The EBEA student conference and the FT
One of the speakers at the conference outlined how useful and important the FT offer can be for students. You can watch a recording of the session here:
Olivia Hylton: An Introduction to FT resources
April 2025 Economics update
Mon Mar 31 16:00:00 UTC 2025
Welcome to this April 2025 update.
This month we have new FT case studies for Economics A and a reminder that it is not too late to apply to become an examiner with us.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review published its Interim Report last month and you may wish to read both the report and the Pearson response.
I hope that you enjoy the Easter break.
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| 14 August | Results day for A level and IAL Economics |
| 21 August | Results day for International GCSE Economics |
The interim report was published in March with the final report due in the autumn.
Many teachers have been emailing me asking about the future of our GCSE and A level qualifications. We have had no indication as yet that reforms are in the pipeline but the final report of the Review may provide more information.
These monthly updates will keep you informed of any announcements.
Ian Marcouse will be running four days of intensive revision for students in London in April.
- April 8-9: Themes 1 and 2 (£60)
- April 10-11: Themes 3 and 4 (£60)
Each taught topic will be followed up by practical exercises, to consolidate knowledge and to build up skills and confidence.
There will be a big focus on diagrams and Maths for Economics, as maths is worth 20% of the marks.
On both days there will be a focus on exam technique, as the skills of Analysis and Evaluation are vital for Economics. There will also be a lot of focus on ‘transmission mechanisms’ (how to build up your analytic arguments)
All delegates will receive a memory stick with revision questions (with answers that can be looked up on the stick). This will provide hours of revision materials.
We are recruiting examiners for our Economics qualifications and would invite you to join one of our examining teams.
Are you an ECT?
Apply to be an NQT economics examiner for Economics A
Are you internationally based?
We are currently looking to expand our Examining workforce ahead of our assessment activities. We are seeking applicants to mark our International GCSE and International A Level qualifications in Economics.
The A level Economics A You Tube Channel includes recordings of events from previous years.
IAL Economics
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.
Recent case studies for Economics A
New case studies based on articles from the FT have been written for you to use with your students. These have up-to-date content and also have suggested answers.
| Case study | Theme 1 | Theme 2 | Theme 3 | Theme 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coffee | 1.2.6 Price determination 1.2.8 Consumer and producer surplus 1.2.3 Price elasticity of demand |
4.3.2 Factors influencing growth and development: volatility of commodity prices | ||
| 2 | Electric cars | 2.1.4 Balance of payments | 4.1.6 Restrictions on free trade | ||
| 3 | Rent controls | 1.2.7 Price mechanism 1.4.1 Government intervention in markets 1.4.2 Government failure |
|||
| 4 | UK public sector borrowing | 2.5.3 Public sector finances | 4.5.1 Public expenditure | ||
| 5 | European carmakers | 1.2.3 Elasticities of demand | 3.1.2 Business growth 3.3.4 Normal profits, supernormal profits and losses 3.4.7 Contestability |
||
| 6 | Disposable income | 2.1.1 Economic growth 2.2.1 The characteristics of AD 2.2.2 Consumption (C) 2.4.3 Equilibrium levels of real national output |
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| 7 | Italy's small businesses | 3.1.1 Sizes and types of firms 3.1.2 Business growth 3.2.1 Business objective |
|||
| 8 | Workers in the global economy | 4.1.1 Globalisation 4.2.2 Inequality |
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| 9 | Saudi Aramco and lithium | 1.2.6 Price determination | 3.1.2 Business growth | 4.3.2 Factors influencing growth and development 4.3.3 Strategies influencing growth and development |
|
| 10 | Brazil’s fiscal shortfall | 4.1.8 Exchange rates 4.5.4 Public sector finances 4.5.4 Macroeconomic policies in a global context |
There are also some other case studies in the Files section of the Facebook group.
Recent case studies for Economics B
The FT case studies above have been mapped to the Economics A specification but they could work for Economics B teaching as well. The command verbs used in the exam-style questions would need to be changed.
New case studies with up-to-date content have been added to both the dropbox folder and to the Files section of the Facebook group.
This new resource pack is available now.
100 worksheets with answers, and it covers the whole 2-year course.
Once purchased you are sent access to Word versions of each worksheet to enable you to edit them.
Transform Economics Teaching with Multimedia Resources from the Educational Recording Agency (ERA)
The ERA Licence provides seamless access to television and radio recordings, offering a single point of clearance for the rights needed to create and use authentic media resources in your classroom. With ERA’s free video streaming platform, licensed institutions can explore a rich library of curriculum-mapped TV and radio clips tailored to GCSE, AS, and A-level teaching.
Engage your learners with curated clips, full-length documentaries, and programmes that bring economic contexts to life. The platform also includes exclusive access to the BBC Shakespeare and Literary Archives, offering unique cross-curricular opportunities to enrich your lessons with impactful media - perfect for both homework and classroom activities.
To access this free resource registration is required - but is quick and simple. State schools in England are licensed under a central agreement with the DfE and the vast majority of independent schools also hold a current ERA Licence.
Secondary schools around the world can get free online access to the Financial Times, with articles, games and multi-media content on many topics to enrich studies and improve exam performance in business, economics, politics, geography, psychology and other topics.
The FT can help strengthen global and media literacy, and offer insights into preparation for further study and the world of work. It also has competitions, an online work experience programme and teacher selected articles with suggested questions, alongside resources developed by Pearson/Edexcel.
Details at www.ft.com/schools . A staff member can check if their school is already registered and to create student or staff accounts at www.ft.com/schoolsarefree
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 A |
|---|
| Delivery support |
| Assessment support |
| IAL 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.
A level Economics B |
|---|
| Delivery support |
| Assessment support |
| International GCSE Economics |
|---|
| Delivery support |
| Assessment support |
May/June 2025 timetable - Economics A
Summer 2026 Provisional Timetable
May/June 2025 timