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Tue Jan 06 17:00:00 UTC 2026
January 2026 Economics update
Happy New Year and welcome to this first update of 2026!
The featured section at the top of the update is on exam entry codes which you will need for the entry information your Exams Officer will be requesting later this month or early next month.
Our after-school A level Economics A network events continue this term, and we hope that you will be able to join us. Two new FT case studies were also recently added in December.
If you have new or trainee teachers in your department you might bring the EBEA's New Teacher Conference to their attention (details below).
You are also invited to find out about the Economics Olympiad and the January Creativity Challenge, which is not just for art students, it is open to all.
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| 22 January | Results day for IAL October 2025 series |
| 22 January | Results day for International GCSE November 2025 series |
| 23 January | EBEA New Teacher Conference |
| 27 January | IAL (October series) and International GCSE (November series) examiners' reports uploaded |
| 3 February | A level Economics A network event (8-mark questions) |
| 21 February | Entry deadline for International GCSE and AS/A level for UK centres |
| 3 March | A level Economics A network event (Paper 3) |
| 5 March | Results day for IAL January 2026 series |
| 21 March | Entry deadline for International GCSE and IAL for international centres |
Your Exams Officer will soon be asking for the exam entry codes for the summer exams. Please provide your EO with the information well in advance of the deadlines.
| Qualification | Entry code | Entry deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Economics spec A | 9EC0 | 21 February* |
| Economics spec B | 9EB0 | 21 February* |
* Please note that for international centres, the entry deadline is 21 March.
| IAL Economics | Entry code | Entry deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | WEC11 | 21 March |
| Unit 2 | WEC12 | 21 March |
| Unit 3 | WEC13 | 21 March |
| Unit 4 | WEC14 | 21 March |
| IAS cash-in | XEC11 | 21 March |
| IAL cash-in | YEC11 | 21 March |
4EC1A = the traditionally assessed linear papers
R - Regional papers - Pearson requires the following countries to use the alternative R option codes: Australia, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
C = Onscreen assessment
CR = Regional and onscreen papers
The entry deadlines are:
- 21 February for UK centres
- 21 March for International centres
| Entry | Option | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 4EC1 | A | Economics (Papers 1 & 2) |
| 4EC1 | R | Economics (Papers 1R & 2R) |
| 4EC1 | ZA | Economics (Papers 1C & 2C) |
| 4EC1 | ZB | Economics (Papers 1C & 2) |
| 4EC1 | ZC | Economics (Papers 1 & 2C) |
| 4EC1 | ZD | Economics (Papers 1CR & 2CR) |
| 4EC1 | ZE | Economics (Papers 1CR & 2R) |
| 4EC1 | ZF | Economics (Papers 1R & 2CR) |
International centres only
The entry deadline is 21 March.
R - Regional papers - Pearson requires the following countries to use the alternative R option codes: Australia, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam
C = Onscreen assessment
CR = Regional and onscreen papers
| Entry | Option | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 4WEC1 | A | Economics (Unit 1) |
| 4WEC1 | R | Economics (Unit 1R) |
| 4WEC1 | C | Economics (Unit 1C) |
| 4WEC1 | V | Economics (Unit 1CR) |
| 4WEC1 | A | Economics (Unit 2) |
| 4WEC1 | R | Economics (Unit 2R) |
| 4WEC1 | C | Economics (Unit 2C) |
| 4WEC1 | V | Economics (Unit 2CR) |
| 4XEC1 | Economics cash-in |
| A level Economics A |
|---|
| Delivery support |
| Assessment support |
Delivery support focuses on free support materials, networking and both free and paid-for resources. There are links to Pearson, Hodder and other publishers.
A level Economics B |
|---|
| Delivery support |
| Assessment support |
Assessment support focuses on assessment news and tools, support in understanding the command verbs, and information about grade boundaries and statistics.
| 3 February | A level Economics A: Tackling the 8-mark 'examine' question |
| 3 March | A Level Economics A: Tackling Paper 3 |
The A level Economics A You Tube Channel includes recordings of events from previous years.
The mark schemes for GCE Economics A, and GCE Economics B have been refreshed to include updated diagrams. These improvements ensure greater consistency across papers, support clearer interpretation, and help teachers and students engage more confidently with the assessment criteria.
Our thanks go to Learnogic Education for providing the diagrams, and Senior Examiner Maaz Khan for adapting them to meet question requirements. These contributions have improved the overall clarity and quality of our mark schemes.
The pre-release material for the June 2026 Paper 3 is now available.
Please visit the delivery support pages to learn about both free and paid-for support available for our qualifications.
Two new case studies were added in November and we now have sixteen case studies mapped to the specification.
| Number | Title | Specification references | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | The future of the NHS | 1.2.6(b) Price determination: the use of supply and demand diagrams to depict excess supply and excess demand 1.3.1 Types of market failure 1.3.2 Externalities 1.3.4 Information gaps |
|
| 18 | Tax cuts in India | 2.2.1 The characteristics of AD 2.3.2 Short-run AS 2.4.1 National income 2.4.2 Injections and withdrawals 2.4.3 Equilibrium levels of national output |
Summer 2026 Timetable - Economics A
Summer 2026 Timetable - Economics B
| IAL Economics |
|---|
| Delivery support |
| Assessment support |
Delivery support focuses on free support materials, networking and both free and paid-for resources. There are links to Pearson, Hodder and other publishers.
| International GCSE Economics |
|---|
| Delivery support |
| Assessment support |
Assessment support focuses on assessment news and tools, support in understanding the command verbs, and information about grade boundaries and statistics.
