MSc in Economics for Development
About the course
This is a nine-month degree in development economics with a strong emphasis on bringing methods of modern economic analysis to economic development theory and policy. The course will prepare you for further academic research or for work as a professional development economist in international agencies, governments or the private sector.
Course objectives
The course seeks to cultivate the analytical and critical skills relevant to economic development, in particular those needed to assess alternative approaches to policy. It provides the rigorous quantitative training that development work now requires, helping you develop the ability to access, process and interpret a variety of data. It aims to provide the research tools and approaches needed for those who wish to proceed to doctoral research in development economics.
Courses structure
You will take courses in economic theory (split between macroeconomics, microeconomics and international trade), a course in quantitative methods (ie econometrics) and a choice of four or five from a series of at least eight elective modules in development economics. Topics vary from year to year. In recent years, modules have covered topics such as agriculture, political economy and institutions, globalisation, macroeconomic policy, behavioural economics, risk and microfinance. With the approval of the Course Director, a candidate may substitute one topic from the Development Economics course with an appropriate option from the MPhil Development Studies, MSc Global Governance & Diplomacy, MSc Migration Studies, or MSc Refugee & Forced Migration Studies.
A central component of the course is a dissertation written on a subject which you choose in consultation with your supervisor and with the agreement of your Course Director. More information on the structure of the course is available in the course handbook on the departmental website’s course page.
Teaching and learning
The course is taught through lectures and classes and, for the development modules, student presentations. The quantitative methods course also includes hands-on training in the use of specialist statistical software. Class sizes are small – usually between 5 and 30 students – encouraging active participation and enabling students to learn from each other.
During the course you will be required to complete a number of problem sets and write essays for individual supervisors (the tutorial system). This system is used to build critical and analytical skills and is particularly beneficial to students from a different background of instruction.
Around 65% - 75% of your time will be spent on lectures and guided study, with the remaining 25% - 35% devoted to self-directed work, much of which will be spent on your dissertation.
As a student on the course you will be able to attend a wide range of public seminars organised within both ODID and the Economics Department, in particular the seminars run by the Centre for the Study of African Economies. Beyond the immediate degree, Oxford offers a great variety of events, including seminars and lectures by distinguished academics and policy-makers in related fields.
Attendance
The course is full-time and requires attendance in Oxford. Full-time students are subject to the University's Residence requirements.
Resources to support your study
As a graduate student, you will have access to the University's wide range of world-class resources including libraries, museums, galleries, digital resources and IT services.
The Bodleian Libraries is the largest library system in the UK. It includes the main Bodleian Library and libraries across Oxford, including major research libraries and faculty, department and institute libraries. Together, the Libraries hold more than 13 million printed items, provide access to e-journals, and contain outstanding special collections including rare books and manuscripts, classical papyri, maps, music, art and printed ephemera.
The University's IT Services is available to all students to support with core university IT systems and tools, as well as many other services and facilities. IT Services also offers a range of IT learning courses for students, to support with learning and research.
Libraries
In addition to the world-class resources of the Bodleian Libraries, the Social Sciences Library, the largest freestanding social science library in the UK, is nearby. As alumni of the University, students can sign up for lifetime access to key online journals.
IT support
You will have access to high-quality IT facilities and will be provided with licences for econometric and data-analysis software. Most students choose to bring their own laptop computers and to use these for data analysis, but ODID provides hot-desking areas with desktop computers and printing, as well as wireless internet access. Technical support is available through ODID and the Economics Department, your college and the University’s IT Services, which also offers training courses. Course materials are available online via Canvas, the University’s Virtual Learning Environment.
Departmental facilities
Teaching takes place in seminar rooms in ODID or the Manor Road Building. In ODID there is a common room area where students from all the department's courses can gather. Light lunches in the Cafeteria are available during term. The Manor Road Building also offers a cafeteria and common room for students' use.
Supervision
The allocation of graduate supervision is the responsibility of the Oxford Department of International Development, in conjunction with the Department of Economics, and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff.
You will be allocated a general supervisor who will support your academic development and with whom you will meet regularly throughout the course. Allocation is based on your research interests, optimal fit with the supervisor’s expertise, and staff availability. In cases where dissertation supervision requires expertise that is not available among the core staff, an additional dissertation supervisor with expertise in the chosen field may be identified.
