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My Advice to A2 Economists
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Hi all,
I wanted to write a brief bit of advice to A2 economists. I finished in July this year and achieved an A grade overall and thought it would be useful to pass on my advice of what I did.
1.) Read the book - Now, this may not be useful to many but I read the text book recommended to me 2/3 times over (Powell ISBN-13: 978-0340947517). What I didn't do was make notes on the book, I memorised it however looking back on it I wish I made more notes on the book.
2.) Ask questions in class! Do not be afraid, it helped me improve massively and builds your confidence.
3.) Practice, practice, practice..... I completed over 40 papers in the run up to the exams(around 2 months before) (in many cases the same papers as there are not enough). I also tried to complete atleast 1/2 papers a week prior.
4.) Try to arrange a study group after school... I asked my teacher if it would be ok for me and a few others to study after school in groups with the teacher and it was brilliant! We'd study till almost 7pm studying economics once a week atleast.
5.) Make notes in class. I made notes on everything in class. My mistake was I didn't go back over the notes when I had written them down. However I felt it didn't help me as I tended to memorise the notes as I wrote them down. I would highly recommend going back over your notes after each study session.
6.) Know your diagrams... When I used to draw the diagrams I knew immediately what type of question they where for, and I could explain everything about them.
7.) Bringing in examples from real life in your exams to back up your knowledge in the second half of the AQA paper (15 &25 marker is very important for gaining top application marks).
USEFUL RESOURCES/LINKS
- Your library may have this book and you may also find it cheaper on eBay.
The book I recommend - http://www.amazon.co.uk/AQA-A2-Econo...=9780340947517
- Great for going through revising key concepts which you misunderstood in class.
- http://www.youtube.com/user/pajholden/videos
I didn't use Khan Academy myself, however someone in this thread brought my attention to the website and it looks very useful.
- https://www.khanacademy.org/economic...microeconomics
- https://www.khanacademy.org/economic...macroeconomics
Very useful for keeping up to date in the real world and linking to Economics syllabus - Can use some examples here in your essays.
http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/economics/
Great for evaluation - I actually only discovered this a few weeks before my exam but WEESTEPS is brilliant for those top marks.
http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.ph...-to-evaluation
BBC Economy Tracker - Very useful to show application to the real world in your answer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10613201
Trading Economics - Great website showing up to date indicators worldwide - Interesting data on the website
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/
Hope this helps,
Ben
Edit: I'm now in full time employment, working for an asset management firm in the research department. Responses may be slow, but feel free to send personal messages with questions or anything related to Economics.
I wanted to write a brief bit of advice to A2 economists. I finished in July this year and achieved an A grade overall and thought it would be useful to pass on my advice of what I did.
1.) Read the book - Now, this may not be useful to many but I read the text book recommended to me 2/3 times over (Powell ISBN-13: 978-0340947517). What I didn't do was make notes on the book, I memorised it however looking back on it I wish I made more notes on the book.
2.) Ask questions in class! Do not be afraid, it helped me improve massively and builds your confidence.
3.) Practice, practice, practice..... I completed over 40 papers in the run up to the exams(around 2 months before) (in many cases the same papers as there are not enough). I also tried to complete atleast 1/2 papers a week prior.
4.) Try to arrange a study group after school... I asked my teacher if it would be ok for me and a few others to study after school in groups with the teacher and it was brilliant! We'd study till almost 7pm studying economics once a week atleast.
5.) Make notes in class. I made notes on everything in class. My mistake was I didn't go back over the notes when I had written them down. However I felt it didn't help me as I tended to memorise the notes as I wrote them down. I would highly recommend going back over your notes after each study session.
6.) Know your diagrams... When I used to draw the diagrams I knew immediately what type of question they where for, and I could explain everything about them.
7.) Bringing in examples from real life in your exams to back up your knowledge in the second half of the AQA paper (15 &25 marker is very important for gaining top application marks).
USEFUL RESOURCES/LINKS
- Your library may have this book and you may also find it cheaper on eBay.
The book I recommend - http://www.amazon.co.uk/AQA-A2-Econo...=9780340947517
- Great for going through revising key concepts which you misunderstood in class.
- http://www.youtube.com/user/pajholden/videos
I didn't use Khan Academy myself, however someone in this thread brought my attention to the website and it looks very useful.
- https://www.khanacademy.org/economic...microeconomics
- https://www.khanacademy.org/economic...macroeconomics
Very useful for keeping up to date in the real world and linking to Economics syllabus - Can use some examples here in your essays.
http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/economics/
Great for evaluation - I actually only discovered this a few weeks before my exam but WEESTEPS is brilliant for those top marks.
http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.ph...-to-evaluation
BBC Economy Tracker - Very useful to show application to the real world in your answer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10613201
Trading Economics - Great website showing up to date indicators worldwide - Interesting data on the website
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/
Hope this helps,
Ben
Edit: I'm now in full time employment, working for an asset management firm in the research department. Responses may be slow, but feel free to send personal messages with questions or anything related to Economics.
