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AQA Economics AS May 2015

How's everyone else finding the preparation so far?

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Reply 1
Just seen this, done pretty well in all the mocks we've done so far but haven't really done much revision yet! You?
Reply 2
Our original teacher left at the start of October. We then had a succession of supply teachers until November, luckily we now have a permanent replacement. We're quite far behind schedule, we only just started macro and we've done a grand total of one past paper in class. He hasn't marked anything we've done. I've started self studying at home, I feel otherwise something will go horribly wrong! In the multiple choice the class median mark was 11/25, so you get the idea!

In the past papers I've done at home, I've been getting roughly 85, 90 UMS, though obviously it's tough to mark the essays yourself. I find the short written answers are quite easy, not so much a fan of the essays :-)


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Reply 3
Original post by Krollo
Our original teacher left at the start of October. We then had a succession of supply teachers until November, luckily we now have a permanent replacement. We're quite far behind schedule, we only just started macro and we've done a grand total of one past paper in class. He hasn't marked anything we've done. I've started self studying at home, I feel otherwise something will go horribly wrong! In the multiple choice the class median mark was 11/25, so you get the idea!

In the past papers I've done at home, I've been getting roughly 85, 90 UMS, though obviously it's tough to mark the essays yourself. I find the short written answers are quite easy, not so much a fan of the essays :-)


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Oh damn that sucks :frown: We have one teacher for micro, and one for macro :smile: We've finished macro and have 2/3 topics left in micro. Aha that median mark is probably higher than the median mark in my class, we had some shocking performances!

For our mocks we did one micro and one macro, only doing the written questions (so no multiple choice) and I got 45/50 in micro and 49 in macro :biggrin: Was extremely pleased!
Reply 4
Original post by BBeyond
Oh damn that sucks :frown: We have one teacher for micro, and one for macro :smile: We've finished macro and have 2/3 topics left in micro. Aha that median mark is probably higher than the median mark in my class, we had some shocking performances!

For our mocks we did one micro and one macro, only doing the written questions (so no multiple choice) and I got 45/50 in micro and 49 in macro :biggrin: Was extremely pleased!


Indeed, it seems that economics teachers where I live are a scarce resource :-)

Bloody impressive marks! Any tips for essays? I'm never quite sure how much evaluation I need to do.


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Reply 5
Original post by Krollo
Indeed, it seems that economics teachers where I live are a scarce resource :-)

Bloody impressive marks! Any tips for essays? I'm never quite sure how much evaluation I need to do.


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I see what you did there :wink:

Thanks! :biggrin: When I make a point I tend to evaluate it in the same paragraph, so by mentioning why it might fail etc. or mentioning the groups of economists that would disagree/agree (reading books helps with this). This pretty much guarantees level 5 unless your analysis is poor, but I'd imagine it's not :tongue: Then I have a conclusion at the end which normally has 'it depends' in it (e.g. it depends on whether the government wants to prioritize the long term or short term). General tips I was given are intro, 4 points, conclusion, for the intro include definitions, a bit of context and show the direction you plan to take with the essay. Also make sure you directly quote the sources, as otherwise you are limited to 21 marks!
Hey guys, just came across this thread.
I've done the AS, so if you've got any pressing questions, I should be able to answer, so just ask!
Anyway, here is a link to a thread that has a list of resources, as well as some generic points that can help:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2464057
Reply 7
Original post by BBeyond
I see what you did there :wink:

Thanks! :biggrin: When I make a point I tend to evaluate it in the same paragraph, so by mentioning why it might fail etc. or mentioning the groups of economists that would disagree/agree (reading books helps with this). This pretty much guarantees level 5 unless your analysis is poor, but I'd imagine it's not :tongue: Then I have a conclusion at the end which normally has 'it depends' in it (e.g. it depends on whether the government wants to prioritize the long term or short term). General tips I was given are intro, 4 points, conclusion, for the intro include definitions, a bit of context and show the direction you plan to take with the essay. Also make sure you directly quote the sources, as otherwise you are limited to 21 marks!


Thanks for the advice!

I was doing the June 2011 paper recently, I did the alcohol essay - would something along the lines of 'taxes could work - nice diagram - however, it may be ineffective due to price inelastic demand'. Would this be OK for evaluation, or do I need to go further?

Also, would you recommend bringing stuff in that isn't in the syllabus? I read around a lot, but I'm not sure if there's much purpose saying 'Ricardo had some interesting ideas' or 'Paul Krugman would debate this point' - would it get many marks even if I embellished it?


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Reply 8
Original post by Krollo
Thanks for the advice!

I was doing the June 2011 paper recently, I did the alcohol essay - would something along the lines of 'taxes could work - nice diagram - however, it may be ineffective due to price inelastic demand'. Would this be OK for evaluation, or do I need to go further?

