England · Pearson EdexcelSyllabus
Economics syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the England Economicssyllabus, with a focused answer for each one. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions, and links to related dot points. Written by Claude Opus 4.8, Anthropic's latest AI.
Theme 1: Introduction to markets and market failure
Module overview →- How can governments correct market failure, and why can their intervention make things worse?Indirect taxes, subsidies, maximum and minimum prices, tradable pollution permits, state provision, regulation and information provision, and the causes of government failure.12 min answer →
- How do the forces of demand and supply set prices and allocate resources in a free market?Demand and supply, the determinants and elasticities (PED, YED, XED, PES), the price mechanism and its functions, consumer and producer surplus, and the basics of consumer behaviour.12 min answer →
- Why does a free market sometimes allocate resources in ways that reduce society's welfare?Externalities, public goods, information gaps and the merit and demerit good distinction, and how each causes the market to misallocate resources.10 min answer →
- Why does scarcity force every economy to make choices, and how do economists model those choices?The economic problem of scarcity, the methodology of economics as a social science, positive and normative statements, the production possibility frontier, specialisation and the functions of money.9 min answer →
Theme 2: The UK economy - performance and policies
Module overview →- What determines the total demand for goods and services in an economy?The components of aggregate demand, the determinants of consumption, investment, government spending and net trade, and the shape and shifts of the AD curve.10 min answer →
- What determines how much an economy can produce in the short and long run?Short-run aggregate supply and its determinants, long-run aggregate supply, the Keynesian and classical LRAS curves, and the factors that shift the productive capacity of an economy.10 min answer →
- What causes an economy to grow, and what are the costs and benefits of growth?Actual and potential growth, the causes of short-run and long-run growth, the output gap, the economic cycle, and the costs and benefits of growth.10 min answer →
- What are the government's macroeconomic objectives, and which policies can it use to meet them?The main macroeconomic objectives, fiscal policy, monetary policy, supply-side policies, the conflicts between objectives, and the use of policies in different contexts.12 min answer →
- How do economists measure whether an economy is performing well?Economic growth and real GDP, inflation and its measurement, employment and unemployment, the balance of payments on current account, and the limitations of these indicators.12 min answer →
- How is the equilibrium level of national output determined, and how do injections and withdrawals affect it?The circular flow of income, injections and withdrawals, equilibrium real national output, and the multiplier effect.10 min answer →
Theme 3: Business behaviour and the labour market
Module overview →- Why do some firms grow large while others stay small, and how do they expand?The reasons firms grow or stay small, organic and inorganic growth, types of integration, the principal-agent problem and the divorce of ownership from control.10 min answer →
- What goals do firms actually pursue, and is profit maximisation always the aim?Profit maximisation and the MC equals MR rule, and alternative objectives including revenue maximisation, sales maximisation, satisficing and survival.9 min answer →
- How and why do governments regulate firms and protect competition?Competition policy, regulation of monopolies and mergers, price and profit regulation of natural monopolies, protection of suppliers and employees, and the limits of intervention.10 min answer →
- How does the number of firms in a market shape price, output and efficiency?Perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly, their assumptions and outcomes, price and non-price competition, and types of efficiency.13 min answer →
- How do a firm's revenues, costs and profits behave as it changes output?Total, average and marginal revenue and cost, the law of diminishing returns, economies and diseconomies of scale, and normal and supernormal profit.12 min answer →
- What determines wages and employment in a labour market?The demand for and supply of labour, wage determination in competitive and imperfect markets, monopsony, trade unions, and the causes of wage differentials.11 min answer →
Theme 4: A global perspective
Module overview →- Why are some economies still developing, and what strategies promote growth and development?Measures of development, the factors influencing growth and development, market-oriented and interventionist strategies, and the role of aid, trade and institutions.12 min answer →
- How are exchange rates set, and how do they affect the balance of payments?Exchange rate systems, the determinants of floating exchange rates, the effects of changes in the exchange rate, the balance of payments, and the relationship between competitiveness and the current account.12 min answer →
- Why do countries trade, and how do they protect or open their markets?Globalisation, absolute and comparative advantage, the gains from trade, protectionism, trading blocs and the role of the World Trade Organisation.12 min answer →
- How do economists measure poverty and inequality, and what causes them?Absolute and relative poverty, the measurement of inequality using the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient, the causes and effects of inequality, and the distinction between wealth and income.11 min answer →
- How do governments raise and spend money, manage their debt, and influence the whole economy?Public expenditure and taxation, the budget balance and national debt, fiscal and supply-side policy in a global context, and the role of macroeconomic policies in managing the economy.12 min answer →
- What does the financial sector do, and why does it sometimes fail?The role of financial markets, market failure in the financial sector, the role of central banks, and the regulation of the financial system.11 min answer →