In addition, you will have a college advisor whom you may consult on issues concerning your personal wellbeing.
Assessment
On-course assessment, which will not count towards your final degree, will be provided through feedback on problem sets and essays. In addition, there will be five informal examinations during the year. Again, these will not count towards your final degree but they will provide an invaluable opportunity to assess your progress and for you to practise exam technique.
The degree is formally assessed through examination at the end of the final term. This normally comprises four written papers: microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory and international trade, quantitative methods, and development economics. Students permitted to substitute one topic from the development economics course with an option course will sit a pro-rata development economics examination and the assessment from the option course.
The dissertation will be submitted before the examinations and your final mark will be aggregated from the results of the examinations and the dissertation.
Graduate destinations
The MSc was the perfect way for me to re-engage with my interest in development economics and acquire rigorous technical skills that will set me up for a career in international development. I hugely enjoyed the course material and research opportunities presented by the course, but above all, I valued the time spent with professors and course mates discussing big topics in development.
Julia, MSc student
Approximately one third of MSc graduates proceed to doctoral research in economics, either immediately or after work experience in the field. Of these, two or three will usually continue to the doctoral programme in Economics in Oxford. Significant numbers of MSc graduates proceed to work in the major international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the UN system, as well as in the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Many others work in the international NGO sector and for major consultancies.
Changes to this course and your supervision
The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. The safety of students, staff and visitors is paramount and major changes to delivery or services may have to be made if a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency occurs. In addition, in certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.
Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include illness, sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.
For further information please see our page on changes to courses and the provisions of the student contract regarding changes to courses.
Entry requirements for entry in 2025-26
Proven and potential academic excellence
The requirements described below are specific to this course and apply only in the year of entry that is shown. You can use our interactive tool to help you evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive.
Please be aware that any studentships that are linked to this course may have different or additional requirements and you should read any studentship information carefully before applying.
Degree-level qualifications
As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:
- a first-class or a very strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in economics.
However, entrance to the course is very competitive and most successful applicants have a first-class degree or the equivalent.
Applicants whose first degree contains little or no economics cannot be considered for this course. The minimum requirement is the equivalent of two years of full-time study at university level of economics courses (please note that courses in finance, planning, business, management and other similar subjects do not count as economics courses). Some mathematical and quantitative ability is essential for this course.
If your first degree contains too little economics for the MSc, but you nonetheless wish to study development at Oxford, you may wish to consider the two-year MPhil in Economics or the two-year MPhil in Development Studies.
For applicants with a bachelor's degree from the USA, the minimum overall GPA that is normally required to meet the undergraduate-level requirement is 3.6 out of 4.0. However, selection of candidates also depends on other factors in your application and most successful applicants have GPA scores of 3.7 or higher.
If your degree is not from the UK or another country specified above, visit our International Qualifications page for guidance on the qualifications and grades that would usually be considered to meet the University’s minimum entry requirements.
GRE General Test scores
You must submit a recent Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score. There is no specified minimum GRE score, and these scores are only used to provide useful comparative information in the admissions process, especially for students coming from non-UK institutions.
Other qualifications, evidence of excellence and relevant experience
- Relevant experience in developing countries is desirable but is not at all essential.
- An ability to work both independently and in groups is essential.
- Publications are not expected or required for admission, but any can be listed on the CV.
English language proficiency
This course requires proficiency in English at the University's higher level. If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence that you meet this requirement. The minimum scores required to meet the University's higher level are detailed in the table below.
| Test | Minimum overall score | Minimum score per component |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS Academic (Institution code: 0713) | 7.5 | 7.0 |
TOEFL iBT, including the 'Home Edition' (Institution code: 0490) | 110 | Listening: 22 Reading: 24 Speaking: 25 Writing: 24 |
| C1 Advanced* | 191 | 185 |
| C2 Proficiency† | 191 | 185 |
*Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English or Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE)
†Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)
Your test must have been taken no more than two years before the start date of your course. Our Application Guide provides further information about the English language test requirement.
Declaring extenuating circumstances
If your ability to meet the entry requirements has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (eg you were awarded an unclassified/ungraded degree) or any other exceptional personal circumstance (eg other illness or bereavement), please refer to the guidance on extenuating circumstances in the Application Guide for information about how to declare this so that your application can be considered appropriately.
