Economics

Economics at the University of Bristol is taught in a technically rigorous way that reflects the discipline's increasing reliance on quantitative methods and its ambition to generate genuine understanding of how economies work rather than just describing them. The programme makes econometrics, the application of statistical methods to data to estimate economic models, a central component, reflecting the reality that modern economics is as much an empirical as a theoretical discipline. This orientation means graduates leave not just with economic theory but with the quantitative skills to test that theory against real-world evidence.

This three-year, full-time degree develops your understanding of microeconomic and macroeconomic theory alongside a rigorous training in the mathematical and statistical methods that economists use. Bristol's economics department has a strong research reputation, and the teaching reflects genuine depth in the discipline rather than a survey of its surface. You will engage with both the formal models that economists build and the empirical literature that tests and revises those models, developing the kind of critical engagement with the discipline that research-led teaching makes possible.

Graduates from economics at Bristol are well placed for careers in financial services, economic consulting, government economic analysis, data science, and management consulting. The quantitative and analytical skills you develop are valued wherever rigorous evidence-based reasoning is needed, and Bristol's reputation strengthens your position in competitive graduate markets. Many graduates also go on to postgraduate study in economics, finance, public policy, or data science, deepening their expertise for research or specialist professional careers.