Economics A-level

What is Economics?

Economics is the study of the allocation of resources. For example, three people have a cake - how do you share the cake? Most people would say to the split the cake into three equal pieces - but maybe one person made the cake, so they should get more. Maybe one person skipped breakfast so they should get more cake...

This is Economics - "the study of sharing"!

What do I study in Economics?

• How to make better choices in life, breaking down complicated real-life problems into easy decisions.
• What governments do to improve society by fixing problems, and how this can sometimes go badly wrong.
• Why we trade with distant countries like Kenya rather than neighbouring EU countries - is this good for Kenya?
• Why petrol prices are so high despite oil prices falling, and how we stop this.

What skills will I learn in Economics?

• Working as a team, as well as independently.
• Problem-solving and finding solutions.
• Analytical thinking.
• Use mathematics in context of real-life problems.

The course

This is a two-year linear course in A-level Economics. After two years of study, candidates can choose to undertake either the AS Level or A-level Economics.

Economics is in two parts - Microeconomics (the study of consumers, firms, and the government) and Macroeconomics (the study of a country's economy and how it interacts with other countries).

AS Level: 

• Theme 1 (50%) Introduction to markets and market failure (Mixture of multiple-choice, short answer, data response, and an essay on markets, market failure, and government intervention)
• Theme 2 (50%) The UK economy - performance and policies (Mixture of multiple-choice, short answer, data response on the UK economy, macroeconomic objectives, and policies)

A-level:

• Unit 1 - Paper 1: Market and business behaviour (35%) (Mixture of multiple-choice, short answer, data response, and an essay on markets, market failure, government intervention, and business economics)
• Paper 2: The national and global economy (35%) (Mixture of multiple-choice, short answer, data response, and an essay on the UK economy, macroeconomic policies, the global economy, and financial sector)
• Paper 3: Microeconomics and macroeconomics (30%) (Data response and essays on all content covered in the course)

Entry Requirements/Co-Requisites

• Candidates should have a keen interest in current affairs and world events, as they will be expected to write about recent affairs in their examination.
• A minimum of a grade 6 in GCSE English and Mathematics is required because of the data interpretation part of the course. A grade 5 in GCSE Mathematics can be accepted with a passing grade in the Economics Baseline Test, completed in the first week of Year 12.
• Studying A-level Mathematics alongside A-level Economics is encouraged for studying Economics at a higher level.