Diploma in Labour Economics
Course Overview
The Diploma in Labour Economics at LSLPE is a UK Level 4 practitioner-foundation qualification running 9 to 12 months across on-campus, online and distance-learning routes. The programme is aligned with Royal Economic Society applied training standards, Government Economic Service entry competencies and Institute for Fiscal Studies methodology on UK labour market analysis. It provides a working entry point for analysts, HR staff and civil servants who work with wage, employment and skills data.
By graduation you will have produced a wage inequality decomposition, run a difference-in-differences on a real UK policy change, drafted a labour market briefing and completed a case study on a live workforce policy.
Key Features
- Curriculum aligned with Royal Economic Society applied training standards and GES entry competencies.
- Case-room seminars using IFS labour market working papers and Resolution Foundation analyses.
- Introduction to Stata and Excel for labour data.
- Guided use of the Labour Force Survey and ONS earnings releases.
- Named programme-tutor support across all three study modes.
- Articulation into LSLPE Advanced Diploma and Higher Diploma routes.
What You Will Learn
- Labour supply and labour demand fundamentals.
- Wage setting, minimum wage empirics and gender pay gap analysis.
- Human capital and returns to education.
- Unemployment measurement and cyclical dynamics.
- Discrimination and audit-study evidence.
- UK institutional context including collective bargaining and workforce data.
- Introductory econometrics for labour analysis.
- Policy evaluation of activation and skills programmes.
Who This Course Is For
- Analysts in workforce planning and HR strategy.
- Trade union research staff.
- Civil servants in the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education.
- Aspiring Government Economic Service candidates.
- International applicants studying UK labour markets for domestic reform.
Career Pathways
- Labour Market Analyst
- Economic Policy Analyst
- Government Economist entry role
- Research Economist
- Public Finance Analyst on welfare programmes
- Economic Consultant on workforce projects
- Investment Analyst on sector labour outlooks
- Behavioural Economist support role
The LSLPE careers service holds at least one careers day each academic year connecting Diploma in Labour Economics students with employers across the Government Economic Service, IFS-adjacent think tanks, trade unions and City labour research teams.
Entry Requirements
- A Level 3 qualification (A-levels, BTEC, Access to HE) or equivalent, OR a relevant Certificate at LSLPE.
- GCSE English at grade 4/C and Mathematics at grade 4/C or equivalent.
- IELTS 5.5 overall (no band below 5.5) for non-native English speakers, or equivalent.
- A personal statement outlining progression aims in labour economics.
- Applicants with relevant HR, workforce or research experience are encouraged to reference it at application.
Why Study at LSLPE
LSLPE is the specialist law, politics and economics division of Harold International College of London, teaching in small tutor-visible cohorts within a short tube ride of the Office for National Statistics offices, HM Treasury and the think tanks that produce the working papers UK labour policy relies on. The Diploma in Labour Economics reads its subject through the datasets and estimation strategies that Whitehall uses.
Three parallel study modes let progressors, working practitioners and portfolio-route applicants complete the Diploma without leaving employment, and the LSLPE careers service refreshes curriculum annually against Royal Economic Society and IFS guidance.
Apply for Diploma in Labour Economics
Applications for the Diploma in Labour Economics open with rolling intakes and admissions responds within one working day. Step up to a UK Level 4 Diploma at LSLPE with three intake windows a year, and take a credentialed UK step into applied labour analysis. Enrol Now
