Economics

Subject overview at Downing

Average places per year 5
Course duration  3 years
Standard offer A* A* A at A-Level / 42-42 IB with 776 at HL, including Maths
Course requirements Required: Maths
Preferred: Further Maths
Useful: Economics
Admission overview Submitted examples of written work: Not required
Admissions assessment: TMUA
Interview: One interview (45 mins)
UCAS code L100
Campus code  D

Why study Economics at Cambridge?

Economics is a wide-ranging discipline with practical relevance, offering a broad range of career opportunities. At its heart, it is the study of how individuals, businesses, and societies allocate scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants and needs. It provides a framework for understanding and analysing economic phenomena such as production, consumption, trade, and market behaviour. Students can also expect to study strategic interactions and decision-making, financial analysis, policy evaluation and econometrics – the branch of economics applies statistical techniques to test economic theories, evaluate policies and forecast economic variables.

Studying Economics equips students with critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical, quantitative and empirical skills. It helps develop a deep understanding of the mechanisms that drive economic systems and enables individuals to make informed decisions in their personal and professional lives. By studying Economics, students learn to analyse complex data, evaluate policy implications, and understand the interplay of factors influencing economic outcomes.

Such skills are unsurprisingly sought after by employers and an Economics degree can lead to a diverse array of career options. Recent Downing graduates in Economics have secured positions in premier graduate schemes in banking (such as JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch now known as BofA Securities), consulting (e.g. Bane and Boston Consulting Group) and professional services (e.g. Deloitte). Beyond the private sector, recent Downing graduates have gone onto work in policy-making (e.g. at the Bank of England) or to further study at world-leading universities both in the UK and abroad. Destinations include the London School of Economics, MIT, University of Pennsylvania and HEC Paris.

All teaching for subject follows the same course outline set by the Faculty/Department. See the structure of the course here.

Why Study Economics at Downing?

With about 15 students in total, Downing provides a perfectly sized, friendly and supportive community for students in Economics. There is a strong culture of students working with and supporting each other both within year groups and across the year groups. This culture is underpinned by the Mathias Economics Society, the College’s society for Economics and Land Economy, which arranges academic talks, subject-specific events such as revision workshops, and social events. The Mathias Society also organises alumni networking events, the highlight being the annual dinner, and facilitates the connection of current students with recent graduates for informal careers advice and mentoring.

The College’s Director of Studies in Economics is Dr Michael Ashby, College Associate Professor in Economics. Michael’s research interests include empirical finance (especially empirical asset pricing and portfolio construction) and time-series econometrics (especially forecasting). His teaching spans finance, macroeconomics and econometrics. Supervisions in other topics are arranged at other Colleges on an exchange basis, as is standard for all Cambridge colleges in Economics.

"Downing is a special place to teach Economics. The students are almost uniquely supportive of each other and that makes for productive and engaging interactions in the classroom. Economics as a subject is very rewarding to teach. It is a quantitative subject, so you get the satisfaction of seeing students get to grips with a problem or concept they were initially struggling with, but it is also a practical subject and students can see the connection to the wider world."

 

Dr Michael Ashby, Director of Studies

The best students in Economics have the quantitative skills to solve the theoretical models covered in the course, but also the ability to step back and explain what is going on in the model intuitively and connect it to the real economy. Therefore students need to have a good mathematical ability as well as strong reasoning skills to provide the intuition. It is important to note that we are not looking for candidates who are the “finished product” at the admissions stage – we will help students develop their knowledge and skills when they are here. We are instead looking for potential in these attributes.

In common with other subjects, the Cambridge Economics course is rigorous. Students will therefore also need a curiosity about economic phenomena, a strong desire to learn more, and the motivation to work hard at the subject.

Due to the quantitative nature of the course, A-Level/IB Higher Level Mathematics is required. IB candidates should take the Analysis and Approaches option. If it is not available at your school, please contact the Admissions Office for further guidance. For A-Level candidates, Further Mathematics is preferred, either as an AS Level or full A-Level. If Further Mathematics is not available at your school, please indicate this on the Supplementary Application Questionnaire.

Prior study in Economics (e.g. A-Level) is not required. The way Economics is taught at University is rather different to how it is taught at school and all Economics content will be taught from scratch.

For further courses and qualifications, please see Information for Current Students.

Helpful link for The Test of Mathematics for University Admission (TMUA).

At present, candidates invited to interview receive one interview, which is with the Director of Studies and one other person from the Faculty of Economics. The interview is intended to inform us of your motivation and your overall ability and potential as an Economics student.  

How can you find out more about Economics?

The best way to gain an understanding of how Economics is taught at University is to visit the HE+ subject page and work through the subject resources there. The reading list for incoming first-years will also give you a good insight into the course. Otherwise, explore your interest in Economics as you want to – you can look at the press (e.g. the Economist), blogs or online courses run by other universities. Note – these online courses may be aimed at undergraduates and may therefore be rather difficult, so treat them with some caution.