Economics A Level

A minimum of 4 GCSE subjects at grade 5 or above. For this course, students must have a grade 5 in GCSE English and Maths.

Economics will give students a broad understanding of a variety of topics over the course of two years covering both microeconomics and macroeconomics.

Microeconomic 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

Macroeconomic subject content - 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 policy
• The international economy

You will be in College four days a week, with your studies being classroom based; there is no online delivery on this course.

Three A Level exams are sat at the end of Year Two and assess the content from both Year One and Year Two. Each paper is a written paper, marked out of 80, is worth 33.33% of the A Level and is 2 hours long.

Paper 1 covers the Micro content and has two sections. Section A: data response questions requiring written answers, choice of one from two contexts worth 40 marks. Section B: essay questions requiring written answers, choice of one from three worth 40 marks.

Paper 2 covers the Macro content and has two sections. Section A: data response questions requiring written answers, choice of one from two contexts worth 40 marks. Section B: essay questions requiring written answers, choice of one from three worth 40 marks.

Paper 3 is a synoptic paper covering both Micro and Macro content. Section A: multiple choice questions worth 30 marks. Section B: case study questions requiring written answers, worth 50 marks.

Economics combines well with A Level Business, Accounting, Maths and any of the Social Sciences.

The course will prepare you for higher education economics courses or can form a component of a joint degree with a wide range of other subjects, or lead to higher apprenticeships. Possible careers could include working in financial markets, business management and corporate law.