathematical Programming
- Maths
- Maths for Business
- Mechanics (any type)
- Mechatronics
- Method
- Modelling
- Multi Variate Analysis
- Network Science
- Number Theory
- Operational Research
- Optimisation
- Physics (any type)
- Portfolio Management
- Probability (including stochastic models/methods)
- Programming
- Proof (including introduction to proof)
- Pure Maths
- Qualitative Research Methods/Techniques
- Quantum Computing
- Quantum Mechanics
- Research Methods
- Robotics
- Simulation
- Social Network Analysis
- Statement Analysis
- Statistical Analysis/Methods
- Statistics
- Supply Chain Management
- System Dynamics
- Taxation
- Thermodynamics
- Time Series Analysis
Introductory maths does not count towards maths unit requirements.
Fees and funding
- Home: full-time
- £17,200 per year
- Overseas: full-time
- £30,500 per year
Fees are subject to an annual review. For programmes that last longer than one year, please budget for up to an 8% increase in fees each year.
More about tuition fees, living costs and financial support.
Alumni discount
University of Bristol students and graduates can benefit from a 25% reduction in tuition fees for postgraduate study. Check your eligibility for an alumni discount.
Funding and scholarships
Further information on funding for prospective UK and international postgraduate students.
Career prospects
Our graduates possess the skills and knowledge to pursue a professional career path in industry, government, international institutions, central banking, non-profit organisations and consultancy firms.
Recent graduate destinations include the Bank of England, Hargreaves Lansdown, the Agricultural Bank of China, KPMG, Barclays, the UK Department of Health and Social Care, the Reserve Bank of India, PwC, HM Revenue and Customs, and RAND.
Bristol is 57th in the world and a UK top 10 university (QS World University Rankings 2027), and Bristol graduates are in high demand. The University was ranked seventh in the UK for employability in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022.
We offer a broad range of support and links to partner organisations, helping you prepare for an exciting future career - whether in the UK or overseas. You will have access to our Careers Service and Professional Liaison Network, which provide professional mentoring, networking events and business advice.
Contact us
- Contact
- Enquiries Team
- Phone
- +44 (0) 117 394 1649
- choosebristol-pg@bristol.ac.uk
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