Welcome to the University of Warwick Spring Open Day

This is PPE Professor Mark Harrison, May 12, 2012

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Introducing myself

• Mark Harrison• I am a professor of economics. • And an economic historian.• And (currently) PPE director of studies.• Contact: mark.harrison@warwick.ac.uk.

May 12, 2012

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Road Map

• What is PPE?• Who takes PPE and where do they go?• What does Warwick offer?• What qualities do you need?• How much does it cost?• Some questions only you can answer.• Questions as we go along, or at the end …

May 12, 2012

If you would like to review this presentation afterwards, I uploaded it this morning to http://go.warwick.ac.uk/ppe/prospective.

What is PPE?

• Philosophy, Politics, and Economics have been taught together in Britain since the 1920s.

• First university to offer this course was Oxford.• Today PPE is offered by many excellent

universities:– From UK, France, and Germany to North America,

China, Japan, and Australia.– Among them Warwick.

May 12, 2012 4

What is PPE?• Philosophy, Politics, and Economics may be studied separately.

– When you study PPE at Warwick, you follow them together. – Contrast the Oxford PPE, based on a pillar model with three independent

elements.– Warwick follows a bridge model that seeks to cross gaps between P, P,

and E.• To illustrate, Principles of Political Economy is core module of the

final year.– Taught by members of staff from all three disciplines. – Integrates study of all three disciplines.– Focuses on the global political economy. – Topics have included global justice, development, globalization and

international trade, global governance, and aid and humanitarian interventions.

May 12, 2012 5

Who takes PPE?• Across three years of study we now have 268 undergraduates (40%

female) from 40 countries.– PPE is an international experience.– Top Ten by number (after UK): India, Singapore, China, Germany, France,

Malaysia, Norway, Sweden, Pakistan, Denmark.• Demand for PPE is strong.

– Annually we receive around 1,000 applications.– We make around 300 offers.– We fill around 100 places.– Candidates from outside EU are around one in four at all points in the cycle.– This year almost unchanged from last year.

• Strong demand for places is tough for applicants.• But reflects the fact that Warwick PPE is a valuable qualification when

you leave.May 12, 2012 6

Where do they go?

• PPE a highly respected degree.• Most graduate positions open to any discipline, so

Warwick’s reputation also counts strongly:– At our largest careers fair, 82% of employers recruited from

any degree. • Warwick consistently among Top Ten universities

targeted by top graduate recruiters:– Association of Graduate Recruiters survey.

• Warwick the top UK university for careers advice:– International Student Barometer 2010, an independent

survey of student opinion.May 12, 2012 7

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Data for 2007/08 to 2009/10 N %

Warwick PPE graduates 146

Survey respondents 96 96/146 = 66% of all graduates

Where do they go?

May 12, 2012

Data for 2007/08 to 2009/10 N %

Warwick PPE graduates 146

Survey respondents 96 96/146 = 66% of all graduates

Available for work or study 91

Actually in work or study 86 86/91 = 94% of all available

Working 34

Studying 40

Working and studying 12

Data for 2007/08 to 2009/10 N %

Warwick PPE graduates 146

Survey respondents 96 96/146 = 66% of all graduates

Available for work or study 91

Actually in work or study 86 86/91 = 94% of all available

Working 34

Studying 40

Working and studying 12

In work or study at graduate level 74 74/86 = 86% of all in work or study

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Where do they go?

• Employers included:– BDO International; centre forum; Clinphone/Perceptive

Informatics; Deloitte; Ernst & Young; Global Environment Institute; Goldman Sachs; HomeServe Plc; Investigo; JP Morgan; Kingston Smith; KPMG; Mayfield Asset Management; McQuarrie Capital; N M Rothschild; OHO Group; Oxford University Press; RBC Capital Markets; the Polish Ministry of Health; Royal Bank of Scotland; Singapore Tourism Board; Smith & Williamson; South Bank Employers Group; War on Want.

• Median salary (18 respondents): £20k to 24.9k.May 12, 2012

Where do they go?• Of those going on to further study:

– Taught Master's programme: 60%– Postgraduate diploma: 20%

• PG diplomas often lead to a taught Master's in a related subject.

– Professional qualification: 10%.• Master’s programmes:

– Either at highly ranked UK institutions (Imperial College London, London School of Economics, Oxford, University College London, Warwick).

– Or overseas, e.g. Sciences-Po (Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris).• Typically in:

– Economics, development studies, finance, philosophy, history, management, international security, European or international political economy, political thought or political science, public administration, and public policy.

