The OECD Secretariat, at the invitation of the AHELO Group of National Experts, contracted the Tuning Association to undertake initial development work on learning outcomes to be used for valid and reliable assessments of students from diverse institutions and countries. The two disciplines selected for the AEHLO Feasibility Study are engineering and economics.

Following the Tuning approach, academics from various regions and countries in the world reached consensus on definitions of expected learning outcomes for bachelor’s-type programmes in both disciplines. This Working Paper presents the outcomes of their work for the economics discipline.

This report intends to identify a set of learning outcomes and spur on a collective reflection on learning outcomes for economics at the transnational level.

In addition to the agreed upon learning outcomes, the paper presents an overview of the field of economics, the typical degrees and occupations in economics associated to the first and second cycle degrees. The paper also discusses the role of learning outcomes and presents the approach used to defining them. A summary of some of the prior work on the learning outcomes approaches in the economics field is also provided.