How to Apply to Economics at Nanyang Technological University: A Four-Year Direct Honours Degree in the School of Social Sciences, with Economics and Data Science, Double Majors and an Engineering-Economics Double Degree, and Admission and Prerequisite Requirements for Singapore Citizens and PRs, International Applicants (Including Chinese Gaokao Students) and Transfer Students

At Nanyang Technological University (NTU), undergraduate economics is offered by the School of Social Sciences (SSS@NTU) in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and the main degree is the BSocSci (Hons) in Economics. Here is what you need to know for 2027 entry, based on NTU’s official information, for Singapore citizens and permanent residents, international applicants (including Gaokao and international-curriculum students) and transfer students. Business and Computing programmes are mentioned only where they overlap.

1. Economics degrees

• BSocSci (Hons) in Economics: the degree page says it is a four-year course requiring 125 Academic Units (AU) for the AY2025-26 intake. NTU describes the programme as emphasising applications and policy, built on microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics, with electives covering areas such as Internet Economics and Behavioural Economics. Required courses include Microeconomics I to III, Macroeconomics I to III, Econometrics I and II and Mathematics for Economists, plus a compulsory probability and statistics course (MH1820). The degree page gives two different figures for major core credits (27 AU in the course list, 15 AU in the summary table), so check the page itself.
• BSc (Hons) in Economics and Data Science: run by the School of Social Sciences, the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and the College of Computing and Data Science, four years, 140 AU for the AY2025-26 intake, covering Economics, Mathematics and Data Science.
• Economics with a second major in Business: listed as an integrated second major on the admissions page; its entry requirements are not given on the pages used for this guide.
• Double majors (four-year direct honours): the SSS page says a double major combines two majors from the schools of the College, with equal weight (about 42% of the degree each) and 16% general education, and students declare both majors when they enter NTU. Economics combinations are Economics and Media Analytics (with the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information), Economics and Psychology, and Economics and Public Policy and Global Affairs. Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) is listed as its own programme.
• Double major in Mathematical Sciences and Economics (BSc): run jointly by the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and SSS, 147 AU in total, for students with strong quantitative aptitude; the SSS page calls it an integrated degree.
• Double degree in Engineering and Economics: run with the College of Engineering, five years with direct honours, leading to a Bachelor of Engineering and a BSocSci in Economics; the engineering disciplines listed include Aerospace, Bioengineering, Chemical and Biomolecular, Civil, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic, Environmental, Information Engineering and Media, Materials and Mechanical Engineering.
• Accreditation and length: the pages do not mention external accreditation for economics; the single degree takes four years.

2. How admission works: you apply to the programme directly

• Choose programmes on the form: the application process page says you can select up to 5 programmes; the SSS and College admissions pages list Economics as a programme in its own right and do not describe a common first year followed by a split. Double major students choose both majors at entry.
• Grade profiles: the indicative grade profile page gives the 10th and 90th percentile A-Level profiles (3 H2 and 1 H1) as ABC/B to AAA/A for Economics and AAB/B to AAA/A for Economics and Data Science (the page assumes a C in General Paper and Project Work); polytechnic GPAs are 3.60 to 3.86 for Economics, and none is shown for Economics and Data Science because the sample is small; places taken up in AY2025-26 were 109 for Economics and 49 for Economics and Data Science. The page does not state which year the data is from, so treat it as a guide; it does not mark Economics with an asterisk (an asterisk means extra assessments such as interviews, selection tests or portfolios).
• Interviews and tests: the Economics pages used here do not mention an interview or entrance test; ask the Office of Admissions.
• Changing programme after entry: the transfer page only says current NTU students can apply through the Student Intranet; the conditions are not published, so ask your school.

