Economics

• Why study Economics at Christ's?
• Course content and structure
• Teaching
• What do our students think?
• How to apply
  • Subject requirements: what do you need?
  • TMUA (Test of Mathematics for University Admission)
  • Interviews
  • Offers
• Helpful resources
• Open Days and Online Events
• Want to know more?

Why study Economics at Christ's?

As well as top-class teaching, you’ll find a friendly student community of around 20 undergraduates and 10 graduates in Economics each year. This makes it easy to get to know everyone, especially as we host regular lunches, dinners and drinks during the year. Our students tend to work together – a key factor in their exam success and satisfaction with Cambridge – so many keep in touch after graduation and return for social events.

Christ's has been an intellectual home to many successful Economics scholars, including Nobel Prize laureate James Meade (1907-1995). Amongst other events, our bi-annual Meade Lectures in Economics bring world-leading economists to Christ's, and students often have the opportunity to enjoy an informal lunch with the speakers.

We are lucky to have students from all over the world: alongside British nationals our current group of Economists includes students from Australia, China, Finland, Germany, Russia, Singapore and Spain. Our students' performance in economics has been consistently outstanding. Over the last ten years Christ's students have achieved on average the highest scores for economics across the University.

Some of our graduates move on to further study at top universities across the globe, including, most recently, the LSE, Stanford and Yale. Many join management consultancies (Goldman Sachs, UBS, KPMG Strategy&, Bane) investment banks (Deutsche bank, Goldman Sachs, Macquarie) and economics consultancies (RBB, Frontier Economics). A number of students go on to work in governments, central banks and international organisations.

Course content and structure

The Economics course (or ‘tripos’) is a three-year degree. From second year on you can study particular areas in greater depth, and in the final year you write a dissertation on your chosen topic.

Please visit the University website for full details of the Economics course content and structure. including the course film. You will also find information on the Faculty of Economics page for prospective applicants. If you have any further questions about the course content, please contact ugadmit@econ.cam.ac.uk.
 

Teaching

Teaching in Economics at Christ's is traditionally very strong and maintained by our academic economists:

• Professor Sanjeev Goyal, FBA, Social and economic networks.
• Dr William Peterson, Applied econometrics, macroeconomic modelling, input output analysis and energy economics
• Mr Alexandru Savu, Political Economics, Development Economics
• Dr Julia Shvets (Director of Studies) Applied microeconomist

As well as lectures organised by the University, you have weekly ‘supervisions’ at the College arranged by Director of Studies Dr Julia Shvets. These small-group tutorial sessions give you the advantage of personally-tailored tuition and guidance. 
 

What do our students think?

Read about the experiences of Olivia, Martin, Sanchit and Luke who recently studied Economics at Christ’s.

If you’d like to hear from other Christ's students, please watch the Christ's student Q&A film, and visit our Student Profiles page.

How to apply

Visit How to Apply for full details and a timeline of the application process. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and school types, all over the world. If you're applying from outside the UK, please read our international students section.

Subject Requirements

Economists have found that mathematical modelling provides a useful tool in analysing trade-offs faced by individuals and societies. It allows us to precisely articulate the assumptions we make about people's behaviour, and to test our hypotheses on data. Hence, the central requirement for admission to Cambridge's Economics programme is fluency in basic mathematical and statistical methods. At Christ's we will require an A* in A-level Mathematics, a Grade 7 in IB Higher Level Mathematics (Analysis and Approaches), or an equivalent performance in other Mathematics qualifications.

In addition, if you are taking A-levels (except Singapore A levels), we require you to take Further Mathematics. If your school doesn't offer Further Mathematics, you may be able to get support from the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme to take this. A number of our international candidates (from countries where you study a wide range of subjects at school in the final two years) take part in Mathematics competitions as a way to focus on extending mathematical knowledge and ability, IB students are welcome with Higher Level Mathematics Analysis and Approaches (see the maths note on our IB page) and applicants from Scotland should see this page.

We do not require candidates to have studied Economics at school. However, applicants should have a vivid interest in Economics as a discipline and the questions it poses about individuals, organizations and societies. 

We encourage students to attend one of our regular Subject Matters webinars for help with choosing Post-16 subjects for competitive university applications. This webinar is pitched for students aged 14-16 though it is also possible to attend when you have started sixth form. 

