A Level Economics is ideal if you are curious about how markets and the economy work, and why governments make the economic decisions that they do. Key areas such as how individual markets like the automotive industry work, economic policies that the government may have and how we judge the performance of an economy, are all covered too. As key concepts are introduced from the start, you do not need to have a GCSE in Economics.
This A Level provides an ideal starting point for careers in fields including banking and finance, business management, economics, accountancy, journalism and broadcasting, and government. If you are ready to work hard and engage with complex ideas, this is a challenging and rewarding subject that encourages critical thinking and deep analysis.
Content Overview
Year 1
• Paper 1 – Markets and market failure: Explore how markets work, how they can go wrong, and how the government can intervene when this happens
• Paper 2 – The UK Economy: Investigate the different measures of economic performance and policies that the government can use in order to improve each of these
Year 2
• Paper 1 – Markets and business behaviour. Paper 1 will assess microeconomics and questions will be drawn from Themes 1 and 3 below.
• Paper 2 – The National and Global Economy. Paper 2 will assess macroeconomics and questions will be drawn from Themes 2 and 4 below.
• Paper 3 – Microeconomics and macroeconomics. Paper 3 will assess content across all four themes below.
Modules
Year 1
Theme 1: Introduction to markets and market failure – This theme focuses on microeconomic concepts. You will develop an understanding of:
a. nature of economics
b. how markets work
c. market failure
d. government intervention
Theme 2: The UK economy – performance and policies. This theme focuses on macroeconomic concepts. You will develop an understanding of:
a. measures of economic performance
b. aggregate demand
c. aggregate supply
d. national income
e. economic growth
f. macroeconomic objectives and policy
Year 2
Theme 3: Business behaviour and the labour market. This theme develops the microeconomic concepts introduced in Theme 1 and focuses on business economics. You will develop an understanding of:
a. business growth
b. business objectives
c. revenues, costs and profits
d. market structures
e. labour market
f. government intervention
Theme 4: A global perspective. This theme develops the macroeconomic concepts introduced in Theme 2 and applies these concepts in a global context. You will develop an understanding of:
a. international economics
b. poverty and inequality
c. emerging and developing economies
d. the financial sector
e. role of the state in the macroeconomy
