Best universities for Economics
Built only from official government data.
You may not agree with this order. We present the data as we find it, and we say plainly how much we think each measure is worth. Every weight is published, every figure is sourced and dated, and where we cannot prove something we leave it blank rather than fill it in. Complete transparency is the whole claim — disagree with the weighting, and you can see exactly what you are disagreeing with.
Tier 1 — strongest for this subject
On our measures these are the strongest places in our catalogue to study this. They are listed alphabetically: the differences between them are smaller than the uncertainty in the data.
Tier 2
Strong, and separated from Tier 1 by more than the margin of error.
Tier 3
Solid, with a measurable gap to the tiers above.
Tier 4
Further back on the measures we use.
Universities inside a tier are listed alphabetically, and there is no order within a tier — the differences are smaller than the data can carry, so publishing one would be inventing it. Open any university, or several at once, for the published figures behind it: earnings, satisfaction, research and the rest, on the same rows every time so they can be read side by side.
Held back by missing data — listed, not ranked
These have too little published data to score fairly, usually because the official statistics withhold figures for a cohort too small to publish safely. That is not a verdict on the course, so here is what we do hold rather than nothing at all.
Economics — graduates earn −£4,572 against the national average for Economics, five years on. Only 38% of the measures we score are published for it.
Business Economics — graduates earn −£4,572 against the national average for Economics, five years on. Only 38% of the measures we score are published for it.
Courses we hold that are not in this table
None of these is a judgement on the course. A university marked not in this table at all is missing for one of the reasons below and for no other reason — never because it scored badly.
Economics and Mathematics — HESA classifies this as physical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BSc Mathematics & Economics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics and Data Science — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics and International Finance — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Economics Statistics and Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics and Statistics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BSc Economics & Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Finance BSc (Hons) — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BSc Finance — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
MSci Finance with Innovation — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BSc Economics and Data Science — HESA classifies this as computing, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BSc Economics and Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BA Environment, Law and Economics — HESA classifies this as architecture, building and planning, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics and Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics and Statistics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Finance BFin — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Finance & Statistics BSc (Hons) — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Business Economics/Mathematics — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Business Economics/Philosophy — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Business Economics/Psychology — HESA classifies this as psychology, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Business Economics/Scottish History — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Business Economics/Social & Public Policy — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Central & East European Studies/Business Economics — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Economics/Business & Management — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics/Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics/Psychology — HESA classifies this as psychology, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics/Scottish History — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Economics and Mathematics BSc — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics and Data Analytics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Industrial Economics with Insurance — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Industrial Economics — HESA classifies this as business and management, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics and Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics and Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics and Psychology — HESA classifies this as psychology, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics and Statistics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Financial Economics and Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
BSc Mathematics & Economics — we have not yet matched this course to its official record.
Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (EPP) BA/BSc — HESA classifies this as psychology, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Actuarial Science BSc — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Economics and Mathematics — HESA classifies this as mathematical sciences, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
Environment, Economics and Ecology — HESA classifies this as geography, earth and environmental studies, so it is measured against that subject rather than this one.
A university missing from every list above is not ranked last — it is not ranked. Either we do not list it, or it has no Economics course in the official data at all. An absence means "we do not know", never "it is weak".
Not published: Other — not a discipline — a browsing bucket with no subject classification behind it, so there is nothing coherent to rank its courses against. We would rather leave a subject out than band it on too little.
Who decided this order?
We did, out of eight published government measures with every weight shown — and none of them is a survey of opinion. The next tab has all of it: what each measure contributes, what we deliberately left out, where the order stops being something the data can support, and the source and year of every figure.
Sources: Discover Uni (on_2026_09_29_12_31_32), the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset, Graduate Outcomes, the National Student Survey, and REF 2021. Snapshot on_2026_09_29_12_31_32-c6abef4e77df, computed 2026-10-05. Each source publishes annually or less often, so these tables change when a release lands and not otherwise.