why do you want to study economics personal statement

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why do you want to study economics personal statement

What is an economics personal statement?

An economics personal statement should describe your motivations for wanting to study this subject. It tells the university who you are and why you will make a great economics candidate. Whether you're applying for an undergraduate or postgraduate course, it's crucial you present yourself in the best possible light to convince admissions tutors you will be a valuable asset to their department.

Your economics personal statement will be used by universities to decide whether you are a good student to study economics, and whether they want to offer you a place on their course.

How do I write an economics personal statement?

We recommend you start your economics personal statement by jotting down some ideas about your skills, experience, hobbies/extracurricular activities, strengths and ambitions for the future. Our personal statement template can help you structure your thoughts into coherent and concise paragraphs.

Start early and give yourself plenty of time to re-draft your economics statement, and proofread it for spelling and grammar. You will need to go through at least three or four revisions before you have a final, polished draft.

Once you're happy with it, make sure you check it for spelling and grammar (don't just rely on Spellchecker for this). Get someone else to read through it if you're worried you might miss something. You can then think about pasting it into your UCAS form, ready to send off.

What should I include in my economics personal statement?

Be specific and try to give examples of your problem-solving and analytical skills, both of which are important in an economics degree.
If you’re applying for a joint honours, e.g. economics and maths , then tailor your statement so you relate it to both of these subjects.
A business management and economics personal statement might mention a role of responsibility, such as leader of your student debating society or head boy/girl at your sixth form. Or for an economics and finance personal statement , you could mention managing money at your Saturday job.
Any hobbies or other activities you are involved in outside of school should always be linked to your economics course. If you don't feel something is relevant, then don't mention it - remember you only have a limited space of 4,000 characters, so every word has to earn its place. Our personal statement length checker can help you with this.
Round off by talking about your career plans and any other ambitions you have for the future. Mention how your economics degree is going to help you achieve this.

How do I write the introduction for my economics personal statement?

Your introduction should pick out one or two aspects of economics that you particularly enjoy or are passionate about. For example, you might talk about your interest in current affairs and world development, and include one or two situations that made you want to study economics in more detail. This could be anything from a fiscal decision made by the Bank of England, or a how a civil war in another country has affected their levels of income.

By starting with an anecdote, or a specific situation you've read about or experienced, you will have a better chance of drawing the reader in, and making them want to finish reading your personal statement.

Whatever you choose to open with, it should be reflective and persuade the admissions tutors that this is the only subject you want to go on to study at university.

Economics personal statement introduction example

To help demonstrate what you should include in your opening paragraph, take a look at this great example below, where the writer uses their experience of growing up in a poor country where wealth was unevenly distributed as a catalyst for developing their interest in economics:

"Being born and brought up in a country where an uneven distribution of income is a norm, the poor live on a minimum wage of Rupees 115 a day, whilst the billionaires form the sixth largest group in the world. This vast contrast between the rich and the poor has always intrigued me and I have often questioned how this economy India, functions with such instability and chaos."

Here is another good example from another student, who talks about how their studies of the Great Depression ignited their appreciation for economics:

"Studying the Great Depression in the USA in 1929 for my extended project is when I started to fully appreciate my interest in economics. Being able to analyse and argue the issues within my extended project and relate it to the current economic crisis has awakened my passion for the subject further, especially as this subject is covered extensively in the news and media. This shows that economics is an essential factor of our society. Studying this subject in university will equip me with the knowledge to understand the economy thoroughly. "

Hopefully these examples will inspire you to write your own introduction for your economics statement that will grab the reader's attention and make the admissions tutors want to offer you a place on their course.

How do I write a conclusion for my economics personal statement?

Your conclusion should encompass where you hope your economics degree to take you, and what you hope to achieve in the future. This might include your career ambitions, or moving on to a postgraduate course to further enhance your education.

You may also wish to reiterate why are enthusiastic about applying for an economics degree, and why you think you will be a good student for this particular course.

Don't round off your statement with something vague, or by repeating something you've already mentioned elsewhere in your UCAS application. You only have 47 lines of space in which to sell yourself to the admissions tutors, so don't waste it!

Economics personal statement conclusion example

To help you write your concluding paragrapgh, take a look at this example below, where the writer talks about using the knowledge they will gain in real life situations, and how they enjoy learning about the effects of economics on a daily basis:

"I am very passionate about studying economics because I look forward to developing my current knowledge, and applying it to real life situations. I believe my desire to keep in touch with today’s economics is what will allow me to thrive in higher education."

This writer chooses to talk about applying for a Masters program once they complete their degree, and taking up internships during their summer break to gain more work experience:

"My aspirations upon graduation from University would be to advance my studies in a similarly themed Masters program or work in international development. I plan on taking internships throughout the summer breaks to gain more work experience and help me fund my student lifestyle. I am looking forward to learning and developing in various economic subjects and am excited about the opportunities that I’ll have both as a student and once I graduate."

Hopefully these two examples will help you write your own conclusion for your economics personal statement, and round it off in a way that will make it stand out from the crowd.

For more help and advice on what to write in your economics personal statement, please see:

Personal Statement Editing Services
Personal Statement Tips From A Teacher
Analysis Of A Personal Statement
The 15th January UCAS Deadline: 4 Ways To Avoid Missing It
Personal Statement FAQs
Personal Statement Timeline
10 Top Personal Statement Writing Tips
What To Do If You Miss The 15th January UCAS Deadline.