References
You will need to register three referees who can give an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for the course. The How to apply section of this page provides details of the types of reference that are required in support of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.
Supporting documents
You will be required to supply supporting documents with your application. The How to apply section of this page provides details of the supporting documents that are required as part of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.
Performance at interview
Interviews are not normally held as part of the admissions process.
Offer conditions for successful applications
If you receive an offer of a place at Oxford, your offer will outline any conditions that you need to satisfy and any actions you need to take, together with any associated deadlines. These may include academic conditions, such as achieving a specific final grade in your current degree course. These conditions will usually depend on your individual academic circumstances and may vary between applicants. Our 'After you apply' pages provide more information about offers and conditions.
In addition to any academic conditions which are set, you will also be required to meet the following requirements:
Financial Declaration
If you are offered a place, you will be required to complete a Financial Declaration in order to meet your financial condition of admission.
Disclosure of criminal convictions
In accordance with the University’s obligations towards students and staff, we will ask you to declare any relevant, unspent criminal convictions before you can take up a place at Oxford.
Other factors governing whether places can be offered
The following factors will also govern whether candidates can be offered places:
- the ability of the University to provide the appropriate supervision for your studies, as outlined under the 'Supervision' heading in the About section of this page;
- the ability of the University to provide appropriate support for your studies (eg through the provision of facilities, resources, teaching and/or research opportunities); and
- minimum and maximum limits to the numbers of students who may be admitted to the University's taught and research programmes.
Departments offering this course
This course is offered jointly by the following departments:
Oxford Department of International Development
Studying international development at Oxford means engaging with some of the most pressing issues of our time: from global governance and security to migration and human rights; from poverty and inequality to technological innovation and enterprise; from children and youth to environmental change and sustainability.
As part of a global epistemic community, the department aims to generate ideas that set agendas for scholars, governments, international agencies and civil society.
At Oxford you will take a unique, multi- and interdisciplinary approach to examine these and other complex issues affecting the countries of the developing world and the emerging economies. The approach encompasses economics, politics, international relations, anthropology, history, sociology, and law, and teaching is provided by world-class scholars in these fields.
Graduate courses at the Oxford Department of International Development (ODID) also offer small class sizes, personal supervision, training in methods, and the opportunity to research and write an original thesis and make an active contribution.
The department is a lively community that is recognised internationally as one of the top centres for research and teaching in development studies. It hosts some 70 distinguished academics and a number of externally funded research groups that are at the forefront of their specialist subject areas.
Students at ODID come from across the world. At Oxford, they are taught to develop as critical and independent thinkers and when they leave us they go on to forge varied and successful careers as scholars, practitioners and policy-makers in the field of international development and beyond.
Department of Economics
Oxford's Department of Economics is one of Europe's leading research departments and its members include some of the world's most distinguished academic economists.
The department offers its community of around 300 graduate students a rigorous and relevant training in economics, providing a setting in which debate and research can flourish.
Its graduate courses prepare students for a wide range of careers in academia, government and business.
The department is committed to excellence in teaching and the MPhil and DPhil in Economics are internationally recognised for the quality of the training provided. The University of Oxford is ranked 2nd in Europe in the most recent Tilburg University ranking of Economics departments, based on research contribution for the period between 2016-2020.
In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework exercise, that evaluated research output of UK Universities, Oxford was first for overall research strength in Economics and Econometrics, with more research ranked as ‘world-leading’ than any other participating institution. In a submission of 84 FTE academics, which was the largest number of researchers submitted in the Economics and Econometrics Unit of Assessment, 94% of the department's research output was assessed as ‘internationally excellent’ or ‘world-leading’ (3* or 4*).
The scale and breadth of the department’s research is a product of a vibrant and well-connected community, with particular attention on supporting early career researchers. The department maintains world-class expertise in the core discipline areas of microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics, while building clusters of research strength in more specialist subfields – notably applied microeconomics; behavioural economics and game theory; the economics of climate change and sustainability; machine learning; economic history; and development economics.
Oxford has one of the strongest, largest, and most varied groups of economists in the world. Its objective is to engage in innovative research that extends the frontiers of the discipline, deepening our understanding of the operation of modern economies.
