Economics

AS and A Level

The aims of the Advanced GCE in Econom­ics are to:

develop an interest in and enthu­si­asm for the study of the subject

appre­ci­ate the contri­bu­tion of econom­ics to the under­stand­ing of
the wider economic and  social environment

develop an under­stand­ing of a range  of concepts and an abil­ity
use these concepts in a vari­ety of differ­ent contexts

help students to use an enquir­ing, crit­ical and thought­ful approach to the study of econom­ics and an abil­ity to think as an economist

develop in students the skills, qual­it­ies and atti­tudes which will equip them for the  chal­lenges, oppor­tun­it­ies and respons­ib­il­it­ies of adult and work­ing life.

Specific­a­tion: EdEx­cel Econom­ics  AS 8EC01  A 9EC01

Click here to down­load the current specific­a­tion for this A Level course.

Units 1 & 2 are stud­ied in the first year and Units 3 & 4 in the second year.

AS

The AS specific­a­tion has 2 units:

AS Unit 1: Compet­it­ive Markets — How They Work and Why They Fail

Unit code 6EC01

(50% of the total AS marks, 25% of the total GCE marks)

This unit provides an intro­duc­tion to the nature of econom­ics and exam­ines how the price mech­an­ism alloc­ates resources in markets. It analyses the nature of market fail­ure, its causes and possible policy remed­ies. At the end of this unit, students should be able to apply supply and demand analysis to real-world situ­ations; to under­stand why markets might not alloc­ate resources effi­ciently and the meth­ods of deal­ing with market fail­ure, together with an eval­u­ation of their effectiveness.

Assess­ment:

Exam­in­a­tion of 1 hour 30 minutes, consist­ing of suppor­ted multiple-choice ques­tions and one data response ques­tion out of a choice of two questions.

Unit 2: Managing the Economy - Unit code 6EC02

(50%of the total AS marks, 25% of the total GCE marks)

This unit intro­duces the key meas­ures of economic perform­ance and the main object­ives and instru­ments of economic policy. Students should be able to use a basic AD/AS model to under­stand why demand and/or supply side policies may be seen as appro­pri­ate ways of managing an economy; predict the possible impact of such policies and to recog­nise the assump­tions involved; argue for differ­ent approaches and identify criteria for success.

Assess­ment:

Exam­in­a­tion of 1 hour 30 minutes, consist­ing of one data response ques­tion out of a choice of two questions.

A Level

The A2 specific­a­tion has 2 units in addi­tion to the above 2 stud­ied at AS:

Unit 3: Busi­ness Econom­ics and Economic Effi­ciency - Unit code 6EC03

(40% of the total A2 marks, 20% of the total GCE marks)

This unit devel­ops the content of Unit 1 and exam­ines how the pricing and nature of compet­i­tion between firms is affected by the number and size of market parti­cipants. At the end of this unit, students should be able to analyse the pricing and output decisions of firms in differ­ent contexts. They should also be capable of making an appraisal of govern­ment inter­ven­tion aimed at promot­ing compet­it­ive markets.

Assess­ment:

Exam­in­a­tion of 1 hour 30 minutes, consist­ing of suppor­ted multiple-choice ques­tions and one data response ques­tion out of a choice of two questions.

Unit 4: The Global Economy - Unit code 6EC04

(60%of the total A2 marks, 30% of the total GCE marks)

This unit devel­ops the know­ledge and skills gained in Unit 2 so that they can be applied in a global context. The applic­a­tion, analysis and eval­u­ation of economic models is required as well as an abil­ity to assess policies which might be used to deal with economic prob­lems. An aware­ness of trends and devel­op­ments in the global economy over the last 10 years is required.

Assess­ment:

Exam­in­a­tion of 2 hours, consist­ing of one essay ques­tion with two parts from a choice of three topic areas, and one data response ques­tion out of a choice of two questions.