Programme Specification: BSc Economic History with Economics
1. Awarding Body
2. Details of accreditation by a
professional/statutory body, e.g. ESRC;
BPS etc
3. Name of final award
4. Programme Title
5. Duration of the course
6. Based in the Department/Institute:
7. Relevant QAA subject benchmark
statements
LSE
N/A
8. UCAS Code
9. First written/last amended
V3L1 BSc/EcHEc
September 2003 / revised November 2012
BSc
Economic History with Economics
36 months full-time
Economic History
History (2007) and Economics (2007)
10. The programme aims to:


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Provide students with the resources and experience to understand and evaluate
claims about how and why the economic world changes;
Provide training in economics and economic history to the level where students can
marshal economic arguments and analyse economic evidence in making such
claims;
Give students a sound grasp of the principles of economic analysis to the
intermediate level.
11. Programme outcomes: knowledge and understanding; skills and other attributes
Subject knowledge:
 a substantial body of economic history knowledge involving both breadth and depth;
 an appreciation of the complexity of reconstructing the past and understanding
present economic problems, and of the problematic nature of evidence;
 a sound grasp of the principles of economics to the intermediate level;
 an ability to apply their economic knowledge to a range of contemporary and historical
economic problems.
Transferable understanding and skills;
 understand complex problems by framing them in ways which simplify while still
retaining relevance;
 ability to undertake independent research on their own formulated question;
 gather, deploy and assess evidence;
 make logical arguments consistent with inferences from evidence;
 examine critically the arguments and evidence presented by others;
 communicate these arguments and conclusions in clear, concise and persuasive
forms.
General skills:
 skills in IT for general use;
 library and information search skills;
 research report writing;
 oral presentations.
Information relating to careers can be accessed here
12. Teaching, learning and assessment strategies to enable outcomes to be achieved
and demonstrated
Teaching and learning strategies:
This is a joint degree programme with the emphasis on economic history, tutored in the
Economic History department. The economic history side of the degree is based on a
progression from 1st to 3rd year courses in terms of the sophistication of the treatment of
concepts, theories, evidence, topics and questions. This is primarily a learning-by-doing
progression which engages the student in developing understanding and skills through taking
courses covering different times, places and themes. In economics, students gain core
competences in economic principles. These progression differences are reflected in the
teaching and assessment arrangements. The economic history teaching, learning and
assessment progression is laid out here. For further information on the economics side of the
degree, please see the BSc Economics programme specification.
The economic history teaching programme is based on a progression from 1st to 3rd year
courses as outlined above. This progression is reflected in the teaching, learning and
assessment arrangements. All courses consist of 20-24 weeks of formal teaching, 2 hours per
week per course. In the economic history department, first and second year courses are
delivered by means of a combination of lectures and classes (maximum 15 students in a
class); third year teaching is predominantly conducted by 2-hour seminars. In the economics
department, courses are taught by lectures and classes throughout. All courses in economic
history are supported by Moodle, which is the virtual learning environment system (VLE) used
by LSE.
Students first learn how to apply economic thinking to historical problems in our first year
compulsory course. Lectures are used to deliver knowledge of the substantive topic alongside
the methods of approach. In complementary accompanying classes, students learn from
discussing the professional journal and book literature in answering specific questions
designed to help them understand the difficulties and possibilities of applying a social science
to historical problems. Concurrently, students are studying the basic principles of economics
acquiring technical and quantitative skills and taking an outside optional course.
In their second year, students take one compulsory economic history course (EH237) which
examines theories and concepts used in economic history and provides an introduction to the
methods used by economic historians, along with a selected optional course in economic
history. . Again, students learn from a combination of lectures and classes with the specialist
“in depth” course providing the opportunity for students to meet with primary source evidence.
On the economics side, students deepen their acquaintance with the principles of either microand macroeconomics. In their third year, students take the alternative economics principles
option left from year 2, and two specialist economic history courses. Here they primarily learn
through seminars in which students work on somewhat open-ended, but still pre-assigned,
course questions. All class and seminar teaching is based on the active participation by
students, and so this is where learning-by-doing takes place. Progression through the years
requires an increasing level of student self-motivation and self-direction as well as more
difficult and conceptually advanced materials and questions.
A very important component of students’ learning is that they undertake an independent
research project on an economic history topic of their own choosing in their 3rd year. This is
done following general guidelines and according to a structured timetable. During this
process, students discuss their topics and research questions together and with faculty
members, providing several feedback opportunities. In addition, each student is allowed two
formal supervisors, their tutor and another relevant faculty members. The general and
individual supervision sessions are designed to help them to develop their work according to
the requirements for the thesis, namely independent research work with primary source
materials. Each student may have a draft of their thesis read once before submission and has
the opportunity to revise it following feedback from the faculty member.