May 12, 2012 10

What does Warwick offer?

• Three PPE Departments.• All strong in both research and teaching.• All run their own more specialized programmes too.• All three are large:– Well resourced administratively.– Support a specialized PPE Office.– Scope to cover all main fields of discipline.

• All are close neighbours in the Social Sciences building.– We talk to each other a lot.

May 12, 2012 11

What does Warwick offer?

• Year 1 is a qualifying year: Pass to proceed.• There are core (compulsory) modules.– Introduction to Philosophy.– Introduction to Politics.– Economics 1: micro- and macroeconomics.– Quantitative Techniques: maths and statistics.

• Plus:– An optional subject.

May 12, 2012 12

What does Warwick offer?

• Choose first-year option from a list.• Several provided within the three departments. – Philosophy: Introduction to Ancient Philosophy; Ideas

of Freedom.– Politics: World Politics.– Economics: World Economy: History and Theory; The

Industrial Economy; Mathematics for Economists.• Others provided by other departments in Social

Sciences or Arts, including a language.

May 12, 2012 13

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What does Warwick offer?

• After the first year there are several pathways.• At Foundation (year 1) level, PPE combines all three

disciplines.• At Honours level (years 2 and 3), you can focus:

– On all three disciplines or, at a first approximation, drop one.– More or less on quantitative methods used in economics.

• Six pathways:– Tripartite (all three disciplines).– Phil/Pol.– Phil/Econ.– Pol/Econ.

May 12, 2012

– Econ major/Phil.– Econ major/Pol.

Phil core

Pol core

Econ

core QMPrin-ciples Options

Leadsto

Year 2 2 or 3 2 2 3 2 and 3

Tripartite BA

What does Warwick offer?

May 12, 2012 15

•No one drops any discipline altogether.•The final year Principles core has three units: Phil/Pol, Phil/Econ,

Pol/Econ.•In Principles, everyone must do two units out of three.

Phil core

Pol core

Econ

core QMPrin-ciples Options

Leadsto

Year 2 2 or 3 2 2 3 2 and 3

Tripartite BA

Phil/Pol BA

Phil/Econ BA

Pol/Econ BA

Phil core

Pol core

Econ

core QMPrin-ciples Options

Leadsto

Year 2 2 or 3 2 2 3 2 and 3

Tripartite BA

Phil/Pol BA

Phil/Econ BA

Pol/Econ BA

Econ major/Phil BSc

Econ major/Pol BSc

What does Warwick offer?• Academic support: Lectures.

– Usually two per week in each module, attended by all students taking the module

• Seminars.– Small discussion groups with a tutor, usually once per week or fortnight

in each module.• Regular assessment.

– Essays, tests, projects, exams, final-year dissertation.• PPE student-staff liaison committee.• Private study and self-motivation are vital.• University services.

– Library and Learning Grid (24/7 space for group work).– Excellent careers advice and skills provision.

May 12, 2012 16

What does Warwick offer?• Study abroad: PPE students have access to links established by all three

three PPE departments.• Erasmus programme (mainly Economics and Politics).

– Adds a year of study abroad between Years 2 and 3.– Graduate after four years in “PPE with study abroad.”– Austria (Salzburg), Belgium (UFSI, Antwerp), France (IEP de Bordeaux, Grenoble,

Paris; CU, Lille; Sciences Po, Paris; Paris Sorbonne), Germany (Jena, Konstanz, Munich), Italy (CU Milan; Pavia); Netherlands (Amsterdam), Norway (Bergen), Portugal (Nova, Lisbon), Spain (Autonoma, Barcelona; Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona; Carlos III, Madrid; UC, Madrid).

• Exchange programmes (Politics and Philosophy).– Study abroad during Year 2, mirroring the Warwick Year 2 programme.– Graduate after three years.– Canada (Queen’s University Ontario), China (City University of Hong Kong), USA

(Georgetown, Washington, DC; University of California; University of Wisconsin-Madison).

May 12, 2012 17

What does Warwick offer?

• Pastoral support.– See your personal tutor at least once a term.– PPE director of studies and senior tutor also

available.• PPE Society organizes student mentors.• University services.– Senior tutor.– Student counsellors.

• Student Union advice service.

May 12, 2012 18

What does Warwick offer?

• Student-led PPE Society organizes guest lectures at Warwick as well as social events for PPE students.