Research spans almost all the major sub-fields of economics with particular strengths in microeconomic theory, including behavioural economics; econometrics, both micro-econometrics and time series; economic history and development and international economics. Research activity is focused within smaller, specialised groups, with each group holding regular workshops at which research by faculty and graduate students is presented and discussed. Many distinguished researchers from outside Oxford also visit to present their work at seminars.
The department hosts research centres such as the Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), which is internationally recognised as a hub for innovative research and outreach to the academic and policy-making communities world-wide through their seminars, workshops and annual conferences.
Funding
For entry in the 2025-26 academic year, the collegiate University expects to offer over 1,000 full or partial graduate scholarships across a wide range of graduate courses.
If you apply by the January deadline shown on this page and receive a course offer, your application will then be considered for Oxford scholarships. For the majority of Oxford scholarships, your application will automatically be assessed against the eligibility criteria, without needing to make a separate application. There are further Oxford scholarships available which have additional eligibility criteria and where you are required to submit a separate application. Most scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and/or potential.
To ensure that you are considered for Oxford scholarships that require a separate application, for which you may be eligible, use our fees, funding and scholarship search tool to identify these opportunities and find out how to apply. Alongside Oxford scholarships, you should also consider other opportunities for which you may be eligible including a range of external funding, loan schemes for postgraduate study and any other scholarships which may also still be available after the January deadline as listed on our fees, funding and scholarship search tool.
Details of college-specific funding opportunities can also be found on individual college websites:
Please refer to the College preference section of this page to identify which of the colleges listed above accept students for this course.
For the majority of college scholarships, it doesn’t matter which college, if any, you state a preference for in your application. If another college is able to offer you a scholarship, your application can be moved to that college if you accept the scholarship. Some college scholarships may require you to state a preference for that college when you apply, so check the eligibility requirements carefully.
Further information about funding opportunities for this course can be found on the Oxford Department of International Development website.
Costs
Annual fees for entry in 2025-26
Fee status | Annual Course fees |
| Home | £30,210 |
| Overseas | £38,410 |
Information about course fees
Course fees are payable each year, for the duration of your fee liability (your fee liability is the length of time for which you are required to pay course fees). For courses lasting longer than one year, please be aware that fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on changes to fees and charges.
Course fees cover your teaching as well as other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. Unless specified in the additional information section below, course fees do not cover your accommodation, residential costs or other living costs. They also don’t cover any additional costs and charges that are outlined in the additional information below.
Where can I find further information about fees?
The Fees and Funding section of this website provides further information about course fees, including information about fee status and eligibility and your length of fee liability.
Additional information
You must attend a pre-sessional Maths course in the week before the Induction Week sessions for the MSc in Economics for Development begins. There is no charge for the course, but you will need to pay for accommodation and living expenses during this period. The department estimates that this accommodation will cost between £250 and £500 depending on the college and the type of accommodation. Also as part of your course requirements, you will choose a dissertation topic. Please note that, depending on your choice of topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.
Living costs
In addition to your course fees and any additional course-specific costs, you will need to ensure that you have adequate funds to support your living costs for the duration of your course.
Living costs for full-time study
For the 2025-26 academic year, the range of likely living costs for a single, full-time student is between £1,425 and £2,035 for each month spent in Oxford. We provide the cost per month so you can multiply up by the number of months you expect to live in Oxford. Depending on your circumstances, you may also need to budget for the costs of a student visa and immigration health surcharge and/or living costs for family members or other dependants that you plan to bring with you to Oxford (assuming that dependant visa eligibility criteria are met).
Further information about living costs
The current economic climate and high national rate of inflation make it very hard to estimate potential changes to the cost of living over the next few years. For study in Oxford beyond the 2025-26 academic year, it is suggested that you budget for potential increases in living expenses of around 4% each year – although this rate may vary depending on the national economic situation. For further information, please consult our more detailed information about living costs, which includes a breakdown of likely living costs in Oxford for items such as food, accommodation and study costs.
College preference
Students enrolled on this course will belong to both a department/faculty and a college. Please note that ‘college’ and ‘colleges’ refers to all 43 of the University’s colleges, including those designated as societies and permanent private halls (PPHs).
