BSc in International Economics

Course Overview

The BSc in International Economics at the London School of International Business and Management (LSIBM) is a three-year UK honours degree preparing graduates for cross-border policy, sector-analysis and trade-economics roles at UK regulators, consultancies, City banks, the Government Economic Service (GES) and international institutions. Sitting in the International Business & Trade faculty, the degree covers trade theory, international finance, geopolitical risk, econometrics and a final-year dissertation defended in front of a working trade economist.

You will complete a UK placement year in year two at a consultancy, regulator or IMF-facing bank, work on live trade-policy briefs from cohort year one, and finish with a full policy dossier or econometric evaluation. The BSc in International Economics is available on-campus in central London, fully online with cohort calls scheduled across UK and APAC time zones, and by distance learning from 2026. The programme engages with live UK-facing evidence — Bank of England Monetary Policy Reports, OBR Fiscal Outlooks, Department for Business and Trade country notes and IMF Article IV releases — and is reviewed against Royal Economic Society graduate-track membership and Government Economic Service assistant recognition.

Undergraduate teaching runs across three years in small tutor-visible cohorts with weekly seminars, module lectures delivered by working senior practitioners, a fortnightly practitioner clinic, a structured placement route in year two and a final-year dissertation with a dedicated supervisor. Every route is reviewed against UK professional-body competencies so graduates leave with a credential UK recruiters, City firms, PLCs and public bodies engage with. Online cohorts share the same intake calendar and receive the same tutor allocation and dissertation supervision as the on-campus route.

Key Features

• Curriculum designed around the Royal Economic Society, Society of Business Economists and GES economist-level competencies with international specialism.
• Three study modes — central London campus, fully online with UK / APAC cohort calls, or distance learning.
• UK placement year in a consultancy, regulator or IMF-facing bank.
• Live trade-policy briefs from cohort year one.
• Capstone policy dossier or econometric evaluation dissertation.
• One-to-one GES and City sector-analyst application coaching in the final year.
• Structured route toward Royal Economic Society graduate-track membership and Government Economic Service applications.
• Assessment combines rolling analytical portfolios with a final-year dissertation and a summative country-analysis case defence.

What You Will Learn

The degree teaches international economics as it is practised inside UK regulators, consultancies and international institutions — replicating a published trade regression, writing an IMF-style country note, and defending a policy dossier to a working trade economist.

• Advanced trade theory — Ricardo, HO, gravity model and new trade theory.
• International finance — FX regimes, balance of payments, sovereign debt.
• International macroeconomics — DSGE overview and open-economy models.
• Econometrics — panel, IV, DiD applied to trade and macro questions.
• Geopolitical risk analysis — scenario planning, sanctions, country risk.
• Post-Brexit UK trade policy — TCA, CPTPP, DIT support, Border Target Operating Model.
• Comparative regulation — EU, US IRA knock-ons, WTO.
• UK Export Finance and trade-finance basics for economists.
• Writing IMF-style country notes and GES trade briefings.
• Dissertation methodology and defence.
• Building intermediate econometric models in R against ONS, Bank of England and IMF data.
• Reading a UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement clause and defending its economic implications.
• Producing a country-risk brief in the format used by UK exporters and public bodies.
• Interpreting a Bank of England Monetary Policy Report in the context of UK-facing trade flows.
• Writing a defensible final-year dissertation on a UK-facing international-economics topic.

Who This Course Is For

• A-level leavers targeting GES, IMF-facing bank, consultancy and regulator routes.
• International students seeking a UK honours international economics degree.
• Higher Diploma or HND economics holders progressing to a top-up final year.
• Career changers on the portfolio route with quantitative or policy experience.
• Public-sector officers moving into international economics and trade-policy graduate routes.
• Mature applicants entering on the portfolio route from a UK trade-facing analytical background.

Career Pathways

Graduates typically progress into GES economist schemes, City bank economist graduate programmes, UK economic consultancies, regulator schemes and international-institution graduate routes. The degree supports applications but does not by itself guarantee an offer. Typical destinations include:

• International Economist (GES)
• Trade Economist
• Sector Analyst (City bank)
• Regulatory Economist
• Country Analyst (IMF-facing bank)
• Policy Analyst (international economics)
• Trade Economist (graduate)
• Country Desk Analyst

The BSc in International Economics is the natural step onto the MSc in Economics, MSc in International Business Strategy or the MSc in Global Finance.

BSc graduates step onto the LSIBM MSc in Economics or MSc in International Business Strategy, with realistic longer-run routes into Government Economic Service and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office roles.

Entry Requirements

• Three A-levels at BBC or above, or equivalent UK / international qualification (IB 28+, BTEC DMM, Access to HE, Foundation Year pass, or a relevant Higher Diploma with confirmed credit transfer); numeracy diagnostic set at application.
• GCSE English Language at grade 5/C and Mathematics at grade 4/C (or equivalent).
• IELTS 6.5 overall (no band below 6.0) for non-native English speakers.
• A personal statement showing genuine cross-border curiosity (extended reading, professional-body engagement, languages, policy interests) — mature applicants (21+) may enter with a portfolio and a short interview.

Why Study at LSIBM

The London School of International Business and Management (LSIBM) is a specialist business-education provider based in central London and part of Harold International College. Undergraduate cohorts sit in small groups so every student is visible to their tutor, run a single intake schedule students can rely on, and every degree route is reviewed against UK professional-body competencies — ACCA, CIMA, CIM, CIPD, CMI, CIPS, CFA UK and IOE&IT — so graduates carry a credential that City recruiters engage with.

London puts the City, Canary Wharf, Whitehall, Companies House, the FCA, the Bank of England and the West End within a short tube ride of every classroom. Undergraduate students access a fortnightly practitioner clinic, at least one industry-careers day per academic year, a structured placement route and one-to-one application coaching in the final year.

Apply for the BSc in International Economics

Launch your UK career with the BSc in International Economics. Click Enrol Now and admissions will reply within one working day with UCAS guidance, intake dates and the current fee schedule. LSIBM undergraduates receive structured placement and application coaching in every final year.