Program Overview
The Economics and Mathematics BSc program at the University of Leeds is a 3-year full-time degree that equips students with a strong foundation in economics and mathematics. The program emphasizes the use of mathematics to solve economic problems, preparing graduates for careers in banking, finance, consultancy, insurance, and more. Students benefit from expert faculty, excellent facilities, and a wide range of optional modules to tailor their studies to their interests.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
This program, Economics and Mathematics BSc, is a 3-year full-time degree offered by the University of Leeds. It is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in both economics and mathematics, equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed for a successful career in a variety of fields. The program emphasizes the importance of mathematics in solving economic problems, highlighting the increasing impact of technology and big data on the global economy. It aims to provide students with an in-depth understanding of micro and macroeconomics, including core concepts like supply and demand, and to develop their skills in econometrics. The program is delivered jointly by the School of Mathematics and the Leeds University Business School, ensuring students receive a comprehensive and relevant education.
Key Features:
- Globally-renowned research: The School of Mathematics' research feeds into the course, shaping the curriculum with the latest thinking in areas like financial mathematics, economics, probability, and modern applied statistics.
- Expert faculty: Students learn from academics and researchers specializing in various mathematics and economics areas.
- Regular feedback and support: Academic staff provide regular feedback and advice throughout the degree, with small tutorial groups supporting teaching in the first year.
- Excellent facilities: Students have access to excellent facilities and computing equipment, complemented by social areas, communal problem-solving spaces, and quiet study rooms.
- Career-enhancing opportunities: Students can broaden their experience and enhance their career prospects through industrial placement opportunities or study abroad programs.
- Active student society: Students can join MathSoc, a student society where they can meet peers, enjoy social events, and participate in sports teams.
- Accreditation: The School of Mathematics at Leeds has a successful history of delivering courses accredited by the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), ensuring the program meets high quality standards.
Outline:
The program is structured into three years, with each year consisting of 120 credits. The curriculum includes both compulsory and optional modules, allowing students to tailor their studies to their interests.
Year 1:
- Compulsory Modules:
- Core Mathematics (40 credits): Introduces foundational concepts of function, number, and proof, developing skills in calculus and linear algebra.
- Probability and Statistics (20 credits): Covers key ideas in probability and statistics, with probability forming the theoretical basis for statistical tests and inference.
- Computational Mathematics and Modelling (20 credits): Introduces computational techniques, algorithms, numerical solutions, and the mathematics of discrete systems. Students learn basic programming using Python.
- Economics and Global History (10 credits): Explores the role of history in economics and its influence on economic development, providing a global perspective on economic issues.
- Economic Theory and Applications (30 credits): Introduces economic understanding of individual choice, business behavior, national-level economic systems, and government economic policy.
Year 2:
- Compulsory Modules:
- Statistical Methods (20 credits): Lays the foundations for the analysis of statistical models, using practical examples from various applications.
- Optimisation (10 credits): Develops the theory and practice of maximizing or minimizing a function of many variables, laying a foundation for more advanced topics like dynamic optimization.
- Economics Research Methods (10 credits): Explores different research methods used by social scientists and policy researchers, developing critical thinking and research skills.
- Intermediate Macroeconomics (10 credits): Discusses macroeconomic problems and the approaches macroeconomists take to address them, critically evaluating macroeconomic models and concepts.
- Intermediate Microeconomics (10 credits): Explores microeconomic problems and the approaches microeconomists take to solve them, developing insight into how mathematical modeling is used to understand consumer and producer theory.
- Optional Modules:
- Further Linear Algebra and Discrete Mathematics (20 credits): Explores vector spaces, linear transformations, and discrete mathematics.
- Vector Calculus and Partial Differential Equations (20 credits): Extends calculus to higher dimensions and introduces techniques for solving partial differential equations.
- Stochastic Processes (10 credits): Explores the key features of stochastic processes, including the Markov property and the Poisson process.
- Investigations in Mathematics (10 credits): Introduces ideas and methods of mathematical research, drawing examples from pure mathematics, applied mathematics, and statistics.
- Financial Mathematics (20 credits): Provides an introduction to diverse financial applications of mathematics, including risk management, insurance, and pricing of financial assets.
- Calculus of Variations (10 credits): Studies problems in which one wishes to find the extrema of some quantity over a system that has functional degrees of freedom.
- Rings and Polynomials (10 credits): Introduces rings and their properties, emphasizing interesting examples.
- Time Series (10 credits): Focuses on techniques for model identification, parameter estimation, diagnostic checking, and forecasting within the autoregressive moving average family of models.
- Ethics and Economics (10 credits): Explores the ethical assumptions inherent in economic concepts and their application to ethical problems and economic policy.
- Business Economics (10 credits): Focuses on firm decisions regarding worker motivation and pricing, using game theory.
- Theory of Growth, Value, and Distribution (10 credits): Provides a grounding in comparative approaches to theories of growth, value, and distribution, exploring the differing objectives of major schools of thought.
- Introduction to Health Economics (10 credits): Develops understanding of the role and application of economics in health and healthcare.
- Labour Economics (10 credits): Explores the nature of labor markets and labor market institutions.
- Industrial Economics (10 credits): Examines how different market structures generate different outcomes for firms and consumers.
- Macroeconomic Policy and Performance (10 credits): Explores competing theoretical perspectives on macroeconomic policy since the mid-1960s.
- Statistics and Econometrics (20 credits): Provides an intermediate-level understanding of mathematical statistics and an introduction to applied econometric techniques.