Also, would you recommend bringing stuff in that isn't in the syllabus? I read around a lot, but I'm not sure if there's much purpose saying 'Ricardo had some interesting ideas' or 'Paul Krugman would debate this point' - would it get many marks even if I embellished it?

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That is a good point, but I think I'd take it a bit further by saying stuff like the negative externalities are difficult to measure, therefore the government can only make a rough guess so they are unlikely to get it right, so there won't be a perfect allocation of resources. Taxes also have a regressive effect on demerit goods, making the distribution of income less equal (so the effect of the tax is mostly felt by the poor, while the price increase will have little effect on the rich). I'd also say some benefits of tax like they raise substantial amounts of money for the government! Also when you say it won't be effective due to price inelastic demand, I'd probably say that the demand for alcohol is very price inelastic due to it being very addictive (on of the determinants of price elasticity)

For sure! Although I doubt that the examiners will know who those people are! I'm sure you'd still get marks for it though, I'm pretty sure my teacher said it was good that I talked about lots of different types of economists!
Original post by BBeyond
I see what you did there :wink:

Thanks! :biggrin: When I make a point I tend to evaluate it in the same paragraph, so by mentioning why it might fail etc. or mentioning the groups of economists that would disagree/agree (reading books helps with this). This pretty much guarantees level 5 unless your analysis is poor, but I'd imagine it's not :tongue: Then I have a conclusion at the end which normally has 'it depends' in it (e.g. it depends on whether the government wants to prioritize the long term or short term). General tips I was given are intro, 4 points, conclusion, for the intro include definitions, a bit of context and show the direction you plan to take with the essay. Also make sure you directly quote the sources, as otherwise you are limited to 21 marks!


Nice advice :smile:
Original post by BBeyond
That is a good point, but I think I'd take it a bit further by saying stuff like the negative externalities are difficult to measure, therefore the government can only make a rough guess so they are unlikely to get it right, so there won't be a perfect allocation of resources. Taxes also have a regressive effect on demerit goods, making the distribution of income less equal (so the effect of the tax is mostly felt by the poor, while the price increase will have little effect on the rich). I'd also say some benefits of tax like they raise substantial amounts of money for the government! Also when you say it won't be effective due to price inelastic demand, I'd probably say that the demand for alcohol is very price inelastic due to it being very addictive (on of the determinants of price elasticity)

For sure! Although I doubt that the examiners will know who those people are! I'm sure you'd still get marks for it though, I'm pretty sure my teacher said it was good that I talked about lots of different types of economists!


I think talking about different economists is a good idea, but would you mention e.g. Keynes in the middle of a main paragraph, or are you talking about the introduction conclusion?
Reply 11
My teacher is a bit useless at marking - would anyone mind having a look at my answer for June 2012 Essay Q4 on mining?

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Reply 12
Original post by Krollo
How's everyone else finding the preparation so far?

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Not good! Failed my Micro Mock.. But Macro is going good, Revision is just so boring though!
Hey, can someone help me with a multiple choice question from June 11?
Its Q.6

The table below shows the shares of total income of different income groups in 2005 and 2010for an economy.

% share of total income % Income Group 2005 2010
Bottom 10% 4.1 2.5
Bottom 20% 9.8 6.8
Bottom 30% 16.0 12.0
Top 30% 47.0 54.0
Top 20% 35.0 41.0
Top 10% 20.0 26.0

From the data, it may be concluded that over the period in question
A the bottom income groups experienced a fall in their income.
B the distribution of income became more unequal.
C the distribution of wealth became more unequal.
D everyone became better off because total income increased.

The Answer is B but I dont understand why the answer isnt A???
Hi Ridirahman,

You can't conclude that the bottom income groups experienced a fall in their income as it's their SHARE of total income that has fallen and not their absolute income i.e 2005 total income might be 100 so they'd earn 4.1, whereas 2010 total income might be 1000 so they'd earn 25.

Hope this helps,

Tom
Does anyone know the best way to get a list of all the definitions?
Reply 16
Original post by BBeyond
Does anyone know the best way to get a list of all the definitions?


The back of the AQA book is quite good for definitions, I find.

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Original post by Krollo
The back of the AQA book is quite good for definitions, I find.

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Which AQA book is this? Pretty sure mine doesn't :frown:
Reply 18
Original post by BBeyond
Which AQA book is this? Pretty sure mine doesn't :frown:


Heinemann textbook. I could send you some photos of the relevant pages if you like?

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Original post by Krollo
Heinemann textbook. I could send you some photos of the relevant pages if you like?

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Please! Would appreciate that a lot :biggrin:

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