Economics and Finance

Economics and finance together offer one of the most powerful analytical combinations available to undergraduates. Economics provides the theoretical and empirical tools to understand how markets, firms, governments and households make decisions and interact, from the behaviour of individual consumers to the dynamics of global trade and financial crises. Finance builds on those foundations to examine how capital is raised, allocated, priced and managed, and how financial institutions and instruments function in the real world.

Studied together, the two disciplines give you a coherent and rigorous framework for understanding the economic forces that shape daily life and long-term policy alike.

At the University of York this three-year full-time programme places macroeconomics, microeconomics and econometrics at its core, giving you a genuinely analytical education rather than a purely descriptive one. You will learn to construct and evaluate economic arguments, to work with data and quantitative methods, and to apply economic reasoning to real-world questions at every scale, from the individual to the global. The programme offers a sandwich year, allowing you to gain substantial professional experience before your final year, and the option to study abroad broadens your perspective on international economic and financial systems.

Work placement opportunities throughout the programme mean you can develop professional skills and networks alongside your academic study.

Econometrics is central to the York approach, and the analytical and quantitative skills you develop are among the most valued in the graduate labour market. The ability to reason carefully with data, to identify causal relationships, and to communicate findings clearly is relevant across an unusually wide range of careers.

Graduates typically enter financial services, investment banking, economic consultancy, public policy, central banking, asset management and data analysis. Many pursue postgraduate study in economics, finance, financial economics or related quantitative disciplines. The combination of rigorous academic training and professional experience from the sandwich year makes graduates well prepared for competitive graduate programmes and further study alike.