Economics
Economics: “the study of the way in which money, industry and trade are organised in society” (Collins English Dictionary).
Economics is an important subject for many reasons. It will provide learners with the opportunity to establish a key understanding of cause and effect relationships which are applicable to real life scenarios. Students will be able to understand not only the principle of concepts, such as scarce resources and their exchange, but also policy making of the government and thus, how today’s economy operates.
Reading is of particular importance in Economics. After all this is why our students select Economics and GCSE and A Level, to grasp an understanding of what is going on out there in the big wide world! Regular reading is encouraged throughout their Economics journey with particular focus on current affairs that impact on both businesses and the economy. This can be accessed simply by using news websites (such as the BBC or the Guardian) or even following them on Twitter to get the latest developments as they happen. Passion for the Economy certainly comes alive when you can see it in action! For example, those studying in their Foundation Year, Tim Harford’s ‘The Undercover Economist’, is an excellent introductory book to show basic economic principles in action when considering the concept of scarcity using farming as an example.
Year 9 - Foundation Year
Economics is not offered at Key Stage 3, however students can opt for the subject to begin their Foundation Year in Year 9. We begin the Foundation Year by exploring the basic key economic principles such as; the basic economic problem, resource allocation, demand and supply. This includes an understanding of opportunity cost, scarcity and types of economies. This principle understanding of economic theory is crucial in this year before students progress to understand the features of both micro and macro economics.
Topics Covered
- How are decisions made?
- How do markets work?
- Aid vs Trade
- The Labour market
- Why markets fail?
- How to solve the issues of the macro economy?
Timetable
Over a fortnightly timetable students receive:
- 5 hours of guided classroom learning
- 2 x 30 minutes of guided independent homework
Enrichment and Extra Curricular
To Read
- The undercover economist – Tim Harford
- Freakonomics – Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
- The Armchair Economist – Steven E Landsburg
Journals
- The Economist
- Economics Review
To Watch
- Panorama (BBC iPlayer)
- Despatches (4OD)
- A World Without Money
To Listen
- Economics in Business
- The Economist
- In the Balance
- Everyday Finance and Economics
- Economics Central
- Planet Money
To Follow
Broadcast news
- @bbcbusines
- @sky news
Journals
- @TheEconomist
Other
- @times2resources
- @tutor2uEconomics
- @bankofengland
- @EconomicsinTen
- @G_Conomics
Key Stage 4
When students commence their GCSE in Economics, they will explore these key theories in relation to competitive markets and the principle of market failure, as part of understanding how markets to understand the features of both micro and macro economics.
They will then learn how the economy works with a focus on the government policy, government objectives and the global economy. With Economics, the key is not necessarily just understanding key terminology (such as the price stability, economic growth) but being able to apply this to contextualised situations that show the impact it has on the different economic agents. For example how the changing economic environment caused by Covid 19 has impacted on Government revenue and expenditure as well as firms’ and consumers’ behaviour.
Exam board/Qualification: OCR
Topics Covered
Year 10
- How markets work:
- Competitive and concentrated markets.
- Market failure
- How the economy works:
- Introduction to the national economy
- Government objectives
- How the government manages the economy
Year 11
- How the economy works:
- International trade and the global economy
- The role of money and financial markets
- Revision
Timetable
Over a fortnightly timetable students receive:
- 5 hours of guided classroom learning
- 3 x 30 minutes of independent guided homework
Enrichment and Extra Curricular
To Read
- The undercover economist – Tim Harford
- Freakonomics – Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
- The Armchair Economist – Steven E Landsburg
Journals
- The Economist
- Economics Review
To Watch
- Panorama (BBC iPlayer)
- Despatches (4OD)
- A World Without Money
To Listen
- Economics in Business
- The Economist
- In the Balance
- Everyday Finance and Economics
- Economics Central
- Planet Money
To Follow
Broadcast News
- @bbcbusines
- @sky news
Journals
- @TheEconomist
Other
- @times2resources
- @tutor2uEconomics
- @bankofengland
- @EconomicsinTen
- @G_Conomics
Key Stage 5
We hope students enjoy their GCSE Economics journey and wish to progress their learning to A Level. This is also an opportunity for students that have not studied GCSE Economics to take it as an option. As students step up their knowledge to A Level requirements, we begin to explore these economic principles in much more detail. Whilst some of the ideologies remain the same as we have seen in GCSE Economics, the level of complexity in diagrammatical form increases to support a deeper understanding at A Level. This includes introducing content such as cross elasticities of demand as well as the ability to demonstrate welfare loss when explaining market failures. A Level Economics gives students a technical understanding of the economic world in clear context to real-world examples.
To support student understanding inside the classroom, we visit the Bank of England for a talk and a tour of the museum to understand how the central bank operates. This experience enables students to see the Bank of England in action and help to understand the financial markets in the UK.
Exam board/Qualification: OCR - A Level
Topics Covered
Year 12
Theme 1: Introduction to markets and market failure (Year 1)
Provides an introduction to microeconomics and the nature of economics, examining how the price mechanism allocates resources in markets and why market failure arises.
Theme 3: Business behaviour and the labour market (Year 1)
Develops microeconomics from Year 1 evaluating the nature of competition between companies, different market structures and government intervention to promote competition in markets.
Year 13
Theme 2: The UK Economy – performance and policies (Year 2)
Provides an introduction to macroeconomics assessing the key measures of economic performance and the main objectives and instruments of UK economic policy.
Theme 4: The global economy (Year 2)
Develops macroeconomics from Year 1 evaluating the causes and effects of the rise in globalisation, international trade and development economics.
Timetable
Over a fortnightly timetable students receive:
- 10 hours of guided classroom learning
- 10 hours of independent guided homework
Enrichment and Extra Curricular
To Read
- Doughnut Economics - Kate Raworth
- Good Economics for Hard Times - Banerjee and Duflo
- Daniel Kahneman - Thinking Fast and Slow
- The Power of Geography -Tim Marshall
- Human Capital - Gary Becker
- GDP - A Brief, But Affectionate History - Diane Coyle
- Capital in the 21st Century - Thomas Piketty
To Watch
- Panorama (BBC iPlayer)
- Despatches (4OD)
- Crash: Are we Ready for the Next Crisis
To Listen
- Weekly Economics
- Debunking Economics
- VoxTalks Economics
- Economics in Ten
- Think Like an Economist
- Freakonomics Radio
- Economics in Business
- The Economist
- In the Balance
To Follow
Broadcast News
@bbcbusiness
@sky news
Journals
@TheEconomist
Other
@times2resources
@tutor2uEconomics
@bankofengland
@EconomicsinTen
@G_Conomics
