Economics/Theology & Religious Studies

Economics and theology with religious studies might seem an unusual pairing, but they address overlapping questions about the most fundamental aspects of human social life: how resources, wealth, and wellbeing are distributed, and what values, beliefs, and communities give meaning to human existence. Theology and religious studies examines religion, the Bible, and the theological traditions of Christianity and other faiths not as worlds apart from everyday life but as forces that have shaped politics, history, literature, philosophy, art, and culture, as well as personal belief and practice. Economics provides the rigorous analytical framework for understanding how markets, incentives, and institutions produce the material conditions in which those beliefs and communities exist.

At the University of Glasgow, this four-year full-time degree allows you to develop genuine depth in both disciplines, studying them in dialogue and developing the analytical and interpretive skills that each offers. Glasgow has strong departments in both economics and theology, and the combination is genuinely enriching: economists gain a framework for understanding the moral and social embeddedness of economic behaviour, while theologians gain an analytical rigour about the material conditions that shape religious and social life. A year abroad is built into the programme, broadening both your academic and personal horizons.

The typical entry tariff is 232 points.

Graduates from this combination bring an unusual breadth of analytical skill and cultural literacy to the labour market. Many work in international organisations, development agencies, faith-based NGOs, and organisations working at the intersection of economics, ethics, and social justice. Others pursue careers in policy, research, journalism, education, ministry, and the civil service, where the ability to engage with both economic reasoning and questions of value and meaning is a genuine asset.

Postgraduate study in economics, theology, development studies, or ethics is a natural next step.