3. Prerequisites (minimum subject requirements)

The minimum requirements on the Economics degree page (all in addition to NTU’s general admission requirements):

• Singapore-Cambridge GCE A-Level: a good grade in H1 Mathematics and a good grade in General Paper (or Knowledge and Inquiry). The page states H1 level, not H2 Mathematics, and does not require an Economics subject.
• IB Diploma: a good grade in Mathematics at Standard Level and a good grade in English at Standard Level.
• NUS High School Diploma: major CAP of 2.0 in Mathematics and a good overall CAP in English.
• Others (including international applicants): the degree page states a good grade in Additional Mathematics at Junior High School level and a good grade in English at Senior High School level; what counts as a “good grade” is not published. For Canadian qualifications, the Canada page says Grade 12 Mathematics of Data Management is acceptable for the mathematics prerequisite of Business, Economics, Psychology and similar programmes.
• Economics and Data Science: A-Level needs a good grade in H2 Mathematics and in General Paper; IB a good grade in HL Mathematics and SL English; NUS High School major CAP 2.0 in Mathematics and a good overall CAP in English; international qualifications a good grade in senior high school Mathematics and English.
• Mathematical Sciences and Economics double major: A-Level needs a pass in H2 Mathematics and a good grade in General Paper; IB a pass in HL Mathematics and a good grade in SL English.
• Mathematics placement test: not published. Course exemptions: both the Economics and the Economics and Data Science pages say eligible students will be invited to apply for course exemptions at the start of their first semester; the conditions and the courses are not listed on the pages used for this guide. Rules for converting A-Level, IB or AP results into credit are not published, so ask the school.

4. Timeline, application fee and documents (2027 entry)

• One intake a year, with the first term typically starting in late July.
• Application windows depend on the qualification (the international qualifications table on the general requirements page and the important dates page): Gaokao, IB, American High School Diploma or AP, HKDSE, UK A-Levels (CIE, Edexcel, OCR, AQA) and WJEC and others are 15 October 2026 to 19 March 2027; Canada, Australian state certificates, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia UEC, Myanmar, the Philippines and other international qualifications not listed separately are 15 October 2026 to 20 January 2027 (for the unlisted ones, documents are due within 3 days after the closing date).
• Application fee: SGD 15 for Singapore citizens and PRs and SGD 25 for international students, non-refundable, payable by PayNOW, VISA or MasterCard; the application is not processed without payment and documents by the deadlines.
• Process: choose the portal for your qualification; complete the online form in English in one session (have your passport number, transcripts and English test score sheet ready); select up to 5 programmes, optionally be considered for the Honours College signature programmes, and say whether you want a tuition grant or financial aid; after submission you receive an application number and log in with your own password to pay, upload documents from the checklist and complete the criminal records declaration.
• Essays and references: the application process page asks for extra materials only for Art, Design and Media (portfolio), Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (personal statement and referee reports) and the Renaissance Engineering Programme; apart from Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, the pages used for the programmes in this guide do not describe a general supplementary essay. Scholarships need a short essay of up to 250 words and a teacher appraisal (see section 8).
• Standardised tests: the pages used for this guide do not state a general SAT or ACT requirement; English test requirements are in section 6, and AST and AP results are optional extras for Gaokao applicants (section 7).
• Outcomes: timing varies by qualification; for the Gaokao, interview invitations are notified by end June and outcomes by mid July; for the IB end April to end July; for American diplomas or AP and Canadian qualifications mid June to mid July; for UK A-Levels May to end June, and applicants sitting A-Levels in May/June 2027 are not considered in this exercise and should apply in the next.
• Actual results only: NTU says it makes no provisional offers on predicted or pending results; applicants awaiting results must submit actual results within 3 days of release or the application is not processed.

5. Singapore citizens and permanent residents

• A-Level: 3 H2 content-based subjects and General Paper (GP) taken in the same sitting, plus a pass in Project Work. For applicants who sat A-Levels from 2025, the University Admission Score (UAS) uses 3 H2 subjects plus GP, with H1 Mother Tongue or a fourth subject counted only if it improves the score. The application window runs from the day of A-Level results release to 19 March 2027.
• Polytechnic diploma: apply from 1 to 21 February 2027; NTU provides a diploma match generator to see which majors you can consider, and some programmes may call you for interviews or tests.
• NUS High School Diploma: apply from 1 December 2026 to 20 January 2027.
• Mother Tongue: citizens and PRs must meet the Ministry of Education policy; you can still apply if you do not, but you must meet it before graduation unless exempted.
• Tuition: AY2026/27 SGD 8,300 for citizens and SGD 11,600 for PRs (before GST, which MOE subsidises); see the table in section 8 for the programmes listed separately. Citizens receive the MOE Tuition Grant automatically and file a declaration after matriculation.

