Economics A Level
Course Overview
A Level Economics provides a comprehensive introduction to many of the real-world topics that will influence the rest of your life – unemployment, mortgage rates, economic prosperity and the environment. Our course provides a solid foundation of both macroeconomic and microeconomic knowledge that will enable you to analyse and evaluate world events and political statements with a greater degree of understanding.
Economics is a social science because it fundamentally seeks to explain human behaviour in economic contexts and predict future outcomes based on sophisticated models and diagrams.
If you like to think about the basic problems of human society – how to allocate scarce resources to a population who have unlimited wants and needs, then this course will suit you. For example, we look at how an industry determines a price level for its goods and how government policies can reduce inflation. Sometimes the free market fails to allocate resources in the right way and unwanted outcomes can occur, such as pollution or lack of access to healthcare. We therefore look at policies that can attempt to correct these ‘market failures’, again based on the models that economists have come up with. These are the sorts of topics you’ll be studying in Year 1 Economics.
The course is entirely exam assessed but with a variety of question lengths, from multiple choice to longer essays. As there is an emphasis on data analysis, a willingness to work with numbers is helpful. However, the ability to write clearly and to the point is vital.
Year 1 Modules
- Markets and market failure
- UK Economy – Performance and policies.
Year 2 Modules
- Business behaviour and the labour market
- A global perspective
Key Info
Minimum Entry Requirements
- Five GCSEs at Grade 5 including:
- Grade 5 in either GCSE English Language* or GCSE English Literature
- Grade 5 in GCSE Maths
*a minimum of Grade 4 in GCSE English Language is required to study this course.
Assessment
- 100% Exam
- Exam Board: Edexcel
169
Total students
19
Average class size
Why choose this course?
You should choose this course if...
- You enjoy looking at world events with an analytical eye, hoping to find reasons for and solutions to the many problems that our world faces.
- You enjoy problem-solving and figuring out how things work and how they are put together.
- You want to understand the economic factors that will impact on your future career, life and happiness.
- You have a logical, methodical approach to work and problem-solving.
- You want to develop a broad range of skills, such as written data analysis and numeracy, to apply to those problems.
There are regular subject plus sessions each week for both first and second year students, to enable students to catch up on missed material, support those who have found some of the content tricky or who want to develop a deeper understanding of a particular content area. These sessions are generally divided into supportive and stretch and challenge groups. In the second year we visit the Bank of England and the City of London, to look in detail at how the material we have studied links to the real world.
Skills you'll gain
By studying A Level Economics you will develop a broad range of skills applicable to your future lives and careers.
These include:
- Data analysis and numerical skills.
- The ability to critically assess real world events and situations.
- An understanding of the key economic factors which will influence the world in which they live.
After Long Road
Economics students’ progress to a wide variety of destinations both in higher education and employment.
A substantial number go on to study either Economics or a closely related subject, with Business, Finance and Law at the top of this list. Destinations last year included York and Liverpool to study Economics and Finance, as well as Manchester to read Law.
The subject is also popular as a third choice with students progressing to totally unrelated fields, with yacht design and fashion being recent examples.
Other students move into employment, often via the apprenticeship route, with accountancy being a favourite, although far from the only option.
I find it really interesting; to be able to understand current affairs is so rewarding. It’s so engaging to be able to understand the terminology and the reasons why the economy works the way it does. There’s lots to get your teeth into!
