Royal Holloway's Department of Economics stands as one of the UK's premier centres for international research in Economics
Through the combination of high-quality inspirational teaching with world-class research our postgraduate taught courses are designed to prepare students for careers in government, the financial sector, consultancies, and international organisations. The advanced options offered to our students also serve as excellent preparation for further postgraduate research studies.
With our postgraduate programme being kept relatively small, our students benefit from considerable individual attention from staff within an environment that is friendly, international, diverse, and dynamic.
Courses
Our core one-year courses are designed for students with an undergraduate degree in Economics or other quantitative disciplines. We offer two one-year courses:
MSc Economics
This course is designed to equip you with the tools of a modern economist, including quantitative skills and understanding of advanced economic theory. During the year you will be able to study a variety of topics including macroeconomics, inequality and development and applied econometrics. On completion of the 12 months, you will be ready for your chosen career path, whether in the private or the public sector, or doing further research studies.
MSc Finance
This course will equip you with the skills required for a career in the broad area of finance, including financial analysis and management, insurance, management consultancy, mergers and acquisitions, risk control, and sales trading. It will provide you with training from a practical as well as a theoretical point to enhance your employability. Through your studies you will gain a strong grounding in core areas of finance and have the flexibility to specialise in areas such as fixed income securities and derivatives, investment and portfolio management or private equity.
Structure
The structure of each of these four courses for 2025/26 entry can be found here.
Joint Course
Jointly with the Computer Science Department we further offer
MSc Computational FinanceThe course introduces you to modern finance theory and methods for data analysis applied to financial modelling and predictions. You’ll acquire skills demanded by jobs in asset pricing, risk management and quantitative trading. For the MSc Computational Finance we offer a two-year option with a year in industry.
Further information
Teaching and research
The links between teaching and research are important for any contemporary degree environment. As a leading department for economic research and teaching, we have a strong reputation for being research that speaks to the global challenges of our time and for being able to incorporate our expertise into our teaching to deliver degrees that are engaging, relevant, skill-emphasizing, and that ready our students for making a difference in the world!
Facilities
All our MSc courses start with common training in quantitative and mathematical methods. In addition, throughout the year, a number of modules are co-taught. This shared teaching across our courses creates a strong sense of community among our students.
To reinforce the sense of economics postgraduate community, our students enjoy a dedicated study space equipped with computing facilities centrally located within our Horton Building.
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Programme
For MSc Finance students we also offer integration with the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) accreditation programme.
It can help you:
- Gain credibility with peers, employers and clients
- Become part of a professional network of more than 135,000 charter holders worldwide
- Earn more money
- Join other charter holders in employment. The top 11 global employers of charter holders are JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, UBS, RBC, HSBC, Wells Fargo, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney, BlackRock and Citigroup.
This integration programme can be supplemented with further tuition, video lectures and a mock exam with an external publisher for £900.
For more information visit the CFA institute website.
Fees and funding and how to apply
The fees for each of the above course are listed on the respective course finder page here.
Royal Holloway alumni who continue their studies with us at postgraduate level can automatically receive a 15% tuition fee discount.
For eligible EU students starting their course with us in the academic year 2023/24, the University will award an EU Fee Reduction Scholarship equivalent to 30% of the difference between the UK (Home) and International fee.
As soon as you have received your offer to study with us there is also a wide range of postgraduate scholarships that you can apply for if eligible. There are listed here.
Graduate destinations
Beyond graduation, our students have an impressive employment record of 90% within six months of graduation.
Royal Holloway graduates regularly find positions in high profile companies and organisations, with many finding work in government, research, business and financial sectors. For students considering pursuing further study, the MSc programme is an ideal starting point, providing a solid foundation for PhD level studies.
Destinations of recent graduates include:
- Consulting - Accenture, Deloitte
- Financial sector - Bloomberg, Citigroup
- Public sector - Department of Energy, Department of Education
Find out more about graduate destinations here.
Community
The friendly and community orientated environment at Royal Holloway naturally brings together staff and students, forging strong working relationships. The beautiful, leafy Surrey campus is a great place to live, but also has fantastic links to Central London, Windsor and Reading.
Having everything – studies, friends, societies, sports and social life – on your doorstep sets us apart from other colleges of the University of London.
For more information about student life at Royal Holloway, take a look here.
What our students say
Hannah Manak
MSc Economics
“I enjoyed my time at Royal Holloway as a undergraduate so much that I decided to stay on for another year to do a Masters.
“Academically, the teaching standard of the lecturers at Royal Holloway is very good, with many of them being experts in their respective fields and world-renowned.
“The welcoming, homely atmosphere created by all the lecturers, the amazing administration team (who always made an extra effort to learn everyone's names and were great fun to just have a chat with) and the other students, is what made my time at Royal Holloway some of the best years of my life."
Mike Simmons
MSc Economics
"I chose Royal Holloway to study the MSc in Economics due to its high academic reputation and low comparable cost.
“The small cohort meant each student received ample contact time with academic staff which allowed for more intricate knowledge of the subjects.
“The outstanding teaching on the course facilitated a love for the subject for which I am truly grateful. It is with these qualities, and many others that Royal Holloway as a whole holds, that makes it a fantastic place for further study."
