Economics

Our Economics course provides a rounded, rigorous education in economics which is valuable for a wide range of career paths. Our course provides a sound understanding of core, pure and applied economics. However, while you study economics in considerable depth in this specialised degree, you employ ideas and techniques from many other disciplines too; including history, sociology, mathematics and statistics, and politics. Therefore, our graduates are extremely well qualified for a wide range of jobs and further courses.

Course Structure

There are three parts of the Economics Tripos. In Part I (the first year) everyone takes the same five papers: microeconomics, macroeconomics, quantitative methods in economics (basically maths and statistics), sociology and politics, and British economic history since 1750. In Part IIA (the second year) you must take papers in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics, and you choose one (or exceptionally two) papers from the following: mathematics, sociology, economic development and labour economics. In Part IIB (the third year) you take papers in microeconomics and macroeconomics, choose two further papers from a long list of optional papers, and write a dissertation.

Teaching is divided between the Faculty and the College. Lectures, normally given in the morning, are provided by the Faculty. Students attend lectures with Economics students from all the Cambridge Colleges so numbers attending lectures often exceed 150. Supervisions, normally in groups of three to four students, are provided by the College and give students the opportunity to discuss topics with experts in the field. You are normally expected to submit written work in advance of each supervision. There are two or three supervisions a week, so the pace is tough!

Economics at Cambridge

Undergraduate students and staff talk about studying Economics at the University of Cambridge. To find out more about this course, see www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this video is accurate at the time it was uploaded, changes are likely to occur. It is therefore very important that you check the University and College websites for any updates before you apply for the course by visiting…

Economics at King's

King's College has a long tradition in Economics. It has been the home of many great economists, such as Richard Kahn, Nicholas Kaldor, John Maynard Keynes, Arthur Cecil Pigou, Joan Robinson, Richard Stone and Oliver Hart - the latter two of whom have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Among Cambridge Colleges, King's currently has one of the largest number of Economics Fellows who also teach and research in the University Faculty of Economics. They make up a vibrant, international and diverse group, with a variety of research interests such as macroeconomic and microeconomic theory, labour economics, game theory, market design and macroeconomic history. King's also has a large and friendly group of undergraduate and postgraduate students in Economics, who come from a wide range of backgrounds and receive careful support from the Fellows in College.

Fellows at King's in Economics:

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DrElisaFaraglia
Ordinary Fellow

Macroeconomics and macroeconomic theory; fiscal policy; debt management; monetary economics; economics of labour.

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ProfessorChryssiGiannitsarou
Professorial Fellow

Macroeconomic dynamics; fiscal policy; growth and human capital; adaptive learning; networks in macroeconomics; asset pricing.

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ProfessorHamidSabourian
Professorial Fellow

Economic theory; game theory; bargaining; bounded rationality and complexity; mechanism design; social learning; herd behaviour.

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DrKamiarMohaddes
Ordinary Fellow, Tutor for Judge Business School Students and BME Tutor for Graduates

Macroeconomics; Global and National Macroeconometric Modelling; Energy Economics; Climate Change.

robert-rowthorn
ProfessorRobertRowthorn
Life Fellow

Economic growth; employment and inequality; economics of the family; demography; epidemiology; evolutionary psychology.

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DrPaulRyan
Life Fellow

Political economy of human resources; competition and price formation in training markets; collective bargaining and pay structures.

Dr Aytek Edil
ProfessorAytekErdil
Professorial Fellow

Microeconomic theory and market design; strategy-proof assignment mechanisms; two-sided matching

DrSedaBasihos
Research Fellow

Applying for Economics at King's

The numbers admitted in Economics vary from year to year, but we rarely admit fewer than seven or more than ten undergraduates. We welcome candidates from all over the world.

Subject Requirements

Minimum offer level

A level: A*A*A

IB: 41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level

Subject requirements

To apply to any of our Colleges for Economics, you will need A levels/IB Higher Levels (or the equivalent) in:

  • Maths

If you’re studying IB, we ask for Analysis and Approaches for this course. If this isn’t an option at your school, please contact the College you wish to apply to for advice.

We will  usually require you to achieve an A*/7 in Mathematics and/or Further Mathematics.

