AQA A-Level Economics answers, written to the spec
8 topics · explanations and examiner marking in AQA’s own language
Studying AQA A-Level Economics? Pick your board once and every answer, mark and flashcard elid gives you follows that specification. Free to start, no card needed. Open elid →
This is the full AQA A-Level Economics specification, as elid holds it — 8 topics, each with the terminology AQA marks against. Every explanation and every mark elid gives you is written against this list, not a generic A-level one, because the same question answered in CAIE, Edexcel or OCR language loses marks it should have earned.
The AQA A-Level Economics specification, topic by topic
Micro: The Market Mechanism and Elasticities
Assessed in Paper 1, 3
How markets allocate resources, price determination, consumer surplus, producer surplus, and price elasticities.
Specification terms elid matches
demand
supply
equilibrium
price mechanism
consumer surplus
producer surplus
PED
XED
price elasticity of demand
income elasticity of demand
cross elasticity of demand
price elasticity of supply
price determination
excess demand
Micro: Market Failure and Government Intervention
Assessed in Paper 1, 3
Sources of market failure including public goods, externalities, asymmetric information, and policies to correct them.
Specification terms elid matches
market failure
externality
merit good
demerit good
public good
non-excludable
non-rivalry
indirect tax
subsidy
negative externality
positive externality
social cost
private cost
external cost
Micro: Market Structures and Monopoly
Assessed in Paper 1, 3
Firm behaviour, perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly, and contestability.
Specification terms elid matches
perfect competition
monopoly
oligopoly
supernormal profit
collusion
barriers to entry
contestability
game theory
monopolistic competition
normal profit
profit maximisation
revenue maximisation
sales maximisation
tacit collusion
Micro: Labour Markets
Assessed in Paper 1, 3
Wage determination, demand and supply of labour, trade unions, monopsony, and the national minimum wage.
Specification terms elid matches
demand for labour
supply of labour
MRP theory
monopsony
trade union
minimum wage
wage differentials
marginal revenue product of labour
monopsony buyer of labour
national minimum wage (NMW)
living wage
labour market flexibility
zero-hours contracts
gig economy
Macro: Aggregate Demand and Supply
Assessed in Paper 2, 3
Components of aggregate demand and supply, macroeconomic equilibrium, national income determination, and the multiplier.
Specification terms elid matches
aggregate demand
aggregate supply
consumption
investment
multiplier effect
marginal propensity to consume
national income
output gap
short-run aggregate supply (SRAS)
long-run aggregate supply (LRAS)
circular flow of income
injections and leakages
marginal propensity to save
positive output gap
Macro: Economic Policy and Objectives
Assessed in Paper 2, 3
Macroeconomic objectives (growth, inflation, unemployment, trade) and monetary, fiscal, and supply-side policies.
Specification terms elid matches
economic growth
inflation
unemployment
balance of payments
fiscal policy
monetary policy
supply-side policy
interest rates
consumer price index (CPI)
demand-pull inflation
cost-push inflation
frictional unemployment
structural unemployment
cyclical unemployment
Macro: Financial Markets
Assessed in Paper 2, 3
The role of financial markets, commercial and investment banks, systemic risk, and central bank regulation.
Specification terms elid matches
financial sector
commercial bank
investment bank
central bank
liquidity
profitability
debt
equity
money market
capital market
credit creation
bank balance sheet
bank run
financial crisis
Macro: The International Economy
Assessed in Paper 2, 3
Globalisation, international trade, protectionism, trade blocks, exchange rates, and economic development.
Specification terms elid matches
globalisation
free trade
protectionism
tariff
quota
exchange rate
trade creation
trade diversion
theory of comparative advantage
import tariff
import quota
floating exchange rate
fixed exchange rate
current account of balance of payments
How the papers are weighted
elid uses these weightings when it decides which topics deserve your revision time first.
Paper
Share of the qualification
Paper 1
33.3%
Paper 2
33.3%
Paper 3
33.3%
Marked the way AQA marks it
Paste an answer you have written and elid marks it point by point against the AQA scheme: which marking points you hit, which you missed, and the sentence that would have earned each missing one. It is the difference between being told an answer is “good” and being told exactly where the marks went.
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