Competitions · Business and economics · LSE Economics Challenge
The LSE Economics Challenge.
Ninety minutes, fifty multiple-choice questions, and a third module most economics competitions do not have: quantitative foundations. Set by the LSE Students’ Union Economics Society with LSE academics.
At a glance
What the challenge is.
The challenge is run by the LSE Students’ Union Economics Society - the only society officially supported by the LSE economics department, with more than 800 active members - together with LSE academics and ASDAN, which delivers it in China.
- Who can enter
- Students in grades 9 to 12, and students about to enter university
- How you enter
- Individually. There is no team format
- Format
- 50 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes
- Where
- Online, or on paper at a test centre - your choice
- Language
- English only
- Three modules
- Macroeconomics, microeconomics, and quantitative foundations
- Question setting
- Set and academically reviewed by LSE economics academics. The organisers describe the paper as half international school curriculum and half LSE undergraduate economics
- Registration closes
- Late December
- The paper
- Mid-January, on a single morning
- Preparation supplied
- An academic and preparation pack from the LSE Economics Society
- Cost
- There is a registration fee. Ask the organiser for the current amount
The three modules
Two you would expect, and one you might not.
The quantitative module is the distinguishing feature. It reflects a deliberate position that economics is becoming more mathematical, and it is where students from a purely qualitative economics course lose marks.
Macroeconomics
Price indices and inflation, the multiplier and fiscal effects, national income. Standard macro theory applied to numbers rather than described.
Microeconomics
Costs and profit - including the difference between accounting and economic profit - competitive markets, and hiring decisions at the margin.
Quantitative foundations
Descriptive statistics and the arithmetic reasoning that goes with them: means, ranges, and working backwards from summary figures to the underlying data.
An honest read on difficulty
What the published samples actually look like.
The organisers describe the paper as half LSE undergraduate content. The sample questions they publish are worth looking at before you accept that as a guide to difficulty.
The samples are school-level economics
Calculating an inflation rate from two CPI figures, applying the multiplier to a tax change, distinguishing economic from accounting profit, and finding the profit-maximising number of workers from a production schedule. Any strong AP, IB or A-level student meets all four.
And the quantitative samples are arithmetic
The mean of five numbers, and recovering a mean from a total and a range. Careful work, but not undergraduate statistics.
Which does not make it easy
Fifty questions in ninety minutes is under two minutes each, and multiple choice punishes hesitation. The difficulty is in the pace and the breadth, not in the depth of any one question.
So prepare for coverage and speed
A student who knows the school syllabus thoroughly and can work quickly will do better than one who has read ahead into undergraduate material but works slowly.
The awards
Five bands, on global rank.
Awards are set on global percentile, so the cut-offs move with the field each year.
| Award | Band |
|---|---|
| Top Gold | Global top 5% |
| Gold | Global top 15% |
| Silver | Global top 30% |
| Bronze | Global top 45% |
| Merit | Global top 60% |
Every entrant receives an electronic certificate of participation, and award winners receive a certificate issued jointly by the LSE Economics Society and ASDAN. Award winners may also be offered a place at an economics summer school at a Cambridge college, which the organisers describe as open only to top performers in international economics competitions. The same benefit is attached to ASDAN’s other economics competition, so ask how places are allocated across both.
Who sets it
The society behind the paper.
The academic backing is the reason to take this competition seriously, and it is worth knowing what it consists of.
The only department-supported society
The LSE Economics Society is the sole student society officially supported by the LSE economics department, with more than 800 active members.
It publishes a peer-reviewed journal
Rationale is a student-led, peer-reviewed publication covering macroeconomics, development economics, financial markets and behavioural economics, and some of its work has been cited outside the university.
And hosts Nobel laureates
Its Sen Club seminar series has brought Amartya Sen, Eric Maskin and Oliver Hart to speak, and the annual LSE Economics Symposium draws academics and students internationally.
Delivered in China by ASDAN
ASDAN runs registration, test centres and certification in the China region. LSE academics set and review the questions.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares students for the LSE Challenge.
One paper, one morning, no team round. That makes it unusually simple to prepare for - and unusually unforgiving.
Working at under two minutes a question
Fifty questions in ninety minutes. Timed practice is the single most valuable thing here, because knowing the economics is not the same as answering fifty questions on it in an hour and a half.
Not neglecting the quantitative module
It is a third of the paper and most students prepare none of it. Descriptive statistics and working backwards from totals are quick to learn and cheap marks.
Using the society’s own pack
The LSE Economics Society supplies academic and preparation material. Working from the setters’ own resources beats general revision.
And covering both halves of the syllabus
Macro and micro carry equal weight. Students who have taken only one of them at school are answering half the paper cold.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for LSE Economics Challenge at Hanlin is taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
Programme formats
Five ways this is taught.
