Economics is an exciting and thought-provoking subject that explores how societies make decisions about scarce resources. It combines real-world relevance with rigorous academic challenge, making it an excellent choice for curious, analytical students. Economics empowers students to think critically and independently about the biggest issues of our time, from global inequality and financial crises through to the regulation of monopolies and market failure. Through answering questions like ‘why does an oil crisis lead to your mortgage payments increasing’, students develop the critical thinking, problem‑solving and data-analysis skills that are highly valued by universities. It is a subject that not only opens doors to a wide range of future careers, including investment banking, consultancy, accountancy and civil service, but also equips you with a powerful toolkit for making sense of an ever-changing world.
Topics studied
Theme 1: introduction to markets and market failure (nature of economics; how markets work; market failure; government intervention).
Theme 2: the UK economy – performance and policies (measures of economic performance; aggregated demand and supply; national income; economic growth; macroeconomic objectives and policies).
Theme 3: business behaviour and the labour market (business growth; business objectives; revenues, costs and profits; market structures; labour market).
Theme 4: a global perspective (international economics; poverty and inequality; developing economies; the financial sector; role of the state in the macroeconomy).
Assessment
Assessment (three 2–hour papers)
Paper 1 (35%) on Markets and Market Failure (microeconomics)
Paper 2 (35%) on The National and International Economy (macroeconomics)
Paper 3 (30%) which is synoptic
This course contains no coursework.
30.8%
A* in A level Economics in 2025
69.2%
A*–A in A level Economics in 2025
100%
A*–B in A level Economics in 2025
Academic enrichment
There are a wide range of competitions available, and entry is very much encouraged and supported. These involve essay competitions, including those from the Royal Economic Society and the Institute of Economic Affairs. In addition, we encourage group entries to the prestigious Wharton Global Youth Program Investment Challenge, where students develop and pitch a long-term investment strategy, or the IEA Budget Challenge, where students step into the role of Chancellor, designing their own UK budget by making real fiscal policy decisions. Those daring enough can further challenge themselves with the Economics Olympiad.