Alongside A-level and International Baccalaureate students, we welcome applications from students enrolled in other programmes. In recent years, we have admitted a number of people who studied for the German Abitur, Singapore A levels, and other international qualifications, and we have dedicated sections for applicants from Scotland and international applicants.

If you have any concerns about the subject requirements for Economics in relation to your school subjects, it would also be a good idea to read Exploring courses: Economics.
 

TMUA (registration required)

All applicants for Economics at Cambridge must sit a computer-based assessment called the Test of Mathematics for University Admissions (TMUA). This is the same at all Cambridge Colleges. 

You take the TMUA in person at a Pearson Vue Test Centre. There are test centres in countries all over the world. Please read the TMUA summary and then look at the ESAT-TMUA website for full details, including preparation information, how to register and book your test, and details for UK applicants in financial need and students who have access requirements for a disability.

There is no set score that we are looking for and we don't expect you to get every question right. The TMUA forms part of our holistic admissions process, which means that we will look at your scores in the context of your whole application.

Interviews

If we select you for interview, these take place in early December. At Christ's we do all of our interviews online. You can have your interviews either at home (most applicants do this) or at school (if easier).

Those selected for interview are interviewed for 35-50 minutes in total. At Christ's we normally divide this time into two interviews. The aim of the interviews is to try to determine each applicant's potential to benefit from the Economics Tripos. The interviews have no fixed format but typically one of them includes working through some applied quantitative problems and the other involves reading a short article and discussing it. Further, more general information about interviews (including two useful films) is available in the Cambridge interviews section, and it's worth also having a look at supervisions (short film here), as interviews are similar to what you do every week as a Cambridge student.

Offers

You need to be academically ambitious. We define the terms of each offer individually, but a typical offer for Economics is

• A*A*A at A-level, including A* in Mathematics
• 42 points overall in the International Baccalaureate with 7,7,6 in relevant Higher Level subjects, including 7 in Higher Level Mathematics (Analysis and Approaches)
• A1, A1, A2 in three relevant Scottish Advanced Highers, including A1 in Mathematics (See the Economics from Scotland page in our Applying from Scotland section)

You need to be academically ambitious: the majority of Christ's students arrive with higher grades than are required.

If you're taking another qualification, we expect you to be working at or close to the top of the mark range i.e.

• Baccalauréat français international (BFI): 17 (mention très bien) out of 20 overall, with a minimum of 17 in relevant subjects including Mathematics
• European Baccalaureate: at least 85% overall, with 9/10 in relevant subjects including Mathematics

You can look up other qualifications in the offer levels for other exam systems and international entry requirements, and if you are applying from outside the UK please read the Christ's international students section for further information and check the country pages.

If you will have finished school when you apply, please also read about post-qualification applications, taking a gap year, and, if relevant, mature students or  applying from a university.

Helpful Resources

When we assess your application, it will be impressive if, as well as doing well at school, you are developing your relevant skills (e.g. maths) and interest in Economics further by going beyond your school curriculum. Here are a few resources and suggestions which may be helpful, and we recommend that you explain how you have developed your skills and interest in the subject in your UCAS personal statement. 

Open Days and Online Events

Online events: Our open days and events page advertises online opportunities as well as events in Cambridge, and includes College Open Days where you can talk to staff and current students about the course, our regular webinars and Student-led College tours. As part of our outreach programme, we also run an annual Women in Economics Taster Series for prospective Economics students who attend a state school (eligibility criteria apply).

Subject-specific opportunities you might wish to consider include Economics events in the Cambridge Festival, Subject Masterclasses organised by Cambridge Admissions Office, and Economics-specific talks in the July Cambridge Open Days.

If you are a UK student from a background where there is little tradition of entry to Higher Education, you can apply to attend a Sutton Trust Summer School in Economics or to shadow a current Economics undergraduate via the Cambridge SU Shadowing Scheme (do be aware that there's a high proportion of applicants to places for both of these last two opportunities, so please don't be discouraged if you are not given a place).
 

Want to know more?

For a fuller picture of what the course involves, take a look at Undergraduate Economics admissions on the University website and read the Faculty of Economics information for prospective students too.

If you have any queries, please send them to admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk and we’ll help however we can.

Undergraduate Admissions / Subject list / How to apply / Why Christ's? / Women in Economics Taster Series