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In economics, our aims are:
Economics as a subject has been reinvigorated this year to have a healthy Year 12 cohort, having proved a popular choice amongst students. Economics is not offered at HGS at GCSE level and is a subject which can be chosen by an array of students, whether they are numerically or analytically inclined. Economics is a social science and “Economics is concerned with how society sets about meeting people’s demands for things they want to consume. It looks at the production, consumption and sale of goods and services, both at the level of individual products, firms and consumers and at the level of the total production and consumption by countries. It also compares alternative ways of using limited resources that countries and individuals possess and considers how efficient and/or fair such alternatives are.”
Students learn about the workings of individual choices, choices made by firms and why governments make the decisions they do for the macroeconomic outlook of their nation. Students will develop key skills during the course that will benefit them in all areas of their life including the ability to communicate with people both with and without an economics background. Numerical skills allowing them to understand key data and how this influences policy makers, along with problem solving, because we consider the impact of choices on real world situations. Students will also develop analytical and evaluative skills along with a greater cultural awareness due to the perceived impact policies have on different communities.
Students will develop their knowledge and understanding of real world, current situations as well as the impact of previous crisis’. Throughout the course we will look at the government’s role in protecting the environment, the response to the 2008 financial crisis, the monetary and fiscal response to COVID-19 as well as the choices made by firms in competition with each other, Students will be able to analyse these situations and consider alternatives to the policies that actually occurred.
The course considers different economic theorists throughout including the work of John Maynard Keynes, Adam Smith, Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. Through further reading other economists can be considered and bought into the course to show greater depth of talent and economic viewpoints.
Edexcel Economics A, is the exam board, there is no coursework and the students study the following themes with 3 exams at the end of the course.
Theme 1- Introduction to markets and market failure
Theme 2- The UK economy- performance and policies
Theme 3- Business behaviour and the labour market
Theme 4- A Global Perspective
| Term 1 | Term 2 | Term 3 | Term 4 | Term 5 | Term 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economics as a Social Science, Positive and Normative Statements, The economic Problem, Production Possibility Frontiers, Specialisation and the Division of Labour, Rational Decision Making, Alternative views of consumer behaviour, Demand, Supply, Price determination, Price mechanism, Price, income and cross elasticities of demand | Elasticity of supply, Price determination, consumer and producer surplus, price income and cross elasticities of demand, Free market economies mixed economy and command economy, Types of market failure, Externalities, Public goods, Information gaps, Government intervention in markets, Government failure | Sizes and types of firms, business growth, demergers, revenue, costs, economies and diseconomies of scale and normal supernormal profits and losses | Business objectives, Efficiency, Perfect competiton, Monopoly, Monopolistic competition, Oligopoly | Contestability, Monopsony, Government intervention, The impact of government intervention, Supply of labour, Demand for labour, Wage determination | Index numbers, reading graphs and charts, real vs nominal work, Inflation, Economic Growth, Employment and Unemployment, Balance of Payments, The characteristics of AD, Consumption, Investment, Government expenditure, Net trade, The characteristics of AS, SRAS, LRAS |
| Term 1 | Term 2 | Term 3 | Term 4 | Term 5 | Term 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National income, Injections and Withdrawals, Equilibrium level of real national output, The multiplier, Inflation, Employment and Unemployment, Balance of Payments, Economic Growth | Causes of growth, Output gaps, Trade cycle, The impact of economic growth, Possible macroeconomic objectives, Demand side policies, supply side policies, policy and objective conflicts | Globalisation, Specialisation and trade, patterns of trade, terms of trade, Trading blocs and the WTO, Restrictions on free trade, Balance of Payments, Exchange rates, International Competitiveness, Macroeconomic policies in a global context | Absolute and relative poverty, Inequality, Macroeconomic policies in a global context, Measures of development, Factors influencing growth and development, Strategies influencing growth and development, Public expenditure, Taxation, Public sector finances, Macroeconomic policies in a global context, Role of Financal Markets, Market failure in the financial sector, Role of Central Banks, Macroeconomic Policies in a global context | Revision/ Exam Practice/ Exams | Revision/ Exam Practice/ Exams |
Please see attached Key Stage 5 Learning Journey for Economics.
There are a wide range of online support resources available to students studying economics, listed below
Economics is a good A-level that will allow you to move on to study a variety of subjects at University within the realm of Economics. Recent pupils have attended top universities to study economics at Warwick, Loughborough, Surrey and many others. The course is useful for anyone looking for a career in finance, civil service, investment or accountancy.
There are also a wide range of apprenticeships you could look into, including the major UK banks and building societies, within the civil service and the Bank of England.
British values feature in many aspects of the course that we deliver within the department.
We consider different economic viewpoints and the arguments surrounding these viewpoints. We encourage the students to have a viewpoint and feel confident challenging and accepting each other’s views. We consider the rule of law within all markets and look at how firms should behave in the way that best benefits society, we look at how government intervention is required to ensure that people are not exploited. Within behaviour economics we look at the impact that default choices have had on the levels of organ donations within the UK, but also how this could be used to exploit consumers who just accept what is given to them. We also consider how different parties will look at the economy from a different viewpoint, how normative comments influence policy decisions and the importance pf the Bank of England being a standalone entity in the health of the UK’s economy. We consider the impact of sanctions on undemocratic regimes and how these can impact he development of such nations.