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The route into economist

Assembled backwards from the job: the degrees that lead there, the subjects those degrees require, the exams and when they are sat, and what the whole thing costs in years. Print it.

1. Subjects, chosen at fifteen or sixteen

Aggregated across every degree that leads here. Anything marked required closes the door if you skip it.

Saudi curriculum track

مسار إدارة الأعمال— Business Administration · مسار إدارة الأعمال— Business Administration, or a science track · مسار علوم الحاسب والهندسة— Computer Science and Engineering · المسار العامor مسار إدارة الأعمال· مسار علوم الحاسب والهندسة— Computer Science and Engineering, or مسار الصحة والحياةfor a biostatistics route

A-Level

  • Mathematicsrequiredfor Accounting and Finance, Economics, Mathematics, Political Science and International Relations, Statistics
  • Economicshelpsfor Accounting and Finance, Economics, Political Science and International Relations, Statistics
  • Further Mathematicshelpsfor Economics, Mathematics, Statistics
  • Historyhelpsfor Economics, Political Science and International Relations
  • Business Studieshelpsfor Accounting and Finance
  • Physicshelpsfor Mathematics
  • Government and Politicshelpsfor Political Science and International Relations
  • A languagehelpsfor Political Science and International Relations
  • Biologyhelpsfor Statistics

IB Diploma

  • Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HLrequiredfor Economics, Mathematics, Statistics
  • Economics HLhelpsfor Accounting and Finance, Economics, Political Science and International Relations, Statistics
  • History HLhelpsfor Economics, Political Science and International Relations
  • Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation HL or Analysis and Approacheshelpsfor Accounting and Finance
  • Business Managementhelpsfor Accounting and Finance
  • Physics HLhelpsfor Mathematics
  • Global Politics HLhelpsfor Political Science and International Relations
  • A second languagehelpsfor Political Science and International Relations
  • Biology HLhelpsfor Statistics

Advanced Placement

  • AP Statisticshelpsfor Accounting and Finance, Economics, Mathematics, Political Science and International Relations, Statistics
  • AP Macroeconomicshelpsfor Accounting and Finance, Economics, Political Science and International Relations
  • AP Calculus BChelpsfor Economics, Mathematics, Statistics
  • AP Microeconomicshelpsfor Accounting and Finance, Economics
  • AP Calculus ABhelpsfor Accounting and Finance
  • AP Physics C: Mechanicshelpsfor Mathematics
  • AP Computer Science Ahelpsfor Mathematics
  • AP Comparative Government and Politicshelpsfor Political Science and International Relations
  • AP US Government and Politicshelpsfor Political Science and International Relations
  • AP World Historyhelpsfor Political Science and International Relations
  • AP Biologyhelpsfor Statistics

2. The degree

More than one route usually exists. They are not equivalent.

  • Accounting and Finance

    Reachable with a quantitative master's, for those who find the theory more interesting than the practice.

    Four years in the Kingdom, three to four in the UK, followed by three or more years of professional examinations while working.

  • Economics

    The direct destination in government, central banking, consultancies and international institutions.

    Three to four years, with a placement or exchange year common.

  • Mathematics

    Modern economics is mathematics applied to human behaviour, and this is a strong entry to it.

    Three years in the UK, four in the Kingdom and the US; four-year integrated master's routes are common.

  • Political Science and International Relations

    Reachable with quantitative methods and a master's, and political economy sits between the two.

    Three to four years, often with a language, an exchange or an internship year.

  • Statistics

    Applied econometrics is statistics under another name.

    Three to four years for the bachelor's, plus a master's that is close to an entry requirement rather than an advantage.

3. Exams, and when to sit them

Registration deadlines fall weeks or months before the exam. That is what people miss, not the exam.

  • Qudurat and TahsiliGrade 11 and 12

    The Saudi admission composite; some business colleges require the humanities Tahsili and some do not.

    • Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
    • Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
    • Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.
  • SAT or ACTGrade 11 to early Grade 12

    For US applications, where business schools are often a separate admission.

    • March, May, JuneSpring sittings. The standard first attempt, in Grade 11.
    • August, October, November, DecemberAutumn sittings. The second attempt, and the last one that reaches early US deadlines is usually the October or November date.
    • Two to four weeks after each sittingScores released; sending them to universities is a separate step with its own timing.
  • Professional examinationsAfter graduation, over three or more years

    SOCPA, ACCA, CPA, CIMA or ICAEW. This is the qualification employers pay for and value; the degree mainly buys you exemptions from parts of it.

  • TMUAOctober

    Required or advantageous for economics at Cambridge, LSE, Warwick and Durham among others.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • TSAOctober

    Oxford PPE and Economics and Management.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • STEPJune, alongside A-Levels

    Usually an offer condition at Cambridge and Warwick rather than a shortlisting test. Genuinely hard; begin a year early.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • Postgraduate admissionFinal year of the bachelor's

    The real gate for this profession. Around seven in ten statisticians hold a master's or doctorate, so plan the bachelor's with that in mind.

4. After the degree

Training, licensing and the years between graduating and practising independently.

United Kingdom

  1. schoolA-levels including maths or economics2 yr
  2. undergraduateEconomics degree, or a joint degree with substantial economics3 yr
  3. postgraduateMaster's, expected for most professional economist roles1–2 yrs
  4. practiceEconomist0 yr

LicensingNone. No registration or protected title.

Saudi Arabia

  1. schoolSecondary school, either track3 yr
  2. undergraduateBSc Economics4–5 yrs
  3. postgraduateMaster's or doctorate, frequently abroad on scholarship2–5 yrs
  4. practiceEconomist0 yr

LicensingNone.

5. What the route costs

Not tuition — time. The years spent training are years not spent earning, and that is the largest cost of a long route by a wide margin.

United Kingdom

School-leaving to independent practice: 3–5 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is management consultant at 3 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 2 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of £27,000–35,000, that is roughly £54,000–70,000 of earnings deferred.

Saudi Arabia

School-leaving to independent practice: 4–8 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is air traffic controller at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 4 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of SAR 140,000–220,000, that is roughly SAR 560,000–880,000 of earnings deferred.

How that figure was reached, and what it leaves out

It is arithmetic on the sourced figures elsewhere on this site — training years multiplied by the shortest route’s entry pay — not a measurement of anything. It ignores what trainees earn while training, which in medicine and several other routes is a real salary. It ignores the pay you reach afterwards, which for long routes is usually higher and can overtake the gap entirely. And it excludes tuition, deliberately: Saudi public universities charge nationals no tuition, and fees abroad vary so widely by country and university that any single figure would be misleading. Treat it as a sense of scale for the years, not as a calculation of whether a career is worth it.

Everything on this page is assembled from the career page, the majors that lead to it and the exams those majors require, so it cannot say something they do not. Entry requirements change every year — confirm on the course page for the year you apply.