United Kingdom · National Curriculum Attainment Targets
Year 12 Economics
This course introduces students to the fundamental principles of scarcity, choice, and the mechanics of competitive markets. Students analyze how individuals, firms, and governments make decisions and evaluate the impact of these choices on national and global economic outcomes.
01The Economic Problem and Markets
An exploration of how society allocates scarce resources and the fundamental principles of supply and demand.
Students examine the central economic problem of infinite wants versus finite resources and distinguish between needs and wants.
Students explore the concept of opportunity cost as the value of the next best alternative foregone when a choice is made.
Students visualize trade-offs, efficiency, and economic growth using the Production Possibility Frontier (PPF).
Students investigate how specialization and the division of labour can increase productivity and efficiency.
Students learn about the functions of money and compare it to a barter system.
Students compare different economic systems (market, command, mixed) and their approaches to resource allocation.
Students analyze the law of demand, construct demand curves, and identify factors influencing consumer demand.
Students distinguish between changes in quantity demanded (movements) and changes in demand (shifts).
Students analyze the law of supply, construct supply curves, and identify factors influencing producer supply.
Students distinguish between changes in quantity supplied (movements) and changes in supply (shifts).
Students analyze how the interaction of supply and demand establishes equilibrium prices and quantities in a free market.
Students investigate how responsive consumers are to changes in price and calculate Price Elasticity of Demand.
Students explore how demand responds to changes in income and classify goods based on YED.
Students explore how demand for one good responds to changes in the price of related goods.
Students investigate how responsive producers are to changes in price and calculate Price Elasticity of Supply.
Students analyze the concepts of consumer and producer surplus as measures of market welfare.
Students are introduced to the concept of firms, their objectives, and basic production decisions.
Students analyze different types of costs (fixed, variable, total) and their relationship to output.
Students analyze average and marginal costs and their relationship to output and decision-making.
Students explore different types of revenue (total, average, marginal) and the conditions for profit maximization.
02Market Failure and Government Intervention
Examining why markets sometimes fail to allocate resources efficiently and how the state attempts to correct these failures.
Students analyze the characteristics and outcomes of perfectly competitive markets.
Students analyze the characteristics and outcomes of monopoly markets, including barriers to entry.
Students explore the characteristics of oligopoly markets, including interdependence and strategic behavior using game theory.
Students analyze markets with many firms offering differentiated products.
Students apply supply and demand principles to analyze the functioning of labour markets.
Students explore reasons for wage differentials and the economic impact of discrimination in labour markets.
Students are introduced to the concept of market failure and its implications for resource allocation.
Students identify the impact of third-party costs from production activities.
Students identify the impact of third-party costs from consumption activities.
Students identify the impact of third-party benefits from production and consumption activities.
Students analyze the characteristics of public goods and the challenges of providing non-excludable goods.
Students analyze how hidden information before a transaction leads to market distortions.
Students analyze how hidden actions after a transaction lead to market distortions.
Students evaluate the effectiveness of taxes and subsidies in correcting market outcomes related to externalities.
Students analyze the impact of price ceilings and price floors on market equilibrium and welfare.
Students evaluate the use of laws and regulations to correct market failures.
Students analyze situations where government intervention leads to an inefficient allocation of resources.
Students explore the causes and consequences of poverty and income inequality.
Students evaluate different government policies aimed at reducing income and wealth inequality.
Students specifically examine environmental issues as a form of market failure.
Students evaluate various policy tools used to address environmental market failures.
Students explore how governments intervene to promote competition and regulate monopolies.
03The National Economy
Introduction to macroeconomic objectives, the circular flow of income, and the measurement of economic performance.
Students explore how insights from behavioral economics can inform government policy to correct market failures.
Students analyze how clearly defined property rights can help resolve externalities and market failures.
Students examine how governments address information gaps through provision and regulation.
Students explore the concepts of merit and demerit goods and the rationale for government intervention.
Students synthesize their understanding of market failure and government intervention to evaluate the overall role of the state.
Students identify the main macroeconomic objectives and analyze potential conflicts between them.
Students model the flow of income, expenditure, and output within an economy, including leakages and injections.
Students learn how Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is calculated and its limitations as a measure of economic activity.
Students explore alternative indicators beyond GDP to assess human well-being and development.
Students model the total spending in an economy and analyze its components and determinants.
Students model the total production in an economy in the short run and analyze its determinants.
Students model the total production in an economy in the long run and analyze its determinants.
Students analyze how the interaction of AD and AS determines national output, price level, and employment, and the impact of shocks.
Students explore the factors that contribute to sustained increases in an economy's productive capacity.
Students evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of economic growth for individuals and society.
Students analyze different categories of unemployment and their underlying causes.
Students evaluate the economic and social consequences of unemployment and policies to address it.
Students analyze different types of inflation and their underlying causes.
Students evaluate the economic and social consequences of inflation and policies to address it.
Students explore the short-run and long-run relationship between inflation and unemployment.
Students analyze the components of the balance of payments and its significance for a national economy.
Students are introduced to the use of government spending and taxation to influence economic activity.
Students analyze the multiplier effect of fiscal policy and the potential for crowding out.
Students explore the causes and consequences of government budget deficits and national debt.
Students are introduced to how central banks use interest rates and quantitative easing to control inflation and growth.
Students analyze how central banks use interest rates and the money supply to influence economic activity.
Students explore unconventional monetary policy tools like quantitative easing and forward guidance.
Students examine market-based supply-side policies aimed at increasing aggregate supply.
Students examine interventionist supply-side policies aimed at increasing aggregate supply.
Students analyze potential conflicts between different macroeconomic policies and the importance of policy coordination.