Economics at Warwick

Open Day May 9th 2009

Dennis LeechProfessor of Economics

Economics at Warwick

• The department• Research • Teaching and learning• Our degree courses• Careers• Some notable economics graduates• Applying for a place

Economics department• Academic Staff

– Professors 28– Associate Prof (SL/Reader) 11– Assistant Prof (Lecturer) 11

• Graduate Students– Doctoral (research) ~60– Masters (taught) ~80

• Undergraduates ~600

High quality research

• Research Assessment Exercise 2008 (official rating): ranked in the top five• Third equal with Oxford and Essex • LSE and UCL ranked first and second• 40% of research assessed rated as 4* (‘world leading’)• 95% either 4* or 3* (‘internationally excellent’) – equal

first place

Why research matters for students

• Research income brings cash for more academic staff & research students– Subsidises our teaching

• More resources for learning– Better campus, library, computers…..

• Better academic staff, more of them• Better class tutors, etc• Teaching more authoritative

High quality teaching

QAA 2002 Teaching Quality Assessment: top marks (24/24)

Our degree courses

• Economics department based– Economics

– Econ, Politics & International Studies (EPAIS)

– Industrial Economics

– Economics and Economic History

Other degrees

– Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE)

– Maths, OR, Stats & Econ (MORSE)

– Maths and Economics

BSc Economics course• A specialised programme

– Aims to make you think like an economist– Mainstream economic principles & skills– Also transferable skills

• Flexibility is limited– Only a little each year that’s not economics

• no more than 25% of load can be non-economic• E.g. finance, maths, a language, …..

• But: possibility of a year of study abroad

Teaching

• We teach from first principles– A-level Economics is not required

• We use a lot of maths– Geometry, algebra, calculus– You have to work hard to keep up

• But support is available– Staff are generally accessible

The course structure• Year 1: Foundations (5 modules)

– Micro, Macro, Quant Tech, Econ History – 1 Option: Language, Politics, History, WBS …..

• Year 2: Core (4 modules)– Micro, Macro, Econometrics – 1 Option: Industrial, Public,…, Language, WBS

• Year 3: Specialisation (4 modules)– Research Project – 3 Options: Labour, Econometrics, Development,

…

Year of study abroad• After second year (making 4 year degree)• Good partner institutions

– EU • Amsterdam , Madrid , Munich, Paris, Barcelona,

Milan, Lille, Antwerp – USA

• California

• Complements regular Warwick studies• Some help with fees and expenses• Numbers limited therefore selective

Employment by sector

Some distinguished alumni• Cabinet Secretary: Sir Gus O’Donnell • Chief Economist, BOE: Spencer Dale• Professors: 2 @ Harvard; many other leading

academics at UK universities• Christian Wolmar, Writer, transport policy• Liam Halligan, economics journalist• Steve Heighway, Liverpool footballer

Entry requirements• Conditional offers only to students

expected to get straight A’s• Typical or standard offer

– AAA at A2 (incl Maths*) plus a B at AS level[*Statistics modules recommended]

• A personal statement showing interest in and intelligent engagement with economics

• We are happy to defer entry

Our degrees are popular

Student numbers for Economics degrees 2009/10

Home/EU Overseas

Places 130 110

Applications 2466 1282 (so far)

Apply if…• You are expected to get straight A’s at A

level• You have a real interest in how the

economy works• You’re sure you want a specialised

degree• You are comfortable with algebra• You are prepared to be challenged

Economics at Warwick

Questions