PhD Economics 2026-27

Academic Regulations: Faculty of Social Sciences

The Academic Regulations apply to and regulate the programme(s) listed above.  

On occasion, programmes can be exempted from one or more of the clauses in the Regulations; one or more of the clauses can be varied; and programmes can impose additional requirements.

• Exemptions are characterised by the omission of the relevant clause.
• Variations are characterised by the replacement of the clause with alternative wording.
• Additions are characterised by requirements in addition to those detailed in the Academic regulations.

The programmes listed have approval from the Academic Quality and Standards Subcommittee for the exemptions and/or variations and/or additions to the regulations noted below.

Addition

1. As part of the programme-specific Required Training, students entering the PhD Economics programme should take three modules from the list of modules offered as part of the MSc or MRes programmes in Economics, the MSc Finance and Econometrics, or from other relevant postgraduate programmes of the University. These courses will be agreed with the supervisory team during the Academic Needs Analysis process which takes place at the start of the programme.  

2. These modules are typically taken during the first year of candidature. The standard Pass Mark at Master’s level is 50% and PhD students should therefore aim for 60% in each of these modules. Students who do not reach 60% and wish to improve their score will have an opportunity to do so.  
    

3. A reduction in the number of required modules may be requested in circumstances where students can demonstrate adequate prior Master’s level training. Students must have previously taken modules equivalent to Southampton’s MSc/MRes Economics semester 1 and research-led option modules supporting the specific dissertation project and they are required to present syllabi of these modules to their main supervisor during the Academic Needs Analysis process. Approval of any such request will be made by the Doctoral Programme Director following consultation with the student’s supervisory team.

These regulations should be read in conjunction with the Doctoral Programme Profile. 

Disclaimer

As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our programmes to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. As a result, these regulations may be revised during a student’s period of registration, however, any revision will be balanced against the requirement that the student should receive the educational service expected. Please read our Disclaimer to see why, when and how changes may be made to a student’s programme.