An Economics degree gives you transferable skills and knowledge which sets you up for a whole range of careers and industries.
Senior Lecturer of BSc (Hons) Economics Alan Leonard outlines what jobs you can get with an economics degree. A BSc (Hons) Economics degree will help you gain the skills, techniques, and experience needed to work as an economist or in finance and banking.
Studying economics will provide you with tools to understand how the world works. And when you understand how it works, you have the ability to change it. Choosing to study economics won’t limit you to a single job either.
You may choose to focus or broaden your studies by choosing BA (Hons) Economics and Management or BSc (Hons) Economics, Finance and Banking. But while you're thinking about which jobs you could get with an Economics degree, you may want to consider which companies you could work for.
You could work for organisations like IBM, Halifax, and Alexander McQueen in a variety of roles, including:
- Risk manager
- Statistician
- Banker
- Policy advisor
- Control analyst
- Commercial analyst
- Sales consultant
- Purchasing and acquisitions office
- Financial analyst
What skills will I develop from an economics degree?
Studying economics is like a passport to a wide range of jobs. The skills you'll learn from this degree are in high demand in the public and private sectors.
You’ll develop valuable transferable skills, including logical and critical thinking skills. While also developing strength in analysis and numeracy. You’ll grow confident working in groups and presenting complex data. While learning to problem-solve and manage your time. When you graduate you’ll be able to understand complex systems and apply them to real life scenarios.
Depending on which optional modules you choose, you could lay a good foundation for further study or accounting exams.
What is an average Economist’s salary?
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has ranked economics as the third highest paid job after Medicine and Dentistry. So if you’re thinking about what jobs you could get with an economics degree, rest assured you will earn a good wage.
The average salary for an economics graduate can increase depending on which job you choose. An economist's average salary can range from £25,000–£35,000. But with more experience, can increase to £40,000 or more.
Depending on experience, location, and sector, salaries at senior level can range from £50,000–£75,000, or higher. If you work in banking, financial services, or consulting, you can usually earn more than average.
If you choose to explore other roles your salary may be different. As a risk manager, your salary can range from £50,000–£60,000 depending on your experience. An experienced statistician can expect £44,000–£50,000, or higher if based in London. If you live outside of London as a government statistician, a typical salary starts from £26,000 (statistical officer) or £29,000 (assistant statistician).
Why is studying economics important?
You may currently be thinking about what you want to study based on how large your salary would be. But I want to hone in on why studying economics should be much more than a number on a payslip.
Economics provides important information and forecasting. This then helps to inform decisions for companies and governments. Economic issues influence everything, including our daily lives. Some of the issues you may be familiar with already are tax and inflation, interest rates, and wealth. A degree in economics can open your mind – helping you to think critically about problems that occur in these systems. You'll also learn to understand consumers and help the success of businesses.
What are UCAS points and what grades do I need to get to study an Economics degree?
Each qualification you achieve earns you UCAS tariff points. These include your A levels. To find out your points, use our UCAS points calculator. You can also visit our BSc (Hons) Economics course page to see our entry requirements.
Economics graduate: Hannah Webb
Hannah's story
Hannah graduated in 2011 with a degree in BSc (Econ) (Hons) Economics and is now an Advisor Manager at Verizon. Hannah shares her story and discusses how her degree opened up doors, helped her stand out from the crowd, and how she's applying the skills she learned during her time at Portsmouth.
Hannah: Studying economics doesn't necessarily mean that you'll end up in banking and finance.
Economics also gives you an opportunity to go into many other job functions.
So I've done sales roles, I've done technology roles, and there's also many other roles that you could get into after doing economics.
Today I am an advisor manager at Verizon. I really enjoyed my economics degree. I think it’s been really valuable in my career and actually having that analytical ability has really kind of set me apart from others.
It was a great foundation for the career that I've built and enabled me to get to where I am today.
The thing I love most about my job is the people I get to work with, both internally and externally. I get to work with people from across the world, people who have got lots of different experiences, a lot of people who are very good at what they do, and it's a great opportunity for me to learn from others and work with other businesses around the world.
Without my economics degree at the University of Portsmouth I think I'd be on a very different trajectory. I don't think I would be in the career that I'm in.
The reason I chose the University of Portsmouth was around the facilities that it provided and the courses and the options that I had. It's a great place to study, it's a great city, it's by the sea. There's lots of great people there and lots of great teachers and lecturers.
A standout moment for me from University was the friendships that I made. I graduated 11 years ago and I'm still very close to many people on the course.