Year 3:
- Compulsory Modules:
- Optional Modules: Students choose optional modules within one of the following pathways:
- Mathematics:
- Mathematics-A:
- Project in Mathematics (40 credits): Students conduct independent research projects in a topic in mathematics.
- Optional Modules: Students can choose from a variety of optional modules, including Statistical Modelling, Methods of Applied Mathematics, Advanced Microeconomics, Transnational Corporations in the World Economy, Economics of Business and Corporate Strategy, and Economic Development.
- Mathematics-B:
- Project in Mathematics (40 credits): Students conduct independent research projects in a topic in mathematics.
- Optional Modules: Students can choose from a variety of optional modules, including Stochastic Calculus and Derivative Pricing, Multivariate Analysis and Classification, Numbers and Codes, Graph Theory and Combinatorics, Behavioural Economics, Advanced Macroeconomics, Environmental Economics, Applied Econometrics, Public Enterprise and Regulation, Modern Theories of Money and Monetary Policy, and Advanced Microeconomics.
- Economics:
- Economics-A:
- Economics Joint Honours Final Year Project (30 credits): Students conduct a substantial research project within the discipline of economics.
- Optional Modules: Students can choose from a variety of optional modules, including Methods of Applied Mathematics, Groups and Symmetry, Statistical Modelling, Stochastic Calculus and Derivative Pricing, Multivariate Analysis and Classification, Numbers and Codes, Graph Theory and Combinatorics, Behavioural Economics, Advanced Macroeconomics, Environmental Economics, Applied Econometrics, Public Enterprise and Regulation, Modern Theories of Money and Monetary Policy, and Advanced Microeconomics.
- Economics-B:
- Economics Joint Honours Final Year Project (30 credits): Students conduct a substantial research project within the discipline of economics.
- Optional Modules: Students can choose from a variety of optional modules, including Methods of Applied Mathematics, Groups and Symmetry, Statistical Modelling, Stochastic Calculus and Derivative Pricing, Multivariate Analysis and Classification, Numbers and Codes, Graph Theory and Combinatorics, Behavioural Economics, Advanced Macroeconomics, Environmental Economics, Applied Econometrics, Public Enterprise and Regulation, Modern Theories of Money and Monetary Policy, and Advanced Microeconomics.
Assessment:
Students are assessed through a variety of methods, including formal exams and in-course assessment. The specific assessment methods for each module are outlined in the course catalogue.
Teaching:
Students are taught through lectures, tutorials, workshops, and practical classes. They receive extensive tutorial support and have freedom in their workload and options. The University provides a variety of welcoming spaces for study and socialization, including social and group study areas, a library with a café and a seminar room, a Research Visitors Centre, and a Mathematics Active Learning Lab. Students are taught by expert academics, including lecturers, professors, industry professionals with years of experience, and trained postgraduate researchers.
Careers:
Mathematical skills are highly valued in various fields, making this program a valuable asset for students seeking a wide range of career opportunities.
Potential Career Paths:
- Banking and finance
- Asset management and investment
- Consultancy
- Insurance
- Teaching
- Central and local government
Employer Value:
The numerical, analytical, and problem-solving skills developed in this program, along with specialist subject knowledge and logical thinking abilities, are highly valued by employers. The program also helps students develop transferable skills sought by employers.
Recent Graduate Outcomes:
- Quantitative Analyst, Aldermore Bank
- Business Intelligence Engineer, Amazon
- Strategy & Portfolio Analyst, BP
- Chartered Accountant Trainee, Crowe Clark Whitehill
- Corporate Finance - Restructuring Services, Deloitte
- Audit Associate, Ernst & Young
- Credit Risk Analyst, Gazprom-energy
- Management Accountant, Goldman Sachs
- Trainee Actuary, Government Actuary's Department
- Maths Tutor, Hall Cross School
- Technology Analyst, HSBC Global Banking and Markets
- Investment Operations Associate, Partners Capital
- Associate, Business Recovery Services, PwC
- Financial Analyst, Rothschild
- Trainee Chartered Accountant, Ryecroft Glenton
- Investment Manager, Schroder's
Careers Support:
The University of Leeds provides comprehensive careers support through its Leeds for Life initiative, helping students develop and demonstrate the skills and experience needed for success after graduation. The Employability Team provides specialist support and advice, helping students find relevant work experience, internships, industrial placements, and graduate positions. Students benefit from timetabled employability sessions, support during internships and placements, presentations and workshops delivered by employers, and full access to the University's Careers Centre.
Other:
- Study Abroad and Work Placements: Students have the opportunity to enhance their skills and experience through a one-year work placement or study abroad program.
- Study Abroad: Students can choose from a selection of partner universities worldwide, spanning popular destinations like Europe, Asia, the USA, and Australasia. Successful completion of a year abroad results in the "international" variant being added to the degree title.
- Work Placements: A placement year provides students with real-world experience, helping them decide on a career path, stand out in the job market, and improve their employability. Students can choose from over 100 organizations, both in the UK and overseas. Successful completion of a placement year results in the "industrial" variant being added to the degree title.
- Related Courses: The University of Leeds offers a variety of related courses, including Actuarial Mathematics BSc, Economics BSc, Economics and Finance BSc, Financial Mathematics BSc, Mathematics BSc, and Data Science BSc.
- Rankings and Awards: The University of Leeds is ranked 82nd in the world according to the QS World University Rankings 2025.