AQA economics results + discussion thread

How are people with revision for unit 5 and 6. I'm all but done, just brushing up on a few concepts and coming to terms with the terminology.

What do people reckon will come up? Also, I was checking the grade boundaries earlier, and is it true that 50/100 (raw mark) equates to 57/90 UMS. It does mention this in the june 2006 exam report, and I checked this in the june 2005 exam report aswell, and the marking system was very similar.

A couple of reasons:
1. I would much rather study Finance and modern Marketing than advanced Macroeconomics and Economic History.
2. At LSE, I really doubt I would've been accepted onto L100 Economics.
3. I think the reputation of the LSE as a whole makes the course choices less important, see this post.



Yes. Always go for the question that mentions "What is the impact on the economy of XYZ?". These questions are so easy to structure. You assign each of the four macro objectives to a paragraph, e.g.

Para1: Definitions, Other Theory
Diagram
Para2: Effect on Growth
Para3: Effect on Trade
Para4: Effect on Inflation
Para5: Effect on Unemployment
Para6: Evaluation - trade off between Inf and Unemp etc...

All of my Unit 2 past paper essays were variations on that structure. Pick the right question and you could do very well

unit 1 92/105 A
unit 2 102/105 A
unit 3 90/90 A
unit 4 108/120 A
unit 5 68/90 B
unit 6 71/90 B

congrats did you have to retake any units?

Hey, has anyone got any tips for the A2? What do I have to do more of to get the A grade

Always make sure you consider several viewpoints/options.

Make references to real economists like Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes or Milton Friedman in your answers if you can; this shows good all round knowledge of the subject which goes beyond the syllabus.

Time yourself well. I suggest you practice this using past papers.

Use diagrams where appropriate but for goodness sake explain them.

Get in as many key terms as you can to collect those points! Again, explain them properly. For example, instead of writing this:

"Inflation is higher in Denmark than Japan . . . "

Write:

"Inflation, defined as a general rise in the price level, is higher in Denmark than Japan . . ."

One of the best ways to revise, in my opinion, is having debates about various policy options with friends who are studying economics also. For instance, pose the question: "do you think fiscal policy is more effective than monetary policy?", or "Are tradeable permits or taxes more effective at reducing negative externalities?". See where the debate goes and use the theory to back up your points.

Read the news and magazines like The Economist so that you are up to date on current issues. In all likelihood, when it comes to your exam you will have a host of opportunities to refer to the current credit crisis and the rising energy prices or any of the other current global economic events. Also, there is no harm in talking about earlier economic history too such as Margaret Thatcher's privatisation of key industries in the 1980s.

And remember, treat the examiner like a complete dummy who needs everything explained to them.

Evaluate! Evaluate! Evaluate! This is for longer essay questions of course. One of the best ways to evaluate is in considering long term/ short term implications of policy decisions. Market solution or government intervention? Etc etc.

I think some of the key issues to be clued up on are:

Globalisation and its implications.
The credit crunch.
Rising energy prices and possible solutions.
Whether the free market is more effective than intervention generally.

Hope that helps! Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Wow!!! Thanks a lot for that. Rep tomorrow as i have run out for today