Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

OCR Economics Resources Thread (AS)

Exams are approaching, so below I will post links to websites which I hope you will find useful towards gaining your target grade.

Exam Dates

1) Markets in Action - 13th May 2014 (Morning)
2) The International & International Economy - 21st May 2014 (Afternoon)

All of these resources are brilliant and I hope you like them too!

Learning Resources

1) EconPlusDal
2) EconClassroom
3) Tutor2U
4) Economics Online
5) TradingEconomics
6) PajHolden
7) BBC News
8) HSBC (UK Economy Explained)
9) EconomicsHelp

Notes and Exam Technique

1) A-Levels with Alex (Mix of Learning Resources and Advice)
2) EconPlusDal
3) EnhanceTuition
4) Evaluation Tips (Abdul-Karim)
5) Economics Exam Technique
6) Exam Technique by Shorty1992 (Brilliant)

Past Papers

OCR

I hope you find this thread useful, I do apologise if there is a similar thread out there already. Lastly, I would really appreciate it if others could provide their own tips for the exams, things they think will come up as well as other resources they personally find useful.

Good luck!

(edited 9 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

L'Etudiant

Bumping so more people can see :smile:

Reply 2

lionelmessi19

Original post by L'Etudiant

Exams are approaching, the first Economics exam is in 24 days so below I will post links to websites which I hope you will find useful towards gaining your target grade.

Exam Dates

1) Markets in Action - 13th May 2014 (Morning)
2) The International & International Economy - 21st May 2014 (Afternoon)

All of these resources are brilliant and I hope you like them too!

Learning Resources

1) EconPlusDal
2) EconClassroom
3) Tutor2U
4) Economics Online
5) TradingEconomics
6) PajHolden

Notes and Exam Technique

1) A-Levels with Alex (Mix of Learning Resources and Advice)
2) EconPlusDal
3) EnhanceTuition

Past Papers

OCR

I hope you find this thread useful, I do apologise if there is a similar thread out there already. Lastly, I would really appreciate it if others could provide their own tips for the exams, things they think will come up as well as other resources they personally find useful.

Good luck!

Thanks for the links... They're really helpful! :smile:

Reply 3

L'Etudiant

Anyone willing to offer tips on exam technique, things to revise, what to include in 18 mark questions?

Reply 4

lionelmessi19

Original post by L'Etudiant

Anyone willing to offer tips on exam technique, things to revise, what to include in 18 mark questions?

We got told to follow the leveled structure:
L1 Define key terms
L2 Give examples
L3 Analysis and economic theory
L4 Comment, e.g. it depends on... alternatives... disadvantages. etc..

Hope that helps!

Reply 5

L'Etudiant

Original post by lionelmessi19

Thank you very much :smile:

Reply 6

L'Etudiant

Any A* students who can offer tips on the 18 mark questions?

1) How much did you write?
2) How did you start and end the essay?
3) Did you mention real world events or not?

Reply 7

tom3232

I was told by an examiner at a conference that our school attended that a good technique is to leave out a point from the main bulk of your essay.
Then introduce it only at the end when making a judgement.

Reply 8

L'Etudiant

Original post by tom3232

Interesting, I shall try this in some practice essays, thanks :smile:

Anybody else got any tips?

Reply 9

Leechayy

So glad that this thread was made :biggrin:

I recently did an economics paper and dropped 10 marks up to the essay but only got 10/18 marks on the essay which got me 2 marks off an A
I was wondering if you knew way to improve exam technique on comment questions and the essay and the best way to manage time.

Would starting off with the essay be a good idea?

Reply 10

L'Etudiant

Original post by Leechayy

So glad that this thread was made :biggrin:

I want to know of a way to improve exam techniques as well, that is why I keep asking others to post their own tips as well lol! Some of the links I have posted do help with this a bit though :smile:

The essay is the most crucial part and I seem to be okay until we have to evaluate (That is where I fail) :frown:

The best way to manage time though is to practice a lot beforehand in exam conditions (No breaks, timed) and then that way you'll find out how long you spend on each question, allowing you to plan ahead for the exam :smile:

Reply 11

Leechayy

Original post by L'Etudiant

I want to know of a way to improve exam techniques as well, that is why I keep asking others to post their own tips as well lol! Some of the links I have posted do help with this a bit though :smile:

The essay is the most crucial part and I seem to be okay until we have to evaluate (That is where I fail) :frown:

That's what I tried to do (I want 45 minutes on the essay) but I only get to the conclusion but don't finish :/

Reply 12

L'Etudiant

Original post by Leechayy

That's what I tried to do (I want 45 minutes on the essay) but I only get to the conclusion but don't finish :/

Hmm, try to master the definitions, that way you'll spend less time thinking what to write and spend less time on the questions preceding the 18 mark essay :smile:

Reply 13

L'Etudiant

Does anybody know the list of definitions we need to learn for each module?

Reply 14

L'Etudiant

I would really appreciate it if anyone could give us the any of the following:

1) List of key words for i) Markets in Action & ii) The National & International Economy
2) Exam tips for the 18 mark questions

Many thanks and good luck :smile:

Reply 15

L'Etudiant

If anybody could offer any help then I would really appreciate it :smile:

Reply 16

L'Etudiant

Any lovely people here willing to offer some advice, show model essays to give others an idea of how to approach evaluation questions and the 18 mark essay?

Reply 17

hamzahdsi

I can give some advice on the Unit 1 18 markers. A template is quite useful to follow
1)Define, what is market failure and what causes it
2)How regulation/tradable permits/indirect tax/subsidies can affect market failure and how they correct it (with reference to a diagram)
3)A limitation of the chosen method
4)A better alternative
5)What it depends on
6)Brief conclusion

Having huuuge problems with Unit 2 18 markers however, unable to get anything more than 11/18

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 18

L'Etudiant

Original post by hamzahdsi

Having huuuge problems with Unit 2 18 markers however, unable to get anything more than 11/18

I have added a new link under 'Notes and Exam Technique' (5), check it out. I have found it pretty useful, will use it when doing practice papers. Good luck!

Reply 19

katiexmc

this is how I plan an essay in the exam (I'm using an example from 2011)

'discuss the effectiveness of lowering the rate of interest in order to stimulate economic growth'

knowledge: define economic growth (long and short run), define interest rate (inc. monetary policy)

analysis: lower interest rates means: cheaper loans for consumers/investors so more dispsosable income so more spending = increase in aggregate demand/supply (depending on what they spend on)
*diagram of increased AD and AS*

discussion: depends on size of decrease in interest rates and could only cause short term ec.growth (just increase in AD)and so wont have a lasting effect on the economy

conclusion: ultimately depends on speculation- if people believe interest rates will go back up they may save disposable income and not spend more so there'll be no ec.growth. AND depends on other policies (e.g. contractionary fiscal)

REMEMBER:
KNOWLEDGE = IN DEPTH DEFINITONS
ANALYSIS = WHAT IS EXPECTED TO HAPPEN (WITH DIAGRAMS)
DISCUSSION = TWO DETAILED REASONS WHY THE ABOVE MAY NOT HAPPEN (SIZE ALWAYS WORKS)
CONCLUSION = A NEW REASON WHY IT WONT HAPPEN (USUALLY THE MOST 'OUT OF THE BOX' IDEA THAT GRABS EXTRA MARKS.

hope this helps (its always good to make some quick/short notes when you read the essay so you can decide the importance of discussion points and keep the essay focused.

I normally get 17/18 and plan essays as I have above. remember to repeat the question through your answer so the examiner sees focus.