Richard Challoner School

Economics

A Level

Exam Board: AQA

Teacher In Charge: Mr R Gono

Link to specification: CLICK HERE

A Vision for Economics

Students at Richard Challoner study Economics to make better decisions to help us improve our welfare, the welfare of our society/community and enable us to tackle the challenges of environmental sustainability and inequality.

Assess political policies in-depth and make informed decisions as an individual rather than falling for populist rhetoric.

Understand the assumptions behind economic terms such as 'free markets', which increasingly dominate political debate. You will realise the bluntness of economic policy tools and the extent to which economic concepts and methods help us understand and tackle issues such as climate change, inequality, and racism. You will discover that many popular ‘economic arguments’ are actually political arguments couched in economic terms. You will then be equipped to reason out and debate the merits and demerits of each argument and to choose an option that suits your own beliefs.

A good A level economics student will realise that almost all economic decisions are fraught with uncertainty and subject to the 'law of unintended consequences'. It will enable her or him to separate truthful people from snake-oil salesmen.

Course Content: Economics has become high profile. The credit crunch, bankers’ bonuses and fears of a Euro melt down are just three topics rarely out of the news in recent years, throwing a light on the importance of and divisions within the discipline. Economics is intellectually robust and of contemporary relevance. It can prepare you for jobs that are rewarding both financially and intellectually: Actuarial Studies, Accountancy, Investment and Corporate Banking, Finance and Politics, amongst many others.