How to apply for Economics at Oxford Brookes University: four three-year degrees in the Business School, each with an optional placement year, a standard offer of 128 UCAS points (ABB) for BSc Economics and 112 for the other three, foundation-year versions, and what home, international (including China) and transfer applicants need

Economics at Oxford Brookes University is taught in the Oxford Brookes Business School on the Headington campus. This guide sets out what the university's own website says for 2027 entry, for home (UK) students, international students (including applicants from China) and transfer students.

1. Courses

The accounting, finance and economics subject area and the course pages list these degrees that are directly about economics (UCAS codes in brackets):

• BSc (Hons) Economics (L100): three years full time, or four with a work placement. The course page lists starts in September 2026, January 2027 and September 2027.
• BSc (Hons) Economics, Finance and International Business (LN13): three years, or four with a placement; same start dates.
• BA (Hons) Economics, Politics and International Relations (LL21): three years, or four with a placement; same start dates.
• BSc (Hons) Accounting and Economics (NL41): three years, or four with a placement; September 2026 and September 2027 only (no January start).
• Versions with a foundation year: BSc (Hons) Economics (with Foundation Year) (L10F) is four years, or five with a placement. The website also lists foundation-year versions of Economics, Finance and International Business, Economics, Politics and International Relations, and Accounting and Economics; check each course page for its code.
• The related courses also include Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE); business, accounting and finance degrees have their own pages and are only mentioned here.

The sections below follow the BSc Economics page and note where the other three differ.

2. How the course is organised

• Year 1, compulsory: Microeconomics I, Macroeconomics I, The Entrepreneur, Economics and Sustainability, Economics and Employability in a Globalised World, Economics and Society in Context, and Quantitative Methods for Economics and Finance (Excel is the main software; it covers mathematical techniques including optimisation).
• Year 2, compulsory: Microeconomics II, Macroeconomics II, Exploring and Enhancing Employability, International Trade, Economics of Enterprise and Innovation, and a choice of Applied Econometrics or History of Economic Thought. Students taking the placement year also take Placement Search and Preparation. Optional modules include International Finance, International Labour Markets, Financial Markets and Institutions and Economic Debates.
• Pathways: from Year 2 you can specialise in finance, sustainability or enterprise and innovation, or keep it general with a combination of all three.
• Placement year: an optional 40–52 week work-based placement after Year 2, which the website strongly encourages.
• Final year, compulsory: Perspectives on Global Challenges, Contemporary Issues in Economics, Open Data and Distributed Finance, and Economic Policy. Optional modules include Environmental Economics, Economic Growth, Behavioural Economics, Advanced Applied Econometrics, Finance and Development and Sustainable Investing (the page says modules are reviewed regularly and may change).
• Teaching and assessment: face-to-face teaching plus e-learning, about nine contact hours a week and a workload of around 1,200 hours a year; assessment includes reports, essays, case study analysis, presentations and examinations. The Business School has a Bloomberg Trading Suite where finance and economics students can make mock trades with real market data and gain certification.
• International study exchange: the website says you may be able to go on a European or international exchange, mostly in the second year; you organise and fund it yourself.

3. Entry requirements (UK qualifications on the university's pages)

BSc Economics (L100):

• Standard offer: 128 UCAS Tariff points, A Level ABB, IB 32, BTEC DDM
• Contextual offer: 104 points, A Level BCC, IB 29, BTEC DMM
• Specific requirement: GCSE Mathematics grade 4 or above

Economics, Finance and International Business (LN13), Economics, Politics and International Relations (LL21), Accounting and Economics (NL41):

• Standard offer: 112 points, A Level BBC, IB 27, BTEC DMM
• Contextual offer: 88 points, A Level CCD, IB 24, BTEC MMM
• Specific requirement: GCSE Mathematics grade 4 or above (the Accounting and Economics page says C/4 or above)

Economics with a Foundation Year (L10F): standard offer 48 points, A Level DD, IB 24, BTEC PPP or MP. Applicants without GCSE Maths grade 4 (or equivalent) who want to progress to a course that requires it must take the compulsory Maths and Statistics module in the foundation year. The foundation year is built on business foundations, followed by the economics degree years.

Notes:

• The university says it makes conditional offers using the UCAS Tariff wherever possible; the A Level grades shown are only one way of reaching the points.
• The course pages do not set an A Level Maths or Economics requirement, and do not mention an admissions test or interview. Anything beyond that is not given on the pages used for this guide; check with admissions (admissions@brookes.ac.uk).
• The pages give A Level, IB and BTEC figures only. How Scottish Highers or Welsh and Northern Irish qualifications map is not given on these pages; contact admissions.
• If you do not reach the points, the university points to its foundation courses (such as Foundation in Business) or an international foundation course.

4. How to apply, and when

• Full-time UK applicants apply through UCAS; part-time study is applied for directly to the university.
• International applicants can apply directly to the university or through UCAS for September entry; January entry and international foundation courses are applied for directly.
• The 2027 UCAS deadline and the university's own direct-application deadline are not on the course and application pages used for this guide; check the UCAS website and the university website. The university recommends applying as early as possible, even if you have not yet been awarded your entry qualification.
• Applicants who need a student visa must also meet the UK Visas and Immigration minimum English language requirements.

