Below are some key tips to help you achieve the top grade in your A level Economics exams. Whilst not exhaustive nor guaranteeing you the highest grade, they will definitely help!
1. Read the Specification closely
This might seem obvious, but don’t solely rely on your teacher to provide you with all the content or resources! Take the learning process into your own hands. The specification provides a clear overview of the A level course and is widely accessible on exam board websites like AQA and Edexcel. There are break-downs of each topic which you can link to what you’ve done in school and add more too if you save the specification as a pdf or word document to edit yourself. Use it to traffic-light on which points you’re clear, and on which you need to focus.
2. Go through all available past papers, mark schemes, and examiners’ reports
Again, these are all available on the exam board websites.
I would say these are the most useful resources when attempting the highest grade at A level. Exam technique is key, as it doesn’t matter if you know the syllabus inside out but can’t apply it as you need in the exam. Longer answer questions hold the most marks and are the hardest to obtain, so these are vital. The questions, mark schemes, and (for Edexcel) exemplar answers are all available online, so look through these and understand how best to improve. They’re also a great catch-all revision activity combining exam technique (writing answers in line with what the exam board wants) with content revision (you need to know what you need to write!).
The Examiners’ Reports are very useful for seeing what mistakes have been made in previous years. They detail advice to students for future exams and the errors made in that series. Some universal advice across papers and exam boards includes using diagrams even when not prompted to use one. It is also a good way to demonstrate clearly to the examiner that you know what you’re talking about, and really helps you to explain your answer because you need to contextualise it. Alongside this, practise the different sections on the exam paper under timed conditions, as sometimes students can run out of time in the exam. Finally, studying current developments in economics that are relevant to your specification is crucial to being able to reach the top marks. If you’re able to give specific real-world examples of labour, product, or service markets and show what is unique about these markets. Go beyond the specification and enrich your answers. Have a look at resources like the Financial Times which can keep you updated on current economic events.
3. Focus on areas you are less confident with
After you’ve outlined which areas you need to focus on in the specification, address these until you’re completely confident with them. Start with content revision and read additional articles on the topic with a simple google search. Creating mind maps and flashcards can be useful, and then move on to exam papers. Start with the mark scheme so you’ve a clearer idea of what they’re looking for, then write some sample paragraphs and essays. Ask your teacher if they wouldn’t mind marking it – they’re usually happy to!
When attempting to revise, space it out! Don’t cram, as this can often be worse than no revision. Ensure that content is in your long-term memory by coming back to it around 4-6 weeks after you’ve initially covered it, seeing how much you can recall. Maybe use a longer-answer question to prompt you, as you’ll never be asked ‘tell me everything you know about a monopsony’.
Go back through your notes and try to answer questions open-book, then closed-book to test yourself. Activities where you’re forced to recall from memory even when you’re not certain are great to improve your confidence, as this is exactly the sort of thing you’ll need to do in the real exam. A great tool for Economics revision is tutor2u. It has all the topic videos you’ll ever need for your A level in Economics, summarising key content in short videos. Hopefully, by following all the advice here, you’ll be able to maximise your chances of getting an A.
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