 

Further Mathematics A level

  • A Level Further Mathematics is very strongly encouraged. If unavailable or you’ve recognised its desirability too late, we’d advise you to do as much additional maths as possible, eg by studying advanced material or Further Mathematics AS Level.

Written Assessments

Applicants for Economics will need to take a pre-registration required written assessment at an authorised test centre local to them. This assessment will be the Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA). You must be registered in advance to take the assessment. You must register yourself, your school cannot do this for you. 

Your performance in the written assessment will not be considered in isolation, but will be taken into account alongside the other elements of your application.

All applicants for courses with pre-registered assessment must be registered in advance. Late registration will not be possible and may result in the application being invalid. Students self-register for the test – their school cannot do this for them. Please make contact with your nearest test centre as soon as possible. 

Applicants applying in the 2024 application round for entry in 2025/26 will have to take the TMUA (Test of Mathematics for University Admission) for Economics. 

Written Work

Applicants for Economics are not required to submit any written work.

Interviews

If you are selected for interview, you will be asked to arrive or log in 30 mins before your interview. You will be given some reading material and you should then use the preparation time before the interview to read and think about the reading material provided. This is usually a recent article from a newspaper or a magazine. You may make notes if you wish to.  During the interview, we will discuss the reading you were given. We will also ask you to solve some simple mathematical problems during the interview. Our Directors of Studies for Economics have provided two examples of such problems in the download tab below.

Offers

We make offers after review of a full application and we send decisions by email in late January. All our offers take contextual factors into consideration, and formal entry requirements can only ever be seen as a guide, because every offer is made in light of a consideration of contextual factors. If you wish to defer your place, please make this clear in your original application. We are unlikely to accept requests to defer for more than one year for the Economics course. 

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Thinking of applying to Cambridge? See here for details of how to apply, and why King's might be the right College for you.
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Whether you're studying A-Level, the IB, or any other qualification, find out what our standard requirements are here.
assessments
Find out about how to register for your written assessment and see specimen papers from previous years.
sending_written_work
Candidates for some subjects are required to submit written work as part of the application process - see more here.

Student Perspectives

Will and Sophia have written about their experiences of studying Economics, including what attracted them to the course, the transition from school, supervisions and lectures, balancing the workload with extra-curricular activities, and the community at King's. Their accounts are well worth reading to get a sense of what studying Economics at King's is really like.

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Will is from Lewisham and studied Economics here at King's from 2013-16. He took A-levels in Maths, Further Maths, Economics and History.
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Sophia is from Singapore. She studied for A Levels, and is studying Economics from 2021-2024.

Reading, Resources and Events

There are no particular books which Economics applicants are required to read, but the Faculty provides reading advice and suggestions. As opposed to various myths widely circulated on the internet, we are not aiming to surprise you or catch you off guard in our admissions interviews. To help you have a sense of the sort of questions you might expect in an interview at King's, the Directors of Studies have provided some sample mathematical and analytical questions (see the Download tab above).

Your school work in Mathematics is essential preparation for the Cambridge Economics course. If you are studying in a different qualification system and would like to consult an A-level textbook, we suggest L. Bostock and S. Chandler (2013) Core Maths for Advanced Level, 3rd edition. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. If your school does not offer Further Maths, you may be able to get support through the Further Mathematics support network (see the flowchart below). There are also Maths extension resources on the NRICH website :see particularly Maths for Economics, the explanation of 'rich' tasks, and curriculum links.

Events which may be of interest in the year before you apply (year 12 in the UK) include Oxford and Cambridge Student Conferences, CU Masterclasses and King's Open Days. UK Students from backgrounds where there is little tradition of entry to Higher Education might like to think about applying for the Sutton Trust Summer Schools or the CUSU Shadowing Scheme.

State school and black students are under-represented among economics undergraduates and fewer than 30% of economics students are women. The lack of diversity among economics students is a problem because economists – who occupy key policy roles in government departments and the Bank of England – need to reflect the society that they are helping to shape. By not studying economics, these students also miss out on a degree that leads to high-paid and rewarding future careers. Discover economics is a campaign to increase diversity in economics. Find out more about how they do this in the links below. 

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Preparatory reading for applicants who have already been given an offer, or prospective students thinking of applying.
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Find out more about our Open Days, visiting King's at other times and informal meetings with our Admissions team, or take the virtual tour!

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