All lectures are taught by LSE faculty or visiting teachers and post-doctoral researchers and all
3rd year economic history seminars are led by such faculty. In economic history, first and
second year classes are taught by part-time teachers, mainly the department’s current or
completed PhD students. Such teachers are supported by the course lecturer and by the
department’s Mentor for Graduate Teaching Assistants (as well as the School’s support and
training systems for such teachers). In the economics department, lecturers are faculty
members and classes are provided by part-time teachers, mainly research students. All
students are allocated to a member of the teaching faculty in the economic history department
for individual supervision and dissertation supervision. Visitors and research faculty are also
available to provide further expertise for dissertation research. The Undergraduate Tutor
provides support to all students in respect of course choice, and any other programme issues.
Assessment strategies:
All courses have written work requirements appropriate to their levels and all students are
given feedback on written work during each course. All economic history courses, with the
exception of EH237, (and the economics and maths papers) are formally assessed by 3 hour
written examination. EH237 is examined by a 3,000 word project as well as a 3-hour written
examination. 3rd year students produce a 10,000 word research dissertation according to
criteria related to the programme aims and outcomes (above).
13. Programme structures and requirements, levels, modules and awards
See further information on the BSc Economic History with Economics
Additional information
14. Criteria for admission to the programme
Course requirement: GCSE pass at grade B or better in Mathematics is expected.
Usual standard offer: GCE A level: grades A A B (including A at A-level Mathematics).
International Baccalaureate: Diploma with 37 points including 6 6 6 at Higher level (one of
which must be Mathematics).
Other qualifications are considered.
15. Indicators of quality
Consistent positive External Examiners’ reports on the degree programme and performance
of students.
Members of the department serve on the council and executive committee of the Economic
History Society and many editorial boards in the field; we currently have editors of two such
journals in the department.
We have a strong record of “cliometric” research work (the combination of economics and
quantitative economic history) within the department and several faculty have economics
degrees, and began, or have spent part of, their careers, in economics departments.
Demand for places (2012): applications . Expected intake .
The LSE Careers Centre website provides data on career destinations of LSE graduates.
16. Methods for evaluating and improving the quality and standard of teaching and
learning
The programme is subject to the School’s overall mechanisms for quality evaluation and
improvement. Students in this degree are supervised in the economic history department.
Our departmental mechanisms are as follows:
We use four mechanisms to review quality and initiate improvement.
a) Review by the departmental Teaching Committee, which includes the Head of Department
and Undergraduate Departmental Tutor;
b) Review by Department Meeting;
c) Review with Economics Department equivalent office holders;
d) Review by course proprietors;
e) student review through Staff-Student Liaison Committees and other formal and informal
mechanisms.
The first two mechanisms (a) and (b) are used to evaluate and improve the quality of
teaching; programme offerings; programme design; and assessment. Minor changes are
initiated by advice from officer holders to the department; major changes are decided by the
department as a whole (often following a Teaching Committee review). This sometimes
involves the third mechanism (c), when issues relevant to the programme design or course
requirements are involved. (d) is used by individual teachers to improve course quality and
design of courses taught within the department.
Our mechanisms make use of information and advice given by External Examiners reports,
TQARO teaching surveys, teaching assessment and training office, our staff-student
committee meetings, individual student feedback, and our own course level reviews.
School mechanisms (*operate at departmental level):
 regular staff appraisal*;
 induction and mentoring* system;
 improvements in teaching technique are effected by the Teaching and Learning
Centre (TLC) through observations, advice and further training;
 Staff/student liaison committee;
 centrally administered student satisfaction questionnaires by the Teaching Quality
Assurance and Review Office;
 an improved system for ensuring that External Examiner’s
comments/recommendations are fed through to Departments and acted upon;
 the School’s Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee (TLAC) which regulates
all aspects of teaching quality;
 annual monitoring of courses and periodic reviews every 3-5 years. The outcomes of
the annual reviews are presented to TLAC;
 the School’s Undergraduate Studies Sub Committee and Graduate Studies Sub
Committee which oversee all taught programmes and ensure that significant changes
to programmes and courses pass through a sequence of formal stages to ensure that
curricular changes are appropriate and compatible with other developments.
[Further information about additional Economics Department mechanisms can be gained by
consulting the programme specifications for the BSc Economics degree.]