Overview of AQA A-level Economics qualifications
Subject content:
1. Individuals, firms, markets and market failure
| Scope of study | Content |
|---|---|
| Economic methodology and the economic problem | • Economic methodology • The nature and purpose of economic activity • Economic resources • Scarcity, choice and the allocation of resources • Production possibility diagrams |
| Individual economic decision making | • Consumer behaviour • Imperfect information • Aspects of behavioural economic theory • Behavioural economics and economic policy |
| Price determination in a competitive market | • The determinants of the demand for goods and services • Price, income and cross elasticities of demand • The determinants of the supply of goods and services • Price elasticity of supply • The determination of equilibrium market prices • The interrelationship between markets |
| Production, costs and revenue | • Production and productivity • Specialisation, division of labour and exchange • The law of diminishing returns and returns to scale • Costs of production • Economies and diseconomies of scale • Marginal, average and total revenue • Profit • Technological change |
| Perfect competition, imperfectly competitive markets and monopoly | • Market structures • The objectives of firms • Perfect competition • Monopolistic competition • Oligopoly • Monopoly and monopoly power • Price discrimination • The dynamics of competition and competitive market processes • Contestable and non-contestable markets • Market structure, static efficiency, dynamic efficiency and resource allocation • Consumer and producer surplus |
| The labour market | • The demand for labour, marginal productivity theory • Influences upon the supply of labour to different markets • The determination of relative wage rates and levels of employment in perfectly competitive labour markets • The determination of relative wage rates and levels of employment in imperfectly competitive labour markets • The Influence of trade unions in determining wages and levels of employment • The National Minimum Wage • Discrimination in the labour market |
| The distribution of income and wealth: poverty and inequality | • The distribution of income and wealth • The problem of poverty • Government policies to alleviate poverty and to influence the distribution of income and wealth |
| The market mechanism, market failure and government intervention in markets | • How markets and prices allocate resources • The meaning of market failure • Public goods, private goods and quasi-public goods • Positive and negative externalities in consumption and production • Merit and demerit goods • Market imperfections • Competition policy • Public ownership, privatisation, regulation and deregulation of markets • Government intervention in markets • Government failure |
2. The national and international economy
| Scope of study | Content |
|---|---|
| The measurement of macroeconomic performance | • The objectives of government economic policy • Macroeconomic indicators • Uses of index numbers • Uses of national income data |
| How the macroeconomy works: the circular flow of income,aggregate demand/aggregate supply analysis and related concepts | • The circular flow of income • Aggregate demand and aggregate supply analysis • The determinants of aggregate demand • Aggregate demand and the level of economic activity • Determinants of short-run aggregate supply • Determinants of long-run aggregate supply |
| Economic performance | • Economic growth and the economic cycle • Employment and unemployment • Inflation and deflation • Possible conflicts between macroeconomic policy objectives |
| Financial markets and monetary policy | • The structure of financial markets and financial assets • Commercial banks and investment banks • Central banks and monetary policy • The regulation of the financial system |
| Fiscal policy and supply-side policies | • Fiscal policy • Supply-side policies |
| The international economy | • Globalisation • Trade • The balance of payments • Exchange rate systems • Economic growth and development |
Assessment
| Component | Content | Questions | Final score | Weighting of final grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1: Markets and market failure | Content: 1. The economic problem and economic methodology 2. Individual economic decision making 3. Price determination in a competitive market 4. Production, costs and revenue 5. Perfect competition, imperfectly competitive markets and monopoly 6. The labour market 7. The distribution of income and wealth: poverty and inequality 8. The market mechanism, market failure and government intervention in markets | 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 | 80 marks | 33.3% of A-level |
| Paper 2: National and international economy | Content: 9. The measurement of macroeconomic performance 10. How the macroeconomy works : the circular flow of income, AD/AS analysis, and related concepts 11. Economic performance 12. Financial markets and monetary policy 13. Fiscal policy and supply-side policies 14. The international economy | 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 | 80 marks | 33.3% of A-level |
Paper 3: Economic principles and issues | All content | Section A: multiple choice questions worth 30 marks Section B: case study questions requiring written answers, worth 50 marks | 80 marks | 33.3% of A-level |
Weighting of assessment objectives for A-level Economics
Exams will assess students on the following objectives:
AO1: Demonstrate knowledge of terms, concepts, and theories/models to understand the behavior of economic agents and their response to economic issues.
AO2: Apply knowledge to various economic contexts to show how economic agents are affected by and respond to economic issues.
AO3: Analyse economic issues, understanding their impact on economic agents.
AO4: Evaluate economic arguments and use qualitative and quantitative evidence to support informed judgements on economic issues.
| Assessment objectives AOs* | Paper 1 (%) | Paper 2 (%) | Paper 3 (%) | Overall Weighting (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AO1 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 7–10 | 20–23 |
| AO2 | 7–10 | 7–10 | 9–12 | 26–29 |
| AO3 | 9–11 | 9–11 | 6–9 | 26–29 |
| AO4 | 7–10 | 7–10 | 5–8 | 22–25 |
| Overall weighting of components | 33.3 | 33.3 | 33.3 | 100 |
Assessment weightings
Marks from exam papers will be adjusted to match the component weightings. The final mark is the sum of these scaled marks, and grade boundaries will be determined based on the total scaled mark.
| Сomponent | Maximum raw mark | Scaling factor | Maximum scaled mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | 80 | ×1 | 80 |
| Paper 2 | 80 | ×1 | 80 |
| Paper 3 | 80 | ×1 | 80 |
| Total scaled mark: | 240 |
