Departmental news

Thank you to everyone who completed this year’s National Student Survey (NSS). We are delighted to share the results and, most importantly, how we are acting on your feedback.

We really enjoyed celebrating with our fantastic graduating students on Friday. If you have Instagram you can watch our reelLink opens in a new window to see the highlights!

We would like to wish all our graduates all the best in their future work or study.

Click the link to view our 2024/25 prize winners.

Every year, several awards and prizes are granted to a selection of our graduating students to recognise and celebrate the success of our top performers! We are proud to announce this year's winners.

The University of Warwick's Department of Economics has once again demonstrated its commitment to world-class teaching and student experience, securing the top spot in the Russell Group for student satisfaction in the 2025 National Student Survey (NSS), and achieving an average positivity score of 93% for Teaching on my Course.

With a response rate of 76%, final-year undergraduate students rated the Department highly across multiple themes, earning Economics its strongest-ever performance in the survey to date. The Department achieved first place among all Russell Group universities for key categories of the survey with percentage of satisfied students in brackets:

• Teaching on my Course (93%)
• Learning Opportunities (88%)
• Assessment and Feedback (83%)

High scores were also achieved in the following categories:

• Organisation and Management (92%)
• Academic Support (91%)

Professor Jeremy Smith, Head of the Department of Economics, said:

"We are incredibly proud to see our students recognise the dedication and excellence in the quality of teaching of our staff. These results reflect not only the academic rigour of our programmes but also the inclusive and supportive environment we strive to maintain."

Students rated the Department particularly highly on individual questions, including:

• How good are teaching staff at explaining things? (96%)
• How often is the course intellectually stimulating? (97%)
• How well does the course challenge you to achieve your best work? (95%)
• How well does your course introduce subjects and skills in a way that builds on what you have already learned? (92%)
• How often have you received assessment feedback on time? (96%)
• How well organised is your course? (93%)
• I would recommend the University to future students (93%)

While some areas (IT resources and visibility of feedback action) presented opportunities for development, the overall satisfaction remains exceptionally high - outperforming institutional averages and reaffirming Warwick Economics’ status as one of the UK’s leading departments in the field.

The Department's continued success feeds into Warwick’s strong standing in the Teaching Excellence Framework and league tables including the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, The Guardian and the Complete University Guide.

Professor Jeremy Smith added:

"These insights are vital not only for internal reflection but also for future students looking for a vibrant, intellectually rewarding place to study. We are grateful to our students for their feedback and proud to champion their voice as part of our teaching journey."

First year students Ryan Bingham (3 year LLB) and Simran Bhutada (4 year LLB) took part in the National Law Student Triathlon on Saturday 26 – Sunday 27 April 2025, organised by Kent University. Supported by the Bar Society and funded by Warwick Law School, Ryan and Simran have each blogged about their time at the Triathlon, sharing their experiences with other students looking to attend similar events in the future.

Warwick Law School is delighted to share that three of our current undergraduate students received departmental funding to present at The British Conference for Undergraduate Research (BCUR) hosted by the University of Newcastle from 9-10 April this year.

The Warwickshire Junior Lawyers Division is a recently re-launched community for junior lawyers across Warwickshire. LLB student Jaskiran Sandhu is Vice Chair of the WJLD. She told us a little more about the launch event, what the WJLD has to offer, and why WLS students should consider joining whilst membership fees are waived.

The Department of Sociology is deeply saddened by the death of Dr Carol Wolkowitz on March 4^th 2025. Carol was a hugely valued member both of the Department and of the Centre for the Study of Women and Gender. She will be remembered as a much-loved and inspirational teacher who was devoted to helping students grapple with ideas and hone their sociological imaginations.

You can read Carol's obituary here -> Carol Wolkowitz obituary | Sociology | The Guardian

We are pleased to hear from Molly Paxton (BSc Economics student), Internal Communications Officer of Warwick Women in Economics society that they are hosting their annual International Women’s Day Conference on Sunday, 9 March, 11am-4pm in the Faculty of Arts building (FAB0.03).

Molly commented on the importance of the event for promoting equality and diversity in economics, and mentioned the key highlights of the programme:

" We believe it is crucial to celebrate International Women’s Day, and our conference brings together a diverse range of speakers and attendees to highlight the importance of female representation and leadership.

We are delighted to welcome Maxine Laceby, the founder of Absolute Collagen, to discuss her entrepreneurship journey, the process of founding her company and the skills she needed to succeed in a competitive industry.

“This keynote is followed by a Financial Journalism panel with Claudia Meulemeester (Financial Times), Bianca Francesca (9fin) and Zahraa Manji (ITV). The panel will cover the process of researching and writing articles, the importance of rigorous journalism in an age of misinformation and AI, as well as discussing the impact of Trump’s presidency on the global economic landscape.

“Our second keynote speaker is Anisha Rasan, an economic advisor at HM Treasury, specialising in the labour market and short-term forecasting. With her extensive experience in policy analysis and project development both in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, as well as in her current role at HM Treasury, we are excited to hear her invaluable insights about working in the public sector.

“Our conference concludes with our Women in Economics panel, hosting representatives from the Warwick Economics department as well our sponsors. We are joined by Dr Chara Tzanetaki, a Principal in Competition Practice at Charles River Associate; Ana Grujic, an analyst at Frontier Economics; Professor Caroline Elliot, a Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at Warwick and Dr Zeynep Kurter, a Teaching Fellow, also in the Department of Economics at Warwick. The panel will discuss the experience of women working in the field of economics, the importance of female role-models and how our panellists found their speciality within the field.”

The IWD conference is free of charge, ensuring accessibility and diversity within Warwick Women in Economics society, and welcome students and staff from all departments (not just Economics) to attend and participate in the important discussions they are hosting.

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International Women’s Day Conference 2025 – programme summary

• Entrepreneurship Keynote Speaker: Maxine Laceby, Founder of Absolute Collagen

• Financial Journalism Panel: Claudia Meulemeester (Financial Times), Bianca Francesca (9fin), Zahraa Manji (ITV)

• Public Sector Keynote Speaker: Anisha Rasan, HM Treasury

• Women in Economics Panel: Dr Chara Tzanetaki (CRA), Ana Grujic (Frontier Economics), Dr Zeynep Kurter (Warwick Economics), and Professor Caroline Elliott (Warwick Economics)

How to register

To register, please visit the WWiE International Women's Day 2025 registration page

Former LLB student and Chief Executive of the Society of Authors Nicola Solomon was awarded an OBE in the 2025 King's New Year’s Honours list for services to Literature and the Creative Industries.