Why this course?

Economics provides insights into the forces that drive production, consumption, and trade in society. Studying economics develops your ability to analyse complex systems and identify cause-and-effect relationships. You will learn how to gather, interpret, and synthesise data to understand economic trends. An economics education equips you with a framework to comprehend the incentives that motivate human behaviour and interactions.

Course Content

Individuals, firms, markets and market failure

Individual economic decision making; production, costs and revenue; perfect competition, imperfectly competitive markets and monopoly; the labour market; the distribution of income and wealth: poverty and inequality; and 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; and the international economy.

How will I be assessed?

You will sit three two hour written exams – each exam will be worth a third of the A-level.  The papers will feature a range of question styles.

Paper 1
Markets and market failure

Paper 2
National and international economies

Paper 3
Full course questions

Student Profile

Economics students need to have a keen interest in how the national and global economies work, how individuals and businesses make decisions and how world events affect the UK.

You will need to be both literate and numerate and comfortable with handling statistics.

Complimentary Subjects

  • Mathematics
  • Business

What could I do next?

A few of the degree courses that could be completed are:

Computer Science; Mathematics; Science; Engineering.

to name a few!

You may choose to pursue a career in a directly related field such as banking or finance. The A-level course in Economics will stand you in good stead by giving you an insight and understanding of the economic forces that impact your day to day activities.

Alternatively, you may decide to follow a career path which isn’t directly related to your course of study. The analytical and evaluation skills that you will have developed will be useful whatever path you choose in the future.