BSc Economics with a Placement Year

Explore how economic theory can be applied to the major domestic and global issues of today – and gain valuable skills in the workplace – with our BSc Economics with Placement Year degree.

This four-year course focuses on how economic tools can be applied to different markets and situations. You will acquire the skills, knowledge and understanding that will enable you to solve the problems that are challenging policy makers and businesses all over the world. An integrated placement year gives you the opportunity to put your skills and knowledge into practice.

• We also offer a BA Economics with Placement Year degree at the University of Reading, which covers a narrower range of economic markets and social policy issues but focuses more on techniques for working with data.

Choose economics at the University of Reading

• Established for more than 50 years.
• Ranked among the top 200 universities in the world for Economics (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023).

Our BSc programme will allow you to understand what’s happening in the world and how policy makers can respond to it: how do economies grow, how can policy makers manage business cycles, is inflation a problem, how can unemployment be reduced, is a five-day week really necessary and so on. You will analyse these issues using a range of economic theories and methods including the theory of games and strategic interactions, natural and behavioural experiments.

Your degree will help you to understand the levers of policy and provide policy advice in response to economic problems.

Placement Year

You’ll undertake a year-long work placement, in an industrial setting, between your second and final year. A placement is a valuable way to develop your skills, experience the workplace, and build your network.

We have a dedicated placement coordinator who can provide advice and support in your search for a placement.

Previous students from the Department of Economics have undertaken placements with:

• Government Economic Service
• Bank of England
• NHS England
• Lloyds Bank
• Deloitte
• Disney
• Nissan
• IBM.

We also offer a three-year version of this degree, BSc Economics, which does not include an integrated placement year.

Your learning environment 

Our research in the Department of Economics has real-world applications and has informed policy decisions by governments, major multinational organisations, and agencies such as the UN and the World Bank.

At Reading, our researchers are addressing some of the key issues of the twenty-first century, such as the environmental impact of economic growth:

• Read about Dr Stefania Lovo’s research into calculating the cost of a clean environment.

Elsewhere, our innovative research into leisure and sport is providing vital economic insights:

• Dr James Reade combines his interests in sports and mathematics to understand what drives people’s economic behaviour.

The modules you’ll study throughout your degree are aligned with our research clusters, keeping you abreast of the latest developments in economics. This learning is complemented by guest speakers from outside the University.

Popular modules include:

• Economics of Labour
• Economics of Climate Change
• Public Economics
• International Economics
• Economics of Sports and Games.

As well as traditional lectures, you’ll take part in small-group tutorials, enabling you to discuss and analyse both theory and practice through case studies, group presentations and open debate. 

Supporting your learning

The Department of Economics can support your learning in a number of ways.

• Economics Surgeries offer one-to-one appointments with staff, allowing you to discuss the topics you’ve studied and gain any assistance you may require.
• Economics Conversations provide the opportunity for you to network with staff and students from across the department.

The Economics Society also arranges lectures and discussions with economists on a range of topical matters, such as the economics of health and feminism.

Study Abroad

As part of your degree, you can apply to study for a year or a term abroad at one of our partner universities in Australia, Canada, the USA, or across Europe.

Visit our Study Abroad website.