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#2
(Original post by Ben_K)
Hi all,
I wanted to write a brief bit of advice to A2 economists. I finished in July this year and achieved an A grade overall and thought it would be useful to pass on my advice of what I did.
1.) Read the book - Now, this may not be useful to many but I read the text book recommended to me 2/3 times over (Powell ISBN-13: 978-0340947517). What I didn't do was make notes on the book, I memorised it however looking back on it I wish I made more notes on the book.
2.) Ask questions in class! Do not be afraid, it helped me improve massively and builds your confidence.
3.) Practice, practice, practice..... I completed over 40 papers in the run up to the exams(around 2 months before) (in many cases the same papers as there are not enough). I also tried to complete atleast 1/2 papers a week prior.
4.) Try to arrange a study group after school... I asked my teacher if it would be ok for me and a few others to study after school in groups with the teacher and it was brilliant! We'd study till almost 7pm studying economics once a week atleast.
5.) Make notes in class. I made notes on everything in class. My mistake was I didn't go back over the notes when I had written them down. However I felt it didn't help me as I tended to memorise the notes as I wrote them down. I would highly recommend going back over your notes after each study session.
6.) Know your diagrams... When I used to draw the diagrams I knew immediately what type of question they where for, and I could explain everything about them.
Hope this helps,
Ben
Quick edit* Thinking of making an actual guide as I'm having a gap year right now. Let me know *
Hi all,
I wanted to write a brief bit of advice to A2 economists. I finished in July this year and achieved an A grade overall and thought it would be useful to pass on my advice of what I did.
1.) Read the book - Now, this may not be useful to many but I read the text book recommended to me 2/3 times over (Powell ISBN-13: 978-0340947517). What I didn't do was make notes on the book, I memorised it however looking back on it I wish I made more notes on the book.
2.) Ask questions in class! Do not be afraid, it helped me improve massively and builds your confidence.
3.) Practice, practice, practice..... I completed over 40 papers in the run up to the exams(around 2 months before) (in many cases the same papers as there are not enough). I also tried to complete atleast 1/2 papers a week prior.
4.) Try to arrange a study group after school... I asked my teacher if it would be ok for me and a few others to study after school in groups with the teacher and it was brilliant! We'd study till almost 7pm studying economics once a week atleast.
5.) Make notes in class. I made notes on everything in class. My mistake was I didn't go back over the notes when I had written them down. However I felt it didn't help me as I tended to memorise the notes as I wrote them down. I would highly recommend going back over your notes after each study session.
6.) Know your diagrams... When I used to draw the diagrams I knew immediately what type of question they where for, and I could explain everything about them.
Hope this helps,
Ben
Quick edit* Thinking of making an actual guide as I'm having a gap year right now. Let me know *
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#3
About your comment at the end, yeah it'd be great if you did make a guide! But you'd have to specify what exam board you're talking about. I'm presuming AQA because due to the book. (Shame I'm OCR)
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(Original post by lisa96)
Which exam board were you on?
Which exam board were you on?
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#6
Thanks for the advice. When you say you did 40 papers, did you write all the questions out in full or in note form ?
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(Original post by BC95)
Thanks for the advice. When you say you did 40 papers, did you write all the questions out in full or in note form ?
Thanks for the advice. When you say you did 40 papers, did you write all the questions out in full or in note form ?
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#8
(Original post by Ben_K)
All in full. Initially I started completing the papers with no time constraint however as the exam drew nearer I began to time my papers. When timing my papers, I always aimed to finish atleast 10 minutes prior to the actual time required for the paper so that when I went into the exam, I knew I could write to a fast and high standard.
All in full. Initially I started completing the papers with no time constraint however as the exam drew nearer I began to time my papers. When timing my papers, I always aimed to finish atleast 10 minutes prior to the actual time required for the paper so that when I went into the exam, I knew I could write to a fast and high standard.
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(Original post by BC95)
ok cool, have you noticed any patterns in the types of questions that are set ?
ok cool, have you noticed any patterns in the types of questions that are set ?
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#10
(Original post by Ben_K)
Well, previous to last June and January's exams I saw a pattern and did try to predict the exams. However, in January and June the questions where much different to what I had anticipated. So I recommend to just focus on your writing skills and knowledge (evaluation is very very very important I can't stress enough) and you'll do fine. Just prepare for every possible question you can think of. If you run out of questions from previous exams maybe even make up your own questions to improve and widen your knowledge.
Well, previous to last June and January's exams I saw a pattern and did try to predict the exams. However, in January and June the questions where much different to what I had anticipated. So I recommend to just focus on your writing skills and knowledge (evaluation is very very very important I can't stress enough) and you'll do fine. Just prepare for every possible question you can think of. If you run out of questions from previous exams maybe even make up your own questions to improve and widen your knowledge.
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#11
The resources I used were these ray Powell concise revision notes and tutor2u go through each section and rewrite them in bullet point (note form). Also practice how to answer questions (point/analysis/evaluate)
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#12
(Original post by BC95)
ah ok this is great advice, is essay structure the same as at AS e.g. definition, application, analysis and evaluation?
ah ok this is great advice, is essay structure the same as at AS e.g. definition, application, analysis and evaluation?
