ECON10004 Introductory Microeconomics is a compulsory first-year subject for every Bachelor of Commerce student at the University of Melbourne, worth 12.5 credit points. Its final exam carries 60% of the grade and operates as a hurdle, so a weak exam can sink an otherwise solid semester.
What Is ECON10004 at UniMelb?
ECON10004 is the University of Melbourne's introduction to microeconomic theory and policy, taught out of the Faculty of Business and Economics. It is a 1000-level subject, meaning first-year, and runs in Summer, Semester 1, and Semester 2.
The subject teaches how individual markets work. It covers the model of perfectly competitive markets, welfare analysis and the role of government, the theory of the firm, game theory, and how market structure shapes resource allocation.
One point students miss: this is a microeconomics subject. It does not cover GDP, inflation, or monetary policy. Those belong to ECON10003 Introductory Macroeconomics, a separate compulsory subject. If a study resource lists macro topics under ECON10004, it is describing the wrong course. You can confirm the official scope on the ECON10004 course page.
How Is the Exam Grade Broken Down?
ECON10004 uses continuous assessment across the semester plus a heavily weighted final. The structure below has held steady across recent subject guides, with the final exam functioning as a hurdle you must pass to pass the subject.
The participation rule has a sharp edge. The tutor assigns a mark out of 10, but attending fewer than 7 tutorials cuts that mark by one point for each tutorial missed below the threshold. Show up.
The two assignments reward correct method, not formatting. Students who treat them as calculation problems and check answers against the prescribed text tend to score well. Attach both the GKBM textbook and your tutorial readings to AskSia's Multi-source Q&A so each assignment answer traces back to the exact passage that supports it.
What Does the Subject Cover?
ECON10004 builds five connected strands. Perfectly competitive markets come first, then welfare and the role of government, the theory of the firm covering production and costs, game theory, and the effects of market structure on resource allocation.
The five strands connect. The theory of the firm feeds directly into how each market structure sets price and output, so a gap in cost curves becomes a gap in oligopoly analysis weeks later. Mapping that dependency early prevents the standard late-semester scramble.
Do You Need to Take It?
ECON10004 is compulsory for all Bachelor of Commerce students at Melbourne. It is also a core subject for the Economics major in the Bachelor of Arts. A pass is required before you can enrol in ECON10003 Introductory Macroeconomics or ECON20002 Intermediate Microeconomics.
Enrolment changed for 2026. Places are capped and run on a first-come, first-served basis with preference for students taking the subject as a degree requirement or major core.
If you want ECON10004 as breadth rather than as a core subject, Semester 1 is closed to you. Plan for the Semester 2 or Summer intake instead, and self-enrol early, since initial enrolment is provisional until the selection process runs.
What Do You Need To Enrol?
The prerequisite is mathematical, not economic. You do not need to have studied economics before. VCE Economics is not required, and the subject is designed for students with no prior exposure to the field.
What you do need is a maths background. The standard requirement is a study score of at least 25 in VCE Mathematical Methods or Specialist Mathematics, or an equivalent. Students without that can satisfy it through MAST10012 Introduction to Mathematics, which can be taken concurrently, or through the Foundation Mathematics sequence.
The maths matters more than the prerequisite implies. Student reviews repeatedly warn that the final exam leans on algebra, especially in oligopoly and market-structure questions, and that rusty algebra is where marks disappear. Confirm the current rule on the subject's eligibility page before you plan your enrolment.
Is ECON10004 a Hard Subject?
ECON10004 is manageable but not trivial. Reviews consistently describe the lectures and tutorials as clear and the content as intuition-led, with a manageable amount of maths through most of the semester. The difficulty spikes at the exam.
Because the final is worth 60% and works as a hurdle, the subject rewards exam-format practice over passive review. For a sense of how the difficulty compares to high-school economics, our breakdown of whether AP Macroeconomics is hard tracks the same intuition-versus-calculation tension.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ECON10004 hard?