If you apply for a place on this course you will have the option to express a preference for one of the colleges listed below, or you can ask us to find a college for you. Before deciding, we suggest that you read our brief introduction to the college system at Oxford and our advice about expressing a college preference.
If you are a current Oxford student and you would like to remain at your current Oxford college, you should check whether it is listed below. If it is, you should indicate this preference when you apply. If not, you should contact your college office to ask whether they would be willing to make an exception. Further information about staying at your current college can be found in our Application Guide.
The following colleges accept students on the MSc in Economics for Development:
Before you apply
Our guide to getting started provides general advice on how to prepare for and start your application. You can use our interactive tool to help you evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive.
If it is important for you to have your application considered under a particular deadline – eg under the January deadline in order to be considered for Oxford scholarships – we recommend that you aim to complete and submit your application at least two weeks in advance. Check the deadlines on this page and the information about deadlines and when to apply in our Application Guide.
Application fee waivers
An application fee of £75 is payable for each application to this course. Application fee waivers are available for the following applicants who meet the eligibility criteria:
- applicants from low-income countries;
- refugees and displaced persons;
- UK applicants from low-income backgrounds; and
- applicants who applied for our Graduate Access Programmes in the past two years and met the eligibility criteria.
You are encouraged to check whether you're eligible for an application fee waiver before you apply.
Do I need to contact anyone before I apply?
No. New MSc students are informed about their supervisor during their induction sessions.
Completing your application
You should refer to the information below when completing the application form, paying attention to the specific requirements for the supporting documents.
For this course, the application form will include questions that collect information that would usually be included in a CV/résumé. You should not upload a separate document. If a separate CV/résumé is uploaded, it will be removed from your application.
If any document does not meet the specification, including the stipulated word count, your application may be considered incomplete and not assessed by the academic department. Expand each section to show further details.
Referees:
Three overall, at least two, but ideally all of which must be academic
Whilst you must register three referees, the department may start the assessment of your application if two of the three references are submitted by the course deadline and your application is otherwise complete. Please note that you may still be required to ensure your third referee supplies a reference for consideration.
Your references will support academic ability, motivation and suitability for your chosen programme of study and any other information you consider to be relevant to your application. Academic references are required.
Official transcript(s)
Your transcripts should give detailed information of the individual grades received in your university-level qualifications to date. You should only upload official documents issued by your institution and any transcript not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation.
More information about the transcript requirement is available in the Application Guide.
Statement of purpose/personal statement:
A minimum of 500 words up to a maximum of 1,000 words
Your statement should be written in English and should indicate what areas of study in the subject interest you and in what ways you believe the MSc might contribute to your career development plans.
If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.
This will be assessed with respect to your interests in development economics, including the strength of your academic interest in development, previous background in developing countries, and/or the breadth of your preparation for the course.
Written work:
Two essays, a minimum of 2,000 words to a maximum of 4,000 words each
You should submit two pieces of written work from your most recent qualification, written in English, of between 2,000 and 4,000 words each (excluding bibliographies and brief footnotes).
If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.
These should be economic essays/term-papers or extracts from a longer piece of academic work (such as a thesis or dissertation).If you are submitting the latter, you should make it clear to the Admissions Committee that this is an extract, and where it has come from. Please do not submit more than one extract from the same longer piece of work. Multi-authored works are not acceptable.
If your most recent qualification did not require academic essays, consider writing fresh pieces of academic work, in English, for the application. Your submissions will allow the Admissions Committee to assess your ability to undertake economic analysis and also your ability to write analytic essays in English.
GRE General Test results
You must submit a recent Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score. If you do not have a recent GRE certificate and are not able to take the test before the application deadline, you may send the certificate as soon as possible after the deadline. There is no specified minimum GRE score, and these scores are only used to provide useful comparative information in the admissions process, especially for students coming from non-UK institutions.
Start or continue your application
You can start or return to an application using the relevant link below. As you complete the form, please refer to the requirements above and consult our Application Guide for advice.
After you've submitted your application
Your application (including the supporting documents outlined above) will be assessed against the entry requirements detailed on this course page. Whether or not you have secured funding will not be taken into consideration when your application is assessed. You can find out more about our shortlisting and selection process in our detailed guide to what happens next.
Find out how to manage your application after submission, using our Applicant Self-Service tool.