Economics (MRes/PhD)

General entry requirements

Minimum requirements

First Class undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject and/or Distinction at Master’s level. A GRE General Test quantitative section score would be useful but not essential. Scores of around 800/166 are typical for previously successful applicants.

English language requirements

You can find out more about our English language requirementsLink opens in a new window. This course requires the following:

• Band B
• IELTS overall score of 7.0, minimum component scores of two at 6.0/6.5 and the rest at 7.0 or above.

International qualifications

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

For more information, please visit the international entry requirements pageLink opens in a new window.

Academic References

We typically ask for one academic reference for taught courses.

You will be asked to include an email address for your referee(s) when submitting your application and we will contact them for you.

View our guide to academic references.Link opens in a new window

Additional requirements

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Our research

99% of the Department's research was rated world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*) in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), placing the Department second in the UK.

Areas for PhD supervision 

We have active research groups in:

• Applied Economics
• Economic History
• Development Economics
• Economic Theory
• Econometrics
• Education
• Industrial Economics
• International Economics
• Labour Economics
• Macroeconomics
• Political Economy
• Public Economics
• Experimental and Behavioural Economics Modules

Core modules

Year One

Year Two

Optional modules

Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:

Teaching

You will be taught by leading academics in the major fields of Economics using a combination of lectures and classes.

You will also be heavily involved in developing your own research under the supervision of one of our leading academics in the form of your MRes dissertation.

Class sizes

Lectures and classes typically have 15-25 students in year one.

In year two class sizes vary between 3 and 15 students.

Typical contact hours

In year one you will have 9 hours of lectures per week and 4-5 hours of seminars. In year two, teaching is mainly on a seminar basis (6 hours per week).

Your timetable

Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you and you will be able to choose your optional modules when you join us.

Reading lists

If you would like to view reading lists for current or previous cohorts of students, most departments have reading lists available through Warwick Library on the Talis Aspire platformLink opens in a new window. 

You can search for reading lists by module title, code or convenor. Please see the modules tab of this page or the module catalogue. 

Please note that some reading lists may have restricted access or be unavailable at certain times of year due to not yet being published. If you cannot access the reading list for a particular module, please check again later or contact the module’s host department.

Pre-Sessional Advanced Mathematics

You are recommended to attend the pre-sessional course in Advanced Mathematics which will be taught in the two weeks before the University’s main term begins. The course is designed to ensure that your maths knowledge and skills are at the standard required for you to succeed on the MRes/PhD course.

Assessment

Assessment is a mixture of class tests, exams, presentations, and referee reports and the MRes dissertation (maximum of 20,000 words).

Progression Criteria

If you pass the MRes at a sufficiently high level of performance, you will then proceed to the PhD programme. You will have a maximum of four years to complete the PhD, but are expected to be ready to go on the job market at the beginning of your fourth year and to be ready to submit your thesis in the following spring. We aim to provide you with professional training in modern economics, including tools and techniques of analysis as well as knowledge, and an opportunity to apply this in extended research. Our objective is to produce doctoral students who are able to pursue driven careers at the highest level in academia, government agencies or consultancies.

Find a supervisor

Please do not write to members of faculty regarding supervision or entry to the PhD, as we do not recruit PhD students in this way.

All of our PhD students must either complete the MRes Economics at Warwick or demonstrate they have completed a two-year MRes at another institution (with a syllabus closely matching that taught at Warwick) and achieved excellent results.

Research proposals

A research proposal is not necessary at the stage of application; all successful applicants enrol in the MRes degree first, but you can upload a statement of purpose if you wish.

You will also be asked to include the following in your application:

• Personal Statement which communicates your interest and/ or CV
• Your degree transcript(s), including details of any modules you have yet to complete
• English language certificate (if applicable)
• Two academic references
• Your GRE score (if you have one): This should be uploaded as a pdf document to your portal after you have submitted your application

Tuition fees

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.

Find your research course fees

Fee Status Guidance

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.

Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?

If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.

Find out more about how universities assess fee status

Additional course costs

As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips, research trips in the UK and overseas, or costs associated with travel abroad.

For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on the course web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue

Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2025/26 year of study).

In addition, you should consider the more general costs below:

• Core text books and access to research material that is not available via university resources
• Printer credits
• Printing and binding a personal copy of your dissertation
• Robe hire for your degree ceremony

Departmental Scholarship 

The majority of students offered a place on the programme will also be offered a Departmental Scholarship consisting of a fee waiver and a maintenance award. You are not required to apply for a scholarship at the time of application for the MRes/PhD programme. 

Scholarships and funding

Your career in Economics

Most of our Economics PhD job market candidates are successful in finding academic placements at prestigious universities across the world.

The most recent cohort of students secured academic positions as Lecturers, Assistant Professors or Post-doctoral Fellows at the following Higher Education Institutions: Bocconi University in Milan, the European University Institute in Florence, University College Dublin, University of Bristol, Ashoka University in India, Stockholm University, Tilburg University and the University of Tübingen.

Some of our PhD graduates choose jobs in non-academic fields which require advanced research skills, for example, central banks, regulators, think tanks or international organisations, including:

• The Institute for Government
• Government Economic Service
• The United Nations
• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• World Trade Organisation
• International Monetary Fund
• The World Bank Group

Economics at Warwick

We are committed to rigorous training of the next generation of economists in the tools and techniques of the discipline, producing cutting-edge research that has a wide and deep impact on society and the economy, and creating strong collaborations. Our work has established Warwick Economics as one of the leading centres of economic research internationally.

We rank 2nd in the UK for research excellence, in Times Higher Education Rankings based on results of the most recent Research Excellence Framework, 2021. We are 36th in the QS Subject Rankings for Economics and Econometrics 2025 and 1st in the UK in the Good University Guide 2025. 95% of postgraduate taught students agreed that their course was intellectually stimulating in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) 2024. 

There are various ways of engaging with us if you are a prospective student. We hold regular live chats, webinars and online events for prospective students and offer holders. Please see the live chat schedule for Economics. We will be attending the QS Master’s Fair in London on 4 October 2025. 

Visit the Economics website to find out more

Our Postgraduate courses

• Economics (MSc)
• Behavioural and Economic Science (Economics) (MSc)
• Economics and Data Science (MSc)
• Economics (Diploma plus MSc)
• Economics and International Financial Economics (MSc)
• MRes/PhD in Economics

Academic Resources Portal

The Department of Economics have put together a portal of academic resources recommended by faculty members for anyone who may be considering studying economics at postgraduate level.

Economics Academic Resources Portal

How to apply

Please do not write to members of faculty regarding supervision or entry to the PhD.

We do not recruit PhD students in this way. All of our PhD students must either complete the MRes Economics at Warwick or demonstrate they have completed a two-year MRes at another institution (with a syllabus closely matching that taught at Warwick) and achieved excellent results. If you are interested in direct entry to the PhD, please apply for the MRes/PhD in the first instance. If you are selected for an interview, you should at this stage make clear to the admissions committee that you are seeking direct entry to the PhD.

Applications for 2025 entry will open on 1 November 2025 and will close on 15 January 2026. 

How to apply for a postgraduate research course