The mark schemes for IAL Economics have been refreshed to include updated diagrams. These improvements ensure greater consistency across papers, support clearer interpretation, and help teachers and students engage more confidently with the assessment criteria.
Our thanks go to Learnogic Education for providing the diagrams, and Senior Examiner Maaz Khan for adapting them to meet question requirements. These contributions have improved the overall clarity and quality of our mark schemes.
Summer 2026 Timetable
November 2026 Provisional Timetable
Results day for the October 2025 series will be Thursday 22 January 2026.
January 2026 Timetable
Summer 2026 Timetable
October 2026 Timetable
January 2027 Provisional Timetable
Please note that this is a provisional timetable. Any feedback on provisional timetables should be sent to timetables@pearson.com.
The latest EBEA New Teacher Conference 2026 will be taking place online at 9.30am on Friday 23rd January. Free to all members, including trainee teachers studying with an EBEA Training Partner institution, this year's speakers include:
- Helen Coupland-Smith (Time2Resources) discussing the secrets of developing and using resources effectively.
- Adrian Lyons (Ex-Ofsted HMI and Business and Economics Lead) will be sharing insights into Ofsted expectations and the new framework.
- Deborah Malpas from OCR will be providing guidance on incorporating sustainability into the specifications.
- Dr Jo Bentham (EBEA Trustee) will be discussing how to raise student expectations and attainment.
- Headteacher Daniel Biggins will be providing much needed guidance on maintaining wellbeing as a business and economics teacher.
- Gareth Taylor (EBEA Head of Professional Development) on advancing your career through Senior Fellowship.
The Economics Olympiad is the world’s largest economics competition for secondary school students. Last year 120,000 students participated globally across 39 countries and 5,000+ schools.
In 2025/26, the UK will participate for the first time. The first stage starts with school and regional Rounds followed by regional finals at UK Universities. The National Final (June 2026) is then followed by the International Final – Ancient Olympia, in Greece (August 2026) where top UK students join peers globally in a world-class celebration of talent.
Now that the final report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review and the timelines have been published, we are now considering the implications for A level Economics. We will keep you informed of any further developments.
See the timeline (on page 52)
Join the final January Challenge!
Pearson is proud to partner with 64 Million Artists for the last-ever January Challenge – a free programme of daily creative prompts throughout January. Perfect for classrooms, staff rooms, and whole-school activities.
This year the theme is ‘Courageous Change’ with each of the prompts designed to help us get a new perspective, build our courage and helpus collaborate so that we can be more prepared for this ever changing world.
At Pearson, we've helped create the schools resource pack again this year and two prompts were written by your Subject Advisors!
To get involved, you can:
- Sign up to receive daily creative prompts in January
- Download the schools pack
- Use the schools pack to help your school get creative and make change
Last year 360,000 people took part and we’re hoping to make the last one the biggest and best. There’s no better time to make change than now, so sign up and take part, and we’ll see you there!
Please take a look at the information below and click on the links for further details.
Are you an ECT?
The APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group) on Financial Education launched its report in September.
This review explores how financial education is integrated, supported and delivered as well as what a UK vision for financial education could look like, what is working and what needs to be improved.
The report calls for a Financial Education Youth Guarantee including financial education at every stage of learning, Financial Education Champions in every school and the establishment of a national financial education resource hub.
The report also highlights examples of positive practice and recent developments that could be scaled up, as well as specific recommendations to improve financial education.
This is a recorded session which focuses on best practice when using ResultsPlus, alongside ExamWizard to analyse your students’ examination results, and improve your in-house approach to teaching the topics your students find challenging.
The Professional Development Academy summarises the training that is available to you.
The Pearson Edexcel Facebook page is designed to help and support you with the teaching and delivery of our UK qualifications. We share the latest news, updates and information about our support services across subjects. From our own news to updates from Ofqual and JCQ, follow us on @PearsonEdexcel on Facebook to stay up to date.
Multi factor authentication was rolled out to nearly a quarter of a million Pearson Portal users last year. Although it has now become a standard way of accessing our systems, it can sometimes present challenges if a smart device is lost or replaced.
You can read more information, see a quick start guide and access FAQs and troubleshooting for our authenticator app in our Pearson Portal Authenticator support article.
Based on feedback received this graphic was created to answer some common questions.
You can read more information, see a quick start guide and access FAQs and troubleshooting for our authenticator app in our Pearson Portal Authenticator support article.
Subject advisor
Colin Leith
Economics
Email :
Phone :
+44 (0) 344 463 2535
(Teaching Services team | Mon-Fri, 9am - 5pm GMT)
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