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#13
(Original post by Ben_K)
Hi all,
I wanted to write a brief bit of advice to A2 economists. I finished in July this year and achieved an A grade overall and thought it would be useful to pass on my advice of what I did.
1.) Read the book - Now, this may not be useful to many but I read the text book recommended to me 2/3 times over (Powell ISBN-13: 978-0340947517). What I didn't do was make notes on the book, I memorised it however looking back on it I wish I made more notes on the book.
2.) Ask questions in class! Do not be afraid, it helped me improve massively and builds your confidence.
3.) Practice, practice, practice..... I completed over 40 papers in the run up to the exams(around 2 months before) (in many cases the same papers as there are not enough). I also tried to complete atleast 1/2 papers a week prior.
4.) Try to arrange a study group after school... I asked my teacher if it would be ok for me and a few others to study after school in groups with the teacher and it was brilliant! We'd study till almost 7pm studying economics once a week atleast.
5.) Make notes in class. I made notes on everything in class. My mistake was I didn't go back over the notes when I had written them down. However I felt it didn't help me as I tended to memorise the notes as I wrote them down. I would highly recommend going back over your notes after each study session.
6.) Know your diagrams... When I used to draw the diagrams I knew immediately what type of question they where for, and I could explain everything about them.
Hope this helps,
Ben
Quick edit* Thinking of making an actual guide as I'm having a gap year right now. Let me know *
Hi all,
I wanted to write a brief bit of advice to A2 economists. I finished in July this year and achieved an A grade overall and thought it would be useful to pass on my advice of what I did.
1.) Read the book - Now, this may not be useful to many but I read the text book recommended to me 2/3 times over (Powell ISBN-13: 978-0340947517). What I didn't do was make notes on the book, I memorised it however looking back on it I wish I made more notes on the book.
2.) Ask questions in class! Do not be afraid, it helped me improve massively and builds your confidence.
3.) Practice, practice, practice..... I completed over 40 papers in the run up to the exams(around 2 months before) (in many cases the same papers as there are not enough). I also tried to complete atleast 1/2 papers a week prior.
4.) Try to arrange a study group after school... I asked my teacher if it would be ok for me and a few others to study after school in groups with the teacher and it was brilliant! We'd study till almost 7pm studying economics once a week atleast.
5.) Make notes in class. I made notes on everything in class. My mistake was I didn't go back over the notes when I had written them down. However I felt it didn't help me as I tended to memorise the notes as I wrote them down. I would highly recommend going back over your notes after each study session.
6.) Know your diagrams... When I used to draw the diagrams I knew immediately what type of question they where for, and I could explain everything about them.
Hope this helps,
Ben
Quick edit* Thinking of making an actual guide as I'm having a gap year right now. Let me know *
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(Original post by Alex-Torres)
So you're saying that this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/AQA-A2-Econo...=9780340947517 is better than the official one?
So you're saying that this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/AQA-A2-Econo...=9780340947517 is better than the official one?
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(Original post by BC95)
ah ok this is great advice, is essay structure the same as at AS e.g. definition, application, analysis and evaluation?
ah ok this is great advice, is essay structure the same as at AS e.g. definition, application, analysis and evaluation?
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#17
(Original post by lisa96)
I'm on OCR and I don't fully understand fixed costs / variable costs. Does anyone else study this with other exam boards?
I'm on OCR and I don't fully understand fixed costs / variable costs. Does anyone else study this with other exam boards?
http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.ph...variable-costs
Posted from TSR Mobile
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(Original post by lisa96)
I'm on OCR and I don't fully understand fixed costs / variable costs. Does anyone else study this with other exam boards?
I'm on OCR and I don't fully understand fixed costs / variable costs. Does anyone else study this with other exam boards?
I just sent you a PM of it briefly but the link above is useful too.
Ben
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#19
Can anyone help me by explaining what is an evaluation and what to include in it? As I constantly try to do one in each practice essay and my teacher just keeps saying nope and says you need to do a proper evaluation and he doesn't really explain it well.. I don't know how I managed to get a C at the end of As with somehow getting BD. The other parts of my essay seem to be good enough but I just don't know how an evaluation works...
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(Original post by Jayqwe)
Can anyone help me by explaining what is an evaluation and what to include in it? As I constantly try to do one in each practice essay and my teacher just keeps saying nope and says you need to do a proper evaluation and he doesn't really explain it well.. I don't know how I managed to get a C at the end of As with somehow getting BD. The other parts of my essay seem to be good enough but I just don't know how an evaluation works...
Can anyone help me by explaining what is an evaluation and what to include in it? As I constantly try to do one in each practice essay and my teacher just keeps saying nope and says you need to do a proper evaluation and he doesn't really explain it well.. I don't know how I managed to get a C at the end of As with somehow getting BD. The other parts of my essay seem to be good enough but I just don't know how an evaluation works...
http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.ph...-to-evaluation
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