6. International applicants

• Qualifications: NTU says decisions are based mainly on high school academic performance, and it considers international applicants who have completed, or are sitting, their national high school exams in the year of application.
• International A-Levels: at least 4 subjects at A2 level in a single sitting; subjects from separate sittings are not accepted. Applicants with 3 subjects are considered case by case, except international applicants applying for subsidised fees, because places are limited.
• IB Diploma: you must give NTU direct access to your results via the IBO, by 19 March 2027 for the November 2026 or earlier sessions; May-session candidates can apply by 19 March and submit actual results within 3 days of release (except for Medicine and the Arts and Science education programmes).
• Canadian high school diplomas: British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and others need at least 90% in each of five Grade 12 subjects; Ontario OSSD needs at least 90% in each of six Grade 12 U or M courses; Quebec CEGEP needs a two-year pre-university DEC with a final average of at least 90%; Science, Engineering and Medicine programmes need Grade 12 Calculus and Vectors, Calculus, or Pre-Calculus (or an equivalent university-preparatory course).
• English: required for Gaokao, Taiwan GSAT, Korean CSAT, HKDSE, Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian qualifications and for any qualification where English was not studied at both junior and senior high school or was offered only as a second language. Accepted scores (any one): IELTS Academic 6.5 overall, 6.5 writing, 6.5 speaking; TOEFL iBT 90 (or 4.5 on the new scale) overall, writing 25 (or 4.5), speaking 25 (or 4.5); PTE Academic 55 overall, speaking 55, writing 59; C1 Advanced 170 in each; SAT 1250 total and 600 Reading and Writing; ACT with Writing in a single sitting 30 composite, 30 English, 7 writing; AST English 220. IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, C1 and AST scores must be within two years before the deadline; SAT and ACT are valid for five years. NTU says these scores are generally for Science, Engineering and Computing programmes; highly competitive, non-science, double degree and double major programmes may require more.
• Documents: after you submit, upload documents from the checklist in the application portal; a credential-evaluation body and the item-by-item document list are not given on the pages used for this guide, so confirm them in the checklist or the admissions FAQs.
• Competition: NTU says admission is highly competitive for international applicants, with limited places, standards vary by year and programme, and meeting the minimum does not guarantee admission.

7. Applicants from China

• Gaokao is used: apply with your Gaokao result, which must be at least 80% of the maximum score, with a CSSD Verification Report from CHSI.
• Senior 3 students awaiting results: apply with Senior 1 and 2 transcripts and submit official Gaokao results within 3 days of release or the application is not processed further. Eligible applicants are invited to an interview in July, and the final decision is based on interview performance; admitted students submit the CSSD report when it becomes available. The website says these applicants cannot apply for Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine or the Renaissance Engineering Programme in that exercise.
• No Gaokao: those following the Gaokao curriculum who did not sit it for any reason, or who sit AP on their own, apply in this category with high school graduation results, assessed case by case.
• English: an English test score is required (scores in section 6).
• Optional: AST results in at least three subjects (English, Mathematics and one more; Economics as the third subject restricts consideration to non-engineering and non-science programmes); AP results in at least five tests with 4 or 5 in each. Both must be submitted together with Gaokao results or Senior 1 and 2 transcripts, not on their own.
• Prerequisites: the website says applicants are eligible for all programmes if they meet the minimum subject requirements for international qualifications, i.e. the “International and other qualifications” row in section 3.
• Competitions: medallists in international Olympiads in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Informatics, Astronomy, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Science are considered more favourably for programmes related to their field; other programmes are considered case by case, and an interview may be held.
• Application window: 15 October 2026 to 19 March 2027.
• Interviews: only shortlisted applicants are invited; the others are notified of the outcome later.
• Huikao records: the Gaokao page does not state requirements for them, so ask the Office of Admissions; the website also links to a Chinese-language version of the Gaokao requirements.

