SGSE

A-Level Economics

Curriculum:

Click to Expand Year 12 Autumn Content:

Economic Methodology and the Economic Problem

Price Determination in a Competitive Market

Production, Costs and Revenue

Competitive and Concentrated Markets

The Market Mechanism, Market Failure and Government Intervention in Markets

Key Concepts:

The difference between positive and normative statements
The central purpose of economic activity is the production of goods and services to satisfy needs and wants
The key economic decisions are: what to produce, how to produce, and who is to benefit from the goods and services produced
The economists’ classification of economic resources into land, labour, capital and enterprise, which are the factors of production
The idea of scarcity and Opportunity Cost
Production Possibility diagrams
Allocative and productive efficiency

The factors which determine the demand for a good or service
A demand curve shows the relationship between price and quantity demanded
The causes of shifts in the demand curve
Calculating and Interpreting PED, YED and XED
Factors that influence elasticity
The factors which determine the supply of a good or service
A supply curve shows the relationship between price and quantity supplied
The causes of shifts in the supply curve
Calculating and Interpreting PES
Determining equilibrium points
How and why some markets impact on other markets

The meaning of production and productivity
The benefits and drawbacks of specialisation
Calculating Total, Fixed and Variable costs
Determining Short-run and Long-run costs
Types of Economy and Diseconomy of scale
Calculating Profit and Revenue
The concept of ‘Marginal’ costs, revenue and profit

The range of market structures
How to identify market structures
Objectives of firms depending on market structure type
How price is determined in competitive markets
The difference between a monopoly and monopoly power
Calculating concentration ratios
Benefits and drawbacks of the existence of monopolies
Non-price competition

The functions of price
What is market failure and how does it occur
Types of market failure
Types of goods (public, private, merit and demerit)
Positive and Negative Externalities
Distribution of income and wealth
Government policies to correct market failure
Government failure

Click to Expand Year 12 Spring Content:

The Measurement of Macroeconomic Performance

How the Macroeconomy Works

Economic Performance

Key Concepts:

The main objectives of the government
Possible conflicts between objectives
Economic indicators e.g. GDP
Calculating index numbers

The circular flow of income
Injections and withdrawals to national income
Determinants of aggregate demand and aggregate supply
How to use aggregate demand and aggregate supply to show economic growth
The multiplier effect

The difference between short run and long run growth
Positive and Negative output gaps
Real vs Trend growth
How unemployment is measured
Types of unemployment
Consequences of unemployment
What is inflation/deflation/disinflation/stagflation
Types of inflation/deflation
How trade impacts the UK
Conflicts between objectives

Click to Expand Year 12 Summer Content:

Macroeconomic Policy

Economic Methodology and the Economic Problem

Individual Economic Decision Making

Key Concepts:

What is monetary policy
The role of the Bank of England in the economy
How interest rates are set
The impact of monetary policy on the economy
What is fiscal policy
The role of the government in the economy
Different types of tax
How and why the government spend money
Policies to increase aggregate supply

A recap of all Year 12 content (see Autumn Term topic web)

How decisions are made
The theory of utility and the margin
The impact of imperfect information
The emergence of behavioural economics
Behavioural economic policy

Click to Expand Year 13 Autumn Content:

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

Key Concepts:

A recap of Year 12 content (see Year 12 Autumn Content)

A recap of Year 12 content (see Year 12 Autumn Content)
The law of diminishing returns
Returns to scale
Marginal and Average revenue curves
The relationship between marginal and average revenue
Supernormal profit
The impact of technology of costs and production

The profit maximising point
Divorce of ownership and satisficing
Diagram analysis of all market structures
Behaviour of firms
Collusive oligopolies
The kinked demand curves
The interdependence of firms in an oligopolistic market
Advantages and disadvantages of oligopolistic markets
Types of price discrimination
Producer and consumer surplus
Advantages and disadvantages of price discrimination
Contestable vs non-contestable markets
Types of efficiency

The demand and supply for labour
Marginal productivity/revenue
Determinants of labour demand and supply
The substitution effect
Non-monetary considerations
How to determine a wage rate
The role of trade unions and the government
The national minimum/living wage
Discrimination in the labour market

The Lorenz curve and Gini Coefficient
Costs and benefits of inequality
Types of poverty
Causes and effects of poverty
Government policies to solve inequality

A recap of Year 12 content (see Year 12 Autumn Content)
Competition policy
Public vs private ownership
Privatisation, nationalisation and re-nationalisation
Regulatory capture

Click to Expand Year 13 Spring Content:

The Measurement of Macroeconomic Performance

How the Macroeconomy Works

Economic Performance

Financial Markets and Monetary Policy

Fiscal Policy and Supply-side Policies

The International Economy

Key Concepts:

A recap of Year 12 content (see Year 12 Autumn Content)
The use and limitations of using data to assess living standards
The use of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

A recap of Year 12 content (see Year 12 Autumn Content)

A recap of Year 12 content (see Year 12 Autumn Content)

The functions of money
The difference between narrow money and broad money
The role of financial markets in the economy
The difference between debt and equity
Calculating bond yields
The difference between commercial and investment banks
How banks create credit
Regulation of the financial system
Calculating and analysing ratios

A recap of Year 12 content (see Year 12 Autumn Content)

Causes of globalisation
Consequences of globalisation for developed and developing economies
The model of comparative and competitive advantage
Benefits and drawbacks to trade
Protectionism and its consequences
Custom and currency unions
Types of exchange rate systems (advantages and disadvantages)
The difference between economic growth and economic development
Barriers to growth and development
Policies to help promote both growth and development

Click to Expand Year 13 Summer Content:

By this point in the academic year, we have completed the course content and we are focusing on revision, exam technique and pace.

Subject Overview:

A-Level students have 5 Economics lessons each week.

Students have Economics homework set each lesson, however all students in Sixth Form are expected to allocate time outside of lessons for further study.