About the course

The MPhil in Economics is designed to provide rigorous training in economic theory, applied economics, and econometric methods. It is comparable to the first two years of a PhD programme at a US university.

The MPhil provides a solid foundation for progressing to doctoral research, while at the same time providing the advanced knowledge and skills required for a career as a professional economist in government or the private sector. Numerous MPhil graduates have gone on to distinguished careers in economics or related fields. This is the course recommended if you have not undertaken any previous graduate work in economics.

The department has developed the MPhil to enable students to easily tailor the course to their specific needs and objectives. For those already intending to progress to a DPhil at Oxford or a PhD elsewhere, the MPhil will offer rigour and exposure to the research frontier. For those intending a career as a professional economist, the MPhil will offer a broad range of options and opportunities for skill development. And for those unsure about further study beyond the masters’ level, the two years of the MPhil programme will allow you to make this choice after learning more about what graduate economic training involves.

Assessment

The three compulsory courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics are examined before the start of the third term of the first year. The required thesis is an important component of the second year, and is supervised by a member of the department. The thesis is up to 20,000 words in length and is usually expected to contain some original research. It can be incorporated into a DPhil thesis, if you continue onto the doctoral programme.

You will receive numerical grades for your thesis and for each option course. Based on these grades and those for the first year courses, the examiners may award an overall pass grade, a pass with merit or a pass with distinction for the course. There is a prize for the best thesis and a prize for best overall performance in written papers.

Graduate destinations

Each year around 10-20 MPhil students proceed to the DPhil in Economics at Oxford. Others go on to doctoral programmes elsewhere or embark on careers as professional economists in the private or public sector.

Examples from the 2017 graduating cohort include doctoral programmes at Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, EUI, NYU, Northwestern and Stanford University California; employment with the Bank of England, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank, ODI Fellow, Morgan Stanley London, Goldman Sachs, Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the UK Government.