Economics offer rates by university

Data: UCAS End of Cycle 2025 and university course pages, updated November 2026. Methodology

UCAS does not publish a separate offer rate for economics. Economics sits in the social sciences subject area (CAH15) alongside politics, sociology, PPE-style joint degrees and social policy, so each university's rate below covers all of those courses together.

How the economics offer rate has changed

Nationally the rate was 87% in 2019, fell to 79% in 2022, and stood at 84% in 2025. Applications went from 133,410 to 151,870 over the same period.

Most selective universities for economics

8 of the 113 universities we list made offers to fewer than half of applicants. These are the lowest rates among universities with at least 200 applications, so a single small year does not distort the list.

Where most applicants get an offer

90 of 113 universities made offers to at least 90% of applicants, and the median university sat at 96%. Large examples include University of Nottingham (93%), University of Exeter (97%), University of Sheffield (93%), University of Warwick (92%), University of York (97%) and Nottingham Trent University (99%). A high rate does not mean any grades will do: offers still come with conditions, and missing them on results day is where most applicants lose a place.

What grades economics courses ask for

Across the 280 courses with an A-level typical offer, the most common offers are AAA (83 courses), AAB (53 courses), ABB (48 courses), A*AA (34 courses). The highest offers below belong to the most selective courses.

Turning a rate into your own odds

The offer rate is the starting point, not the answer. Two things move your chances far more than the average: how your predicted grades compare with the typical offer, and how strong the rest of the field is at that university. At a university where 96% of applicants get an offer, predicted grades at or above the typical offer usually mean an offer. At a university under 30%, almost everyone applying already meets the typical offer, so predicted grades only get you into the pile; the personal statement, reference, admissions test and interview decide the rest.

A sensible economics list has at most one or two choices from the most selective table above, two where your predictions match the typical offer and one where you are a grade or two above it. That spread is what keeps the chance of ending up with no offers low. OfferCheck tracks 305 economics courses with a typical offer or offer-rate figure, each with its own page.

How to use these numbers

• An offer rate describes everyone who applied, not you. Compare your predicted grades with each course's typical offer first.
• Spread your five choices: one or two ambitious, two that match your predictions and one where you are comfortably above the typical offer.
• See which offer to firm once decisions arrive, and when universities send offers if you are still waiting.