Group size is the whole difference between these. It decides how much of the tutor's attention a student gets and how far the course can bend to them, so it is worth choosing rather than accepting.
| Format | Group size | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one | One student | Content, pace and emphasis set by what this student actually needs rather than by a syllabus. The only format that can be rebuilt mid-course. |
| Small group | Three to eight | Opens at three. Frequent discussion, and the tutor can slow down or move on according to what the group has absorbed. Most students chasing a higher award are taught in this one. |
| Class | Eight to twelve | Taught by the subject lead or a medal coach. Less back-and-forth, so it suits a student who will say when something is unclear. |
| Large class | Ten to twenty | For students in the middle of the placement range, and a way to try a competition before committing. Students often move to a small group or to one-to-one afterwards. |
| Past-paper class | No cap | Past papers worked through in sequence in the weeks before the sitting. Free to students already enrolled. |
Course length for LSE Economics Challenge is set after a placement paper. The gap between where a student is and what the paper asks for is what the course has to close, and that gap is not the same for two students in the same year group.
How it runs
Six steps, four people on your side.
The same process for every student, so that nothing depends on one tutor remembering to do it.
Step 1Pre-course assessment
A placement paper before anything is booked, so the course tier is chosen on evidence rather than on a year group.
Step 2Tutor matching
A subject tutor is matched to the result, and their full background is provided before you agree to it.
Step 3Plan and group
A study group opens with four people on one student: the tutor, a planner, a supervisor and an academic manager.
Step 4Scheduled teaching
The teaching office sets the timetable around the competition date and school term, and teaching begins.
Step 5After-class reports
What was covered, and how the student handled it, reported after every lesson.
Step 6Homework follow-up
The teaching assistant and the form teacher both check that homework is done, which is where most preparation quietly fails.
Free resource pack
Case and submission pack
The same material our own LSE Economics Challenge students work from. Scan the code, say what you need, and an advisor sends it.
Tell an advisor which competition and year group, and the material comes back the same day. Free, and you do not have to enrol in anything. If we do not already hold what you need, we will go and find it.
- PDFPast cases and question sets
- PDFA worked example of a full submission
- PDFEvent categories and the judging criteria, broken down
- PDFEntry checklist and the dates for the current cycle
Teaching team
Who would teach it.
Three of the twenty-two tutors on the published Hanlin roster - the ones whose subject this is.
Bai
Master's in social entrepreneurship from Hult International Business School in San Francisco and a business administration degree from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, with an exchange at Texas A&M's Mays Business School. Accredited by the College Board, Cambridge International and the IBO, a certified intermediate economist, and a judge at the 2020 Diamond Challenge global final and the 2021 NEC China final.
Zhang
Master's in engineering management from NYU and a double degree in finance and supply-chain management from Syracuse. Nearly nine years overseas and in finance, including at a well-known venture firm - experience that feeds scenario-based teaching. College Board-accredited.
Jiang
Master's in business analytics from the Schulich School of Business, a finance and business economics degree from York University and a software engineering degree from the Harbin Institute of Technology. Years in North America, university teaching before returning, and long experience across the whole economics curriculum.
Where it is taught
Hanlin learning centres.
Teaching runs from Hanlin's own centres in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou, and online for students elsewhere.
Talk to an advisor
Everything Hanlin does for LSE Economics Challenge, in one conversation.
Entry, planning, coaching and the past papers. An advisor will tell you which of these a student actually needs, including when the answer is none of them.
Competition entry and planning
Which competitions suit this student, in what order, and by when - then we handle the registration, including the ones that can only be entered through a school or a centre.
Competition coaching
Taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
International curriculum tutoring
IB, AP, A-Level, IGCSE and the US high school curriculum, taught alongside school and timed around the exam calendar.
Competition past papers, free
A large library of past papers, mark schemes and syllabus breakdowns across every competition on this site. No charge and no enrolment.
Scan to add an advisor
Say which competition or course you are asking about. Replies in Chinese or English.
Or call +86 21 6352 6630FAQ
The LSE Economics Challenge, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
Who can enter?
Students in grades 9 to 12, and students about to enter university. Entry is individual - there is no team format.
Who sets the questions?
LSE economics academics, working with the LSE Students’ Union Economics Society, which is the only student society officially supported by the LSE economics department. ASDAN delivers the competition in the China region.
What is the format?
Fifty multiple-choice questions in ninety minutes, in English, sat online or on paper at a test centre.
What does it cover?
Three modules - macroeconomics, microeconomics, and quantitative foundations. The quantitative module covers descriptive statistics and the arithmetic reasoning that goes with them.
How hard is it?
The organisers describe the paper as half school curriculum and half LSE undergraduate economics. The published sample questions are at the level of a strong AP, IB or A-level course - the difficulty is in covering fifty of them in ninety minutes.
What are the awards?
Top Gold for the global top 5%, Gold for the top 15%, Silver for the top 30%, Bronze for the top 45% and Merit for the top 60%. All are electronic certificates, issued jointly by the LSE Economics Society and ASDAN.
Is there anything beyond the certificate?
Award winners may be offered a place at an economics summer school at a Cambridge college. The same offer is attached to ASDAN’s other economics competition, so ask how places are allocated between them.
Can I sit it in Chinese?
No. The challenge is in English only. You may choose to sit it online or in person.
When does it run?
Registration closes in late December and the paper is sat on a single morning in mid-January.
Is there a fee?
Yes - a registration fee covering entry, certification, marking and administration. Ask the organiser for the current amount.
Related
Other economics competitions.
What students enter alongside the LSE Challenge.
LSE Challenge enquiries
One paper, one morning, and a third of it is maths.
The quantitative module is what separates this from other economics papers, and it is the part school courses leave out. Tell us what economics the student has studied and an advisor will work out what needs adding before January.