8. Fees, Tuition Grant and scholarships

• Tuition (AY2026/27): in the row for “All programmes (except those listed below)”, subsidised ASEAN international students pay SGD 18,050 and other international students SGD 21,400 (including 9% GST, which students bear); non-subsidised students (no tuition grant) pay SGD 40,600 for lab-based and SGD 36,350 for non-lab-based programmes (GST included). Accountancy, business programmes, Medicine and the Renaissance Engineering Programme are listed separately. NTU says full-time undergraduate fees are fixed for the whole candidature under a cohort-based system; the 2027-entry fee table is not yet published on the pages used for this guide, so check the website. Economics is not among the programmes listed separately in the table, and the table does not say whether it is lab-based or non-lab-based.
• MOE Tuition Grant: covers the normal duration of the degree, usually three or four years. PRs and international students opt in on the application form, choose whether to accept it with the offer, and sign the Tuition Grant Agreement, which obliges you to work for a Singapore entity for three years after graduation; two sureties (any nationality, aged 21 or above and below 65) are needed. Without it, or if you miss the registration and signing deadlines, you pay non-subsidised fees.
• Scholarships: the application process page says scholarships are open only to applicants who opt for subsidised tuition fees; the scholarship window is the same as the admission window, and you apply after submitting your admission application. The Nanyang Global Scholarship is open to all nationalities and covers subsidised tuition (after the grant), an SGD 6,500 living allowance per year, up to SGD 2,000 per year for NTU hostel residents, a one-off SGD 2,000 computer allowance and up to SGD 8,000 for an overseas programme (new cohorts from AY2025), with no bond apart from the three-year Tuition Grant bond, and enrolment in the Honours College; you must keep a CGPA of 3.5 out of 5.0. The application needs an essay of up to 250 words and a teacher’s online appraisal. Whether you are considered automatically: the page describes a separate scholarship application.
• School of Social Sciences awards: the SSS undergraduate education page lists the ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship (for citizens or PRs of ASEAN member states other than Singapore), the Chair’s Award, the Dean’s Award, the Nanyang Global Scholarship, the Nanyang Merit Scholarship, the NTU President Award and the Wee Cho Yaw Future Leaders Award; eligibility for each and whether international students can apply are not spelled out on the pages used here, so check the website.

9. Length of study, internships and exchange

• Length: four years of direct honours for the single Economics degree and for Economics and Data Science; five years for the Engineering and Economics double degree.
• Final project: the Economics credit table lists “a Graduation Project, or two HE4000-level electives, or three HE3000-level electives”, so a graduation project is optional.
• Internships and exchange: the SSS undergraduate education page says students can broaden their learning through internships and exchange, and the School has a separate experiential learning page; internship and exchange places and conditions for Economics are not given on the pages used here, so check the school’s website.

10. Transfer

• Students who have completed at least one term at another university, locally or overseas, apply through the standard process under their high school qualification category and, if accepted, are offered a first-year place.
• Current NTU students who want to change to another undergraduate programme apply through the Student Intranet; the conditions are not published on the pages used for this guide, so ask your school.
• If you used the Tuition Grant before, semesters already used are deducted from the semesters available (for example, 2 semesters used leaves 6 for a four-year programme).
• The deadline follows the application window for your high school qualification.
• How credits from other institutions are transferred after admission, and any GPA or calculus or statistics requirements, are not published; ask the school.

Checklist

Singapore citizens and PRs:

• A-Level: a good grade in H1 Mathematics and General Paper, and a pass in Project Work; polytechnic diploma applicants apply 1 to 21 February 2027
• Choose up to 5 programmes; pay the SGD 15 fee; meet the Mother Tongue policy

International applicants:

• Check the requirements (IB: SL Mathematics and SL English; other qualifications: Additional Mathematics at junior high level and English at senior high level); Gaokao 15 October 2026 to 19 March 2027, Canadian diplomas by 20 January 2027
• Gaokao at least 80% of the maximum, CHSI verification report and an English test; Senior 3 students submit results within 3 days of release and attend a July interview
• Pay the SGD 25 fee; decide on the MOE Tuition Grant (three-year work obligation); apply for the Nanyang Global Scholarship in the same window

Transfer students:

• Use the standard process and start in Year 1; confirm credit transfer with the school after admission

Sources: Nanyang Technological University, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences undergraduate admissions; SSS undergraduate education; SSS Economics page; BSocSci Economics; BSc Economics and Data Science; BSc Mathematical Sciences and Economics; Application process; Important dates; General admission requirements; PRC Gaokao requirements; Canada qualifications; Indicative grade profiles; Transfer; Tuition fees and grants; Nanyang Global Scholarship. Information is for 2027 entry (the fee table is for AY2026/27, and the Economics credit table applies to the AY2025-26 intake). Check NTU for the latest details.