ECON10004 is moderate in difficulty for a first-year subject, but the workload concentrates at the 60% final exam, which functions as a hurdle. Lectures and tutorials are generally rated as clear, and most of the semester relies on economic intuition rather than heavy computation. The difficulty comes from the exam, which student reviews describe as algebra-heavy, particularly the oligopoly and market-structure questions. Students with rusty maths report losing marks there despite understanding the concepts. The practical defence is exam-format practice rather than re-reading notes. Build timed practice on the highest-weight topics, the theory of the firm and consumer and producer behaviour, and use AskSia's AI tutor to rework any problem three different ways until the method is automatic.
How is ECON10004 assessed?
Assessment combines continuous tasks with a weighted final. Recent subject guides use pre-tutorial online quizzes at 5%, where only your best 9 of 11 count, Assignment 1 at 10%, Assignment 2 at 15%, tutorial participation and attendance at 10%, and a final exam at 60% that you must pass to pass the subject. The prescribed text is Principles of Microeconomics, Asia-Pacific edition, by Gans, King, Byford and Mankiw, used alongside Borland case studies. Weights have been stable across recent years, but confirm the current split on the subject's LMS page before relying on it. To prepare assignments, attach the textbook and tutorial readings to AskSia's Multi-source Q&A so each answer cites the passage it draws from.
What are the prerequisites for ECON10004?
ECON10004 has a mathematics prerequisite, not an economics one. The standard requirement is a study score of at least 25 in VCE Mathematical Methods (Units 3 and 4) or Specialist Mathematics, or an approved equivalent. Students who do not meet that can satisfy it by completing MAST10012 Introduction to Mathematics, which may be taken concurrently, or both MAST10014 and MAST10015 Foundation Mathematics. VCE Economics is not required, and no prior economics study is assumed. Note separately that Semester 1 2026 enrolment is restricted to Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts Economics-major students, which acts as a second gate beyond the academic prerequisite. Always check the current eligibility-and-requirements page on the Handbook before enrolling.
What topics does ECON10004 cover?
ECON10004 covers five core areas of microeconomic theory and policy. These are the theory of perfectly competitive markets, welfare analysis and the role of government in the economy, the theory of the firm covering production and costs, game theory, and the effects of market structure on resource allocation. The subject does not cover macroeconomic topics such as GDP, inflation, unemployment, or monetary policy, which are taught in ECON10003 Introductory Macroeconomics. If a study guide lists macro content under ECON10004, it is describing the wrong subject. Map the five strands in order before the exam, because later topics such as market structure depend on earlier ones such as cost curves. AskSia's Concept Map shows those dependencies as a single tree.
Is Introductory Microeconomics compulsory at UniMelb?
Yes. ECON10004 is a compulsory subject for every Bachelor of Commerce student at the University of Melbourne and a core subject for the Economics major in the Bachelor of Arts. A pass in ECON10004 is required before you can enrol in ECON10003 Introductory Macroeconomics or ECON20002 Intermediate Microeconomics, so failing it blocks two later compulsory subjects. Students from other faculties can take it as a breadth subject, subject to the enrolment quotas. If you are weighing where the subject leads, our overview of Monash's Master of Economics shows how an introductory micro foundation feeds into graduate study. Plan your first-year sequence so ECON10004 sits before any subject that lists it as a prerequisite.
When can you take ECON10004?
ECON10004 runs three times a year: Summer, Semester 1, and Semester 2. For 2026, Semester 1 offers 2,600 places restricted to Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts Economics-major students, and Semester 2 offers 1,900 places where breadth students can enrol. Students taking the subject as breadth should plan for the Semester 2 or Summer intake, since Semester 1 is closed to them. Places are allocated first-come, first-served with preference given to students for whom the subject is a degree requirement or major core, and initial self-enrolment is provisional until the selection process runs. Enrol as early as your enrolment window opens, and submit an Enrolment Assistance Form if a compulsory place appears full.