5. International students

• English: the undergraduate standard is IELTS 6.0 overall, 6.0 in reading and writing, 5.5 in listening and speaking (the "all other undergraduate courses" row of the English requirements page). If you only need English, the pre-sessional English course can meet the requirement without a further external test; it accepts students from IELTS 4.5 overall with 4.0 in all skills.
• Other qualifications: the course pages welcome European and international qualifications and recognised foundation courses; use the university's country pages or contact admissions to check eligibility.
• International foundation: the International Foundation Business and Technology leads to degrees including Economics, with September or January starts and IELTS 5.5 in every skill; once you enrol, progression to the degree is guaranteed if you pass with the required grades.
• Funding evidence and credential verification: not given on the pages used for this guide; check the university's international student pages.

6. Applicants from China

The university's China page lists three minimum routes for undergraduate study: the Senior Secondary School Graduation Certificate plus a recognised foundation course; the certificate plus the Gaokao (NCEE); or one year of university in China with at least 75% overall. It says certificate plus Gaokao results may be considered case by case, and that the Aptitude Scholastic Test (AST) is also accepted. The relevant rows of its equivalence table are:

• 128 points (the BSc Economics standard offer): certificate 80% overall plus Gaokao 75%
• 112 points (the standard offer for Economics, Finance and International Business, Economics, Politics and International Relations, and Accounting and Economics): certificate 85% plus Gaokao 70%
• 104 points (the BSc Economics contextual offer) and 88 points (the contextual offer for the other three): certificate 75% plus Gaokao 70%
• 48 points (Economics with a Foundation Year): certificate 65% overall, Gaokao not required
• 32 points / international foundation diploma: pass Year 3 of the certificate with 65%, or Year 2 with 70% (Gaokao not required)

The table's notes say GCSE grade 4 in Maths equals 70% in Maths on the certificate, and grade 5 equals 75%; Gaokao scores are usually issued online or on a results slip by the provincial examination authority; and a student with one year of university in China at 75% or above may be considered for direct entry to undergraduate programmes (the page says this percentage reflects performance equivalent to a 2:2).

The China page gives the English requirement as IELTS 6.0–7.0 (6.0 in reading and writing, 5.5 in listening and speaking) or the pre-sessional English course. It names a country adviser and a WeChat account (search 牛津布鲁克斯大学). The course pages do not give any China-specific interview or credential-verification rules; anything else is not given on the pages used for this guide, so ask admissions.

7. Fees and scholarships

• The Economics, Economics Finance and International Business, Economics Politics and International Relations and Accounting and Economics pages all list 2027/28 full-time international fees of £20,800 a year (2026/27: £19,700) and home full-time fees of £10,050 (2026/27: £9,790). The pages do not separate England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• For the optional placement year the fee is £2,010 for both home and international students (2026/27: £1,905).
• The university says international fees may rise in later years, and home fees may rise by an inflationary amount set by government.
• For the foundation-year versions the foundation year and the degree years have different fees; the figures on the page we read do not show clearly which year they apply to, so check the fee box on that course page.
• £2,000 International Student Scholarship: for international students who pay a deposit by set dates and fund their studies privately (direct payment, or a loan they are personally responsible for repaying); it is not available where home and overseas fees are the same. Economics, Economics, Finance and International Business, Economics, Politics and International Relations, Accounting and Economics and their foundation-year versions are on the eligible list. The page currently covers September 2026 entry: offers received on or before 31 March 2026, deposit by 13 May 2026; between 1 April and 4 June 2026, by 7 July 2026; between 5 June and 31 July 2026, by 7 August 2026. Watch for the 2027 dates.
• The funding box on the course page also lists other items (for example the Oxford Brookes Bursary for students starting 2025/26 or later, and a 20% Alumni Discount Scheme); their eligibility rules are not covered here, so check the funding pages.

8. Transfers and part-way entry

• The credit transfer page says most courses consider applicants who join part-way through with credit from previous learning or relevant experience. Credit can come from part-completed UK degrees, HND, Foundation Degree, CertHE, Open University courses and a university degree from another country. Credit can also be assessed through Assessment of Prior Learning (APL) or Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL), which is a more complex process that you should discuss with admissions.
• International students apply through the direct application form, listing every module studied or in progress; more information and transcripts are asked for after submission.
• Which year of the economics courses you can join, and which modules must be in your record, are not given on the pages used for this guide; ask admissions.

9. Checklist by background

Home students:

• 128 points (ABB) for BSc Economics; 112 points (BBC) for the other three; GCSE Maths grade 4
• Apply through UCAS; check whether you qualify for a contextual offer (up to three grades lower) on the university's contextual admissions page

International students:

• Check that your qualifications map to the points; IELTS 6.0 (6.0 reading and writing, 5.5 listening and speaking)
• Apply directly or through UCAS; September entry; watch the deposit dates for the scholarship

Applicants from China:

• BSc Economics: certificate 80% plus Gaokao 75%; the other three: 85% plus Gaokao 70%; Maths on the certificate at 70% or above
• If short of the scores, consider an international foundation course or the foundation-year version

Transfer students:

• Prepare transcripts and module descriptions, apply directly and ask admissions to check the credit

Sources: Oxford Brookes University, Accounting, Finance and Economics subject area; Economics; Economics, Finance and International Business; Economics, Politics and International Relations; Accounting and Economics; Economics (with Foundation Year); Entry requirements for China; English language requirements; International foundation courses; Applying directly; Credit transfer; Contextual admissions; £2,000 International Student Scholarship. Fees are the 2027/28 figures on the course pages; the scholarship page currently covers September 2026 entry only. Check UCAS and the university for the latest dates and rules.