Given the global financial crisis and its aftermath which has impacted on all levels of society, there is increased awareness of the links between economics and the wider political and social spheres. Economics is a dynamic and evolving area of study and is both a theoretical and an applied subject. It presents the opportunity to engage with and critique ideas, as well as to apply theories to actual situations, using case studies and scenarios. Economics at Chester offers students the opportunity to develop a sophisticated and deep understanding of the relationship between income, wealth and well-being. It does this through a diverse yet specialised curriculum. This provides students with the knowledge and understanding of the core areas of the discipline, such as micro-economics and macro-economics, while enabling students to think creatively and develop a critical awareness of a wide range of topics and themes. These include distributions of power and wealth, global economic and trade structures, multinational companies and the relationship between economic theory, policy and practice. Economics is an outstanding discipline to combine with Politics or with International Relations or Sociology within the Department of Social Studies and Counselling. Depending on your interests, it is also a natural bedfellow with Business, Languages or History as well as other cognate combinations. Central to the Economics programme is the instilling of problem-solving skills among learners. Over the course of the programme these skills will be honed, not least in the areas of understanding the relevance of economic trends, market forces and income in the context of the ‘real world’. This programme prides itself on developing a learner’s intuition and understanding of the influence and impact of national and international economic stability, economic change and economic security have on the lives of countries, individuals and groups. We are acutely aware that the current economic climate demands transferable skills that students can utilise out in the ‘real’ world once they have graduated. With this in mind, we place a strong emphasis on developing employability skills, such as critical thinking, refined researching skills, the confident presentation of findings, debating and respectful argumentation, and the encouragement to undertake relevant volunteering and work-placements. Studying Economics here at Chester will require learners to engage with numerical and statistical sources; however, this is done in a supportive and individualised manner, benefitted by recently upgraded computer facilities, a wide variety of up-to-date learning resources, and lecturers with high levels of experience as teachers and researchers. The Year 1 module Skills For Economics will bring all learners, whether they have previously studied Economics or not, up to a similar level of knowledge and awareness of the subject. Undertaking Economics at Chester is not just about economic theory and learning to think like an economist. It is also about how economics as a social science helps us to understand the world in which we live and perhaps to aim to make it a better place. Economics at Chester is taught within a well-established and large Department which offers a range of social science subjects.

Economics graduates are known to be sought after. The range of employment opportunities linked to this programme are broad; however, graduates of this programme would be ideally suited to roles within the financial sector, trading fields, organisations producing analytical reports, accountancy and journalism. Some students may wish to take what they have gained from this course and go on to further graduate study. The University of Chester has a renowned Careers and Employability Department, and students will have the opportunity should they wish to undertake work shadowing, volunteering, and other CV enhancing activities in addition to the five weeks of work based learning at the end of Year 2.