Program Overview

---

Economics BA (International Honours) 2025 entry

The BA (International Honours) in Economics provides a sound understanding of economics and insight into social issues and problems ranging from the most important and pressing that face the planet today, to everyday phenomena which are central to the way society is organised.

Overview

The BA (International Honours) is a joint degree delivered by both the University of St Andrews and the College of William & Mary in Virginia, USA. This joint degree allows you to spend two years at each institution.

Start Date and Duration

• Start date: September 2025
• End date: September 2029
• Duration: Four years full time
• School: Business School

Entry Requirements

The University offers different entry requirements, depending on your background. Find out more about Standard and Minimum entry requirements using academic entry explained and see which entry requirements you need to look at using the entry requirements indicator.

SQA Highers

• Standard entry grades: AAAAB
• Minimum entry grades: AABB

GCE A-Levels

• Standard entry grades: AAA
• Minimum entry grades: ABB

IB points

• Standard entry grades: 38 (HL 6,6,6)
• Minimum entry grades: 36 (HL 6,5,5)

General Entry Requirements

All applicants must have attained the following qualifications, or equivalent, in addition to the specific entry requirements for individual programmes.

• SQA National 5 (B) in English and one SQA National 5 (B) from the following:
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing science
  • Geography
  • Applications of Mathematics
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology
• GCSE (5) in English language or English literature, and one GCSE (5) from the following:
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing Science
  • Geography
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology

Other Qualifications

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry on to our programmes. Please see our entry requirements for more information.

Course Details

The BA (International Honours) in Economics is a four-year course run jointly by the University of St Andrews Business School and the Department of Economics at the College of William & Mary.

What You Will Study

If you study a BA (International Honours) in Economics, you will learn to reduce complicated problems to their important components, formulate solutions, and apply up-to-date theoretical ideas as a framework for understanding the real world.

Modules

Students studying the Economics BA (International Honours) will take the required modules at both institutions in their first and second years.

• First year
• Second year
• Honours

At St Andrews, the compulsory modules in first year are:

• Macroeconomics: introduces the study of economics at the national and global level.
• Microeconomics: explores the basics of the market system and consumer and producer behaviour.

At St Andrews, the compulsory modules in second year are:

• Intermediate Microeconomics: deepens the general understanding of microeconomics gained in first year.
• Intermediate Macroeconomics: explores theories of the determinants of long-run economic growth and theories of the causes of short-run “business-cycle” fluctuations.
• Statistics for Economists: introduces statistical methods and regression analysis.
• Mathematics for Economists: covers calculus and algebra to provide indispensable mathematical tools for modern economists.

Here is a sample of Honours modules which have been offered at St Andrews in recent years:

• Behavioural Economics: Individual Decisions and Welfare
• Development Economics
• Economic Fluctuations
• Economics of the Environment
• European Macroeconomics
• Game Theory
• Health Economics
• Incentives, Contracts and Markets
• Innovation Economics
• International Trade
• Mathematical Economics
• Public Economics
• Topics in Economic History

Teaching

Teaching Format

At St Andrews, first and second year modules generally involve a series of lectures (100 to 350 students), laboratories and small-group tutorials (15 to 20 students) designed to facilitate effective interaction.

In third or fourth year, modules are taught through lectures (10 to 140 students) and smaller group tutorials (10 to 20 students). Students typically attend seven to eight lectures and one to two tutorials or labs a week.

Assessment

Modules in economics at St Andrews are assessed by a combination of graded work and examinations. Almost all of the modules are assessed by at least 50% written exams with the balance of assessment made up by coursework.

Coursework takes the form of essays, along with other kinds of assessed work including oral presentations and group projects.

Examinations at St Andrews are held at the end of each semester during a dedicated exam diet with revision time provided beforehand.

Fees

Find out about fees, living costs, scholarships and funding.

Careers

Students on the Economics BA (International Honours) will gain a highly marketable set of skills, including thinking analytically, critically and strategically. The course also provides international experience which will make students more competitive in a globalised job market.

Popular career destinations among recent graduates include:

• economic consulting
• management consulting
• accountancy
• business intelligence analysis
• broadcasting and journalism
• risk management
• research analysis
• financial services analysis
• stockbroking

You will find St Andrews economics graduates at renowned financial institutions such as:

• Accenture
• Barclays Capital
• Citibank
• Ernst & Young
• JP Morgan
• PricewaterhouseCoopers

The Careers Centre offers one-to-one advice to all students as well as a programme of events to assist students to build their employability skills.