• This year: – Diana Coyle, advisor to the UK Treasury, member of the

Competition Commission, and author of The Economics of Enough.– Andrew Gamble, head of Politics and International Studies at

Cambridge and author of Spectre at the Feast.– Sir Geoffrey Bindman, human rights lawyer and chair of the British

Institute of Human Rights. – Theodore Zeldin, philosopher-historian and president of the Oxford

Muse.– Oliver James, psychologist and author of Affluenza.

May 12, 2012 19

What qualities do you need?

• A capacity for hard work and perseverance.– Willingness to take on new subjects.– Manage discomfort of unfamiliar ways of thinking.– If you’re not confused, you’re not learning.

• Versatility: – Solving an economic model for equilibrium one week.– Parsing moral dilemmas the next.– Conceptualizing democracy the week after that.

• Willingness to ignore intellectual boundaries.– Ultimately all knowledge is one.– Why Warwick is a university, not a multiversity.

May 12, 2012 20

What qualities do you need?• Numeracy as well as literacy.

– No one takes pride in illiteracy.– But there are already lots of clever people that “don’t do maths.”

• Why is maths useful in PPE?– Simplification. – Abstract thinking.– Logical proof.– What data do and do not show.

• The maths is generally simple and we don’t require A-level.– But you do need to be comfortable with it.– Not to see solving simple problems as drudgery.

• If maths is a drag or a barrier, PPE may not be for you.May 12, 2012 21

What qualities do you need?• Our typical entry conditions:

– Grades A*AA at A-level + grade B at AS level.– Score 38 points in the IB.

• Our one subject requirement:– Grade A in GCSE Mathematics.

• We look for academic potential:– Traditional subjects, so History, Economics, Maths, English, Modern Languages, and

Sciences.– Spread of subjects, so Economics + Business, or Mathematics + Further

Mathematics may not work in your favour.• We also look for evidence of:

– Ability in exams, so no more than one subject assessed mainly by coursework.– Interest in at least two of the three disciplines, especially philosophy.– Because you can apply separately for more specialized degree courses.– Or the BSc in Economics, Politics, & International Studies.

May 12, 2012 22

How much will it cost?

• Tuition fees: In 2013/14, new full time Home and EU students will pay £9,000 annually. – Fees are payable for each year of your course.– Partial fees for an intercalated year or year abroad.

• No one has to find this money “up front.”– All Home and EU students are eligible for a tuition fee loan

for each year of your course from Student Finance England .– Repayable once you earn £21,000 or more.– Written off after 30 years.

• If your studies do not lead to the income stream you hope for, the government bears the risk.

May 12, 2012 23

How much will it cost?• Living costs: We estimate £156 to £250 a week for 39 week academic

year ≈ £6,000 to £10,000.– Exactly how much depends on you!

• All Home students are eligible for loans towards living costs, available from the Government. – Repayable once you earn £21,000 or more.

• Some Home students will be eligible for means-tested non-repayable grants, available from both the Government and the University.

• Non-repayable Warwick bursaries are based on annual family income:– £25,000 or less → £2,500– £25,001 to £36,000 → £1,500– £36,001 to £42,600 → £500

May 12, 2012 24

Summary of support for Home students’ living costs

Income £ Loan £ Grant £Warwick

Bursary £ Total £ Weekly £25,000 or less 3,875 3,250 2,500 9,625 247

30,00035,00040,00042,60042,60150,00055,00060,000

62,500 and above

Income £ Loan £ Grant £Warwick

Bursary £ Total £ Weekly £25,000 or less 3,875 3,250 2,500 9,625 247

30,000 4,330 2,341 1,500 8,171 21035,000 4,784 1,432 1,500 7,716 19840,000 5,239 523 500 6,262 16142,600 5,475 50 500 6,025 15442,601 5,500 0 0 5,500 14150,000 4,788 0 0 4,788 12355,000 4,288 0 0 4,288 11060,000 3,788 0 0 3,788 97

62,500 and above 3,575 0 0 3,575 92

May 12, 2012 25

How much will it cost?

• Further information: Student finance advisers will be available today in the Exhibition between 10:00 and 15:30.

• Details available on line:– University: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/ugfunding – Government: http

://www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance

May 12, 2012 26

Some questions only you can answer

• Do you want to study PPE?– If so, do you want to come to Warwick?

• Some things to consider:– Numeracy as well as literacy.– PPE versus more specialized courses.– Campus university versus city university.– Midlands versus other regions.

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Any questions for now?

May 12, 2012