Economics A-level equips students with the understanding of markets and economies needed to develop an informed opinion of many of the key issues facing us all in the years to come. An Economics student will be at ease discussing issues such as interest rates, inflation, unemployment and in forecasting movements in exchange rates given changes in political and economic circumstances. This A-level considers microeconomic issues such as the operation of markets and market failure and the economy-wide factors of macroeconomics. We follow the AQA 7136 specification.

Subject Content:

Individuals, firms, markets and market failure:

• Economic methodology and the economic problem
• Individual economic decision making
• Price determination in a competitive market
• Production, costs and revenue
• Perfect competition, imperfectly competitive markets and monopoly
• The labour market
• The distribution of income and wealth: poverty and inequality
• The market mechanism, market failure and government intervention in markets

The national and international economy:

• The measurement of macroeconomic performance
• How the macroeconomy works: the circular flow of income, AD/AS analysis, and related concepts
• Economic performance
• Financial markets and monetary policy
• Fiscal policy and supply-side policies
• The international economy

Assessment consists of 3 written exams, each two hours long and worth 80 marks in total:

Paper 1 : Markets & Market Failure – worth 33.3.% of the A-level

Paper 2 : National & International Economy – worth 33.3% of the A-level

Paper 3: Economic Principles & Issues (Synoptic) – worth 33.3% of the A-level