What can I do with an economics degree?

There are many different options for those choosing to pursue an economics degree. These include:

business analyst
financial consultant
investment analyst .

However, there are also many other career paths where an economics degree could be useful, such as:

data scientist
economic development officer
quantity surveyor .

For more advice on what you can do with your economics degree, please visit TopUniversities and Prospects .

What are the best UK universities for economics?

Currently, the best UK universities to study economics at for 2023 are:

For more information on UK university rankings for economics, please see The Complete University Guide and The Telegraph.

Further resources

For more information and advice on economics degrees and careers, please see the following:

9 Economics Degree Jobs
Careers in Economics - LSE
10 Jobs for Graduates With An Economics Degree
What jobs can you get with an Economics degree in the UK?
Economics - Career Pilot
What to do with an Economics degree - Bright Network

Related resources

Economics statement analysis.

Find out more

UCAS Economics Subject Guide

Careers In Economics

National Careers Service: Economist

Economics Courses

Economics Degree Jobs

Economics University Rankings 2023

Economics Degree Guide

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Up: Home > Your ambitions > Economics Personal Statement

Economics Personal Statement

A personal statement is up to 4000 characters or 47 lines where you tell a University why you are a suitable candidate for the course. Unfortunately, there is no way of guaranteeing a place on your chosen course but a combination of a good personal statement and the right grades will certainly give you a good chance.

To offer you something useful, we asked senior Economics lecturers around the country what they like to see in an Economics personal statement;

1) Ensure the personal statement is grammatically correct and without spelling errors . Applicants have time to prepare and go over their statement over and over, as well as to get help from their teachers, parents etc. Sloppiness of this kind gives the worst possible impression .

2) Keep paragraphs short and to the point. This is easier to read than a big body of text – admissions officers are unlikely to spend a long time reading over the statement, so make the key points stand out.

3) I see little need to innovate by writing bizarre things so as to stand out – keep things clear, relevant and to the point, also statements such as ‘I have dreamt of studying Economics from when I was a small child’ are completely implausible and all too common! Show enthusiasm for the subject but back it up with evidence of this , such as relevant books you have read (but make sure you have indeed read them before an interview…if caught out lying, looks very weak – you would be surprised how often this happens), issues in the media or current affairs that interest you etc.

Emphasise the reasons why you’re interested in and want to study, Economics . What is it about the subject that makes you want to spend 3 years specialising in it? What especially appeals? If you’ve studied Economics before you might talk about some of the areas you’ve found most interesting; if not, then explain how you came to want to study it. I think this is an exercise that’s of value notwithstanding the personal statement: students who’ve thought carefully about their choice are more likely to make the right one and ultimately to enjoy success with their degrees . Both with this and more generally on the personal statement, be honest (for your own sake as much as the selector’s, remembering that any exaggerations and poorly thought out statements are likely to be exposed in the event of any interviews ) and resist the temptation to write what you think the selector wants to hear (e.g. “I have always loved Economics ever since I was 2”) or to try and flatter (e.g. “I welcome the chance to study at your esteemed institution”); both are likely to sound insincere, won’t convince and will therefore, add little value. Just be yourself, and be both interested and interesting!

Paragraph 1 – give a general introduction of why you wish to study Economics; this might include a particular aspect of the subject that fascinates you (though explain why), when your interest was peaked and how a degree in Economics fits in with your future career aspirations.

Paragraph 2 – give a brief account of why you are suitable for the degree(s) in questions, highlighting relevant A-level courses taken and aspects of them that were of interest. Give academic and non-academic reasons -applicants tend to focus on what they would take from the opportunity to study towards a particular degree- it is nice to explain how they hope to contribute also to the social fabric of the university and interaction within the course/degree.

Paragraph 3 – give evidence of interest for Economics by listing one or two popular Economics books (e.g. Freakonomics, Superfreakonomics, the Armchair Economist, the Bottom Billion…the list goes on) that you have read. Rather than giving an implausibly long list of books read, focus on one or two (or three if the course is a joint honours degree with other subjects) books and (this is crucial…) identify how the book/particular chapter/treatment of a particular issue fuelled your interest in Economics, in particular, what questions it raised in your mind that a degree in Economics would help answer.

Paragraph 4 – describe (briefly) any work experience/voluntary work, highlighting any aspects that are relevant to Economics. A few lines on hobbies or sporting activities could also be included – perhaps to show perseverance of enjoyment in interacting with others. Some interests e.g. debating, are arguably of more relevance than say, golf.

Somewhere in the statement – if applying from overseas, list the qualifications attained in English language and perhaps say a few words on how studying Economics in the U.K. is of particular value to you.

Paragraph 5 – list any awards, prizes etc attained or participation in things like the Model UN or Duke of Edinburgh awards. Some applicants are involved in Target 2.0 and in doing so get a first-hand feel of the role of monetary policy and how interest rates are set and inflation targeting. These are relevant to the statement.

A statement that follows the structure above should give enough information to satisfy most readers and should appear structured, well-written and clearly thought out.

Vague statements of interest with broad sweeping statements of unbridled enthusiasm for the subject lack credibility if not backed up by specific activities/books read/courses taken etc. In my view, a straightforward personal statement that gets all the core points across in a coherent way serves the purpose best.

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