England · OCRSyllabus
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.
2.1-2.5 Economic objectives and performance
Module overview →- Why is income and wealth shared unequally, and what can be done about it?The difference between income and wealth, the meaning of a fair distribution, the causes of inequality and poverty, and how government can redistribute.9 min answer →
- What is economic growth, how is it measured, and what causes it?The meaning of economic growth, how it is measured using GDP and GDP per capita, the determinants of growth, and the economic cycle.10 min answer →
- What is the government trying to achieve when it manages the economy?The government's main economic objectives (growth, low unemployment, price stability and a fair distribution of income), and why they can conflict.9 min answer →
- What is inflation, how is it measured, and why does it matter?The meaning and measurement of inflation using a price index, the causes of inflation (demand-pull and cost-push), and its effects on the economy.10 min answer →
- How do we judge living standards, and can growth be made sustainable?How living standards are measured beyond GDP, the link between economic growth and living standards, and economic, social and environmental sustainability.9 min answer →
- What is unemployment, how is it measured, and what causes it?The meaning and measurement of unemployment, the main types and causes of unemployment, and the consequences of unemployment for individuals, firms and the government.9 min answer →
2.6-2.9 Government policy and market failure
Module overview →- How does the government use spending and taxation to manage the economy?What fiscal policy is, how changes in government spending and taxation affect growth, employment and prices, and the costs and benefits of using it.9 min answer →
- When do free markets fail to allocate resources well, and how can the government step in?What market failure is, the main causes (externalities, merit and demerit goods, public goods), and how the government can intervene to correct it.10 min answer →
- How do interest rates set by the central bank affect spending, saving and the wider economy?What monetary policy is, how the central bank uses interest rates to affect saving, borrowing, spending and investment, and the effects on growth and inflation.10 min answer →
- How can the government raise the economy's productive capacity in the long run?What supply-side policy is, the main supply-side measures (education, training, infrastructure, incentives), and how they raise productivity and long-run growth.9 min answer →
- How does the government raise money through taxes, and what does it spend it on?The types of tax (direct and indirect, progressive and regressive), the main areas of government spending, and the purposes of taxation.9 min answer →
1.4-1.7 How markets work
Module overview →- How does competition between firms affect prices, choice and efficiency?The meaning of competition and its economic impact on producers and consumers, including effects on price, choice, quality and efficiency.9 min answer →
- What determines how much of a good consumers want to buy at each price?The law of demand, why the demand curve slopes downwards, movements along versus shifts of demand, and the factors that shift demand.9 min answer →
- What happens to prices and choice when one or a few firms dominate a market?The meaning of monopoly and oligopoly, how they differ from competitive markets, and their effects on prices, choice and efficiency.9 min answer →
- How do demand and supply interact to set the price and quantity in a market?Market equilibrium, how price is determined by demand and supply, surpluses and shortages, and how shifts in demand or supply change price and quantity.10 min answer →
- How responsive is the quantity demanded or supplied to a change in price?Price elasticity of demand and supply, how to calculate and interpret it, the factors affecting it, and the link between elasticity and total revenue.10 min answer →
- What determines how much of a good firms are willing to produce at each price?The law of supply, why the supply curve slopes upwards, movements along versus shifts of supply, and the factors that shift supply.9 min answer →
2.10-2.13 International trade and the global economy
Module overview →- How do we record a country's trade with the rest of the world?The balance of payments and the current account, the meaning of a trade surplus and deficit, and the causes and consequences of a trade imbalance.9 min answer →
- What is an exchange rate, and how do changes in it affect consumers and producers?What an exchange rate is, how to convert between currencies, and how a rise or fall in the exchange rate affects exporters, importers and consumers.9 min answer →
- What is globalisation, and who gains and loses from a more connected world economy?What globalisation is and its causes, the role of multinational companies, and the costs and benefits of globalisation for producers, workers and consumers in developed and less developed countries.10 min answer →
- Why do countries trade with one another, and what are the gains and risks?Why countries trade, the meaning of imports and exports, the benefits of international trade, and the role of specialisation between countries.9 min answer →
- Why do governments restrict trade, and what are free trade agreements and trading blocs?Free trade and free trade agreements (including the European Union and trading blocs), the methods of protection (tariffs, quotas and subsidies), and the arguments for and against protectionism.10 min answer →
1.8-1.10 Production, the labour market and money
Module overview →- How do firms measure their costs, revenue and profit, and why do these matter for supply?Calculating total cost, average cost, total revenue, average revenue, and profit or loss, the importance of these for producers, and economies of scale.10 min answer →
- What is money, and what do banks and financial markets do for the economy?The functions and characteristics of money, and the role of money and financial markets, including banks, in allowing saving, borrowing and investment.9 min answer →
- How do firms produce, and why does productivity matter for the economy?The role of producers (individuals, firms and government), the meaning and importance of production and productivity, and the division of labour and specialisation.9 min answer →
- How are wages determined, and what makes some jobs pay more than others?The role and operation of the labour market, how wages are determined by the demand for and supply of labour, and the factors that affect each.9 min answer →
1.1-1.3 The economic problem and resource allocation
Module overview →- Who are the main economic groups, and how do their decisions depend on one another?The role of the main economic groups (consumers, producers and government) and how they are interdependent in a market economy.9 min answer →
- What resources does an economy use to produce goods and services, and what reward does each earn?The four factors of production (land, labour, capital and enterprise), how they are combined to produce, and the reward to each.9 min answer →
- What is a market, and how do the three sectors of production turn resources into finished goods?What a market is, the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of production, and how markets and the price mechanism allocate scarce resources.9 min answer →
- Why must every society make choices about what to produce?The basic economic problem of scarcity, the difference between needs and wants, opportunity cost, and why choices must be made by consumers, producers and government.9 min answer →