CCEA A-Level Economics: complete guide to the AS and A2 units and the exams

CCEA A-Level Economics (specification first taught 2016) is a two-year course split into AS and A2, set and marked by CCEA in Northern Ireland. This page is the index: below is a map of the four units, the microeconomics and macroeconomics they contain, the assessment structure, and how to study each part with the diagram and calculation skills that earn top grades.

The CCEA Economics units

The specification groups the subject into microeconomics at AS 1 and A2 1, and macroeconomics at AS 2 and A2 2, building from the market to the global economy.

AS 1 The Market System

The microeconomic foundation. It covers scarcity, choice and the economic problem, demand, supply and market equilibrium, elasticity, the price mechanism and utility, market failure, and government intervention and failure. The unifying skill is using fully labelled diagrams and the marginal framework to analyse how markets allocate resources and where they fail.

AS 2 Managing the Economy

Introductory macroeconomics. It covers national income and economic growth, aggregate demand and aggregate supply with the multiplier, unemployment, inflation, and fiscal, monetary and supply-side policy with the conflicts between objectives. The AD/AS diagram is the central analytical tool.

A2 1 Business Economics

The theory of the firm. It covers costs, revenue and profit, business growth and objectives, perfect competition and monopoly, imperfect competition with game theory and price discrimination, and the labour market. The MC equals MR rule and the market-structure diagrams run throughout.

A2 2 Managing the Economy in a Global World

Open-economy macroeconomics. It covers international trade and protectionism, the balance of payments and exchange rates, globalisation and economic integration, economic development, and managing the open economy with international institutions and policy constraints.

Skills and assessment

CCEA A-Level Economics is assessed entirely by written examination, split between AS (40 percent) and A2 (60 percent). Beyond knowledge, the papers test diagram skills, calculation (elasticity, the multiplier, index numbers, costs and profit), data response, and extended evaluation with a supported judgement.

• AS 1 The Market System - a written paper on microeconomics: markets, market failure and intervention.
• AS 2 Managing the Economy - a written paper on introductory macroeconomics: growth, unemployment, inflation and policy.
• A2 1 Business Economics - a written paper on the theory of the firm: costs, market structures and the labour market.
• A2 2 Managing the Economy in a Global World - a written paper on open-economy macroeconomics: trade, exchange rates, globalisation and development.

How to study CCEA Economics

Economics rewards precise definitions, accurate diagrams, confident calculation and balanced evaluation.

1. Work from the specification statements. Each point is a checklist; questions are written from them.
2. Drill the core diagrams. Supply and demand, externalities, costs and revenue, market structures, tariffs and exchange rates should be automatic and fully labelled.
3. Practise the calculations. Elasticity, the multiplier, index numbers, and costs, revenue and profit recur across the papers.
4. Link micro and macro. Use elasticity to explain tax incidence, AD/AS to explain inflation and unemployment, and the exchange rate to link the open economy together.
5. Rehearse evaluation. Practise extended answers with explicit evaluation and a supported conclusion under timed conditions.

The units, dot point by dot point

Each unit has a specification-level overview with worked questions and cross-links, plus dot-point pages and a quiz. Browse the full set at /ccea-a-level/economics/syllabus.

For the official specification

CCEA publishes the full specification, past papers and mark schemes at ccea.org.uk. Always revise from the current CCEA specification and CCEA's own past papers, because question style and mark-scheme expectations are board-specific.