Edexcel economics unit 1 and 2 retakes

Anyone think the grade boundaries will be lower this year?

For the buffer stock question I said that there was excess demand. Do you think i'll still get a mark?

I reckon the new grade boundaries will be:

63/80 for an A (80 UMS)
56/80 for a B (70 UMS)
50/80 for a C (60 UMS)
45/80 for a D (50 UMS)
40/80 for an E (40 UMS)

The highest it has been for an A is 61- as most people doing this exam were retakers then expect the grade boundaries to rise slightly.

Does anyone know what the 10 marker of question 9 was? also D of 9?

If people want to know the exact mark scheme for the Buffer stock question and Vaccine Externalities question they both appeared on the Jan 2012 paper - Q7 and Q8


Buffer Stock:
---> • Understanding or explanation of buffer stock scheme(for example: agency sells from buffer stock in times of poor harvest and buys or adds to it in times of good harvest. (1 mark).Note this explanation must consider both the buying and selling function of the buffer stock to secure a mark).• Identification that in 2010 there is a bad harvest / or supply has decreased (1 mark).• Without intervention the price would rise to P3 or point Z (1 mark)• Government agency sells Q3-Q2 or XY of wheat from its stockpile to establish a price of P2 (this may be shown by annotation of the diagram) (1 mark).• Government agency revenue from the sale is Q3Q2XY(this may be shown by annotation of diagram but needs to be labelled or referred to in answer) (1mark).Rejection marks• Option A incorrect since there is a poor harvest that could lead to an excess demand for wheat (1 mark).• Option B incorrect since the agency will sell Q2Q3XY from its stockpile – not buy. (1 mark)Note: do not double award if already credited in the explanation.• Option C incorrect since price would increase to P3 ina free market or to a maximum of P2 under the bufferstock scheme. (1 mark).


Externalities:
• Definition of welfare gain (the excess of social benefit over social cost for a given quantity) (1mark).• Identification or annotation of diagram to identify welfare gain as area XZY (accept welfare loss)(1 mark).• Identification of the free market equilibrium as pointX or quantity Qe and the social optimum as point Or quantity Q1 (1 mark).• Definition of external benefits: (positive third party effects / benefits external to an exchange/ benefits the price mechanism ignores / benefits outside the market transaction / difference between social benefits and private benefits / positive spillover effects) (1 mark).• Application to vaccinations: welfare gain or external benefits include a reduction in the spread of diseases since more people vaccinated. (1 mark).Rejection marks• Option A incorrect since the social optimum quantity's Q1 or Y which is greater than the free marketquantity Qe or X. (1 mark)Note: do not double award if already credited in the explanation• Option B incorrect since welfare gain is area XZYNote: do not double award if this area has already been credited in the explanation) (1 mark).• Option D incorrect since marginal social cost (X or Pe) is less than marginal social benefit (Z ) (must state the letters) (1 mark).

Some dates may be wrong because its in context of 2012.

For the buffer-stock question, wasn't the answer option D not Option B.

If people are saying that the question is exactly the same in the Jan 2012 paper, then it must be Option D, right?

I can't remember which letter but it was the one where they sold from their stockpile to increase supply and push the price down to p2 (or whatever the max price was)

For the buffer-stock question, wasn't the answer option D not Option B.

If people are saying that the question is exactly the same in the Jan 2012 paper, then it must be Option D, right?

What mark do you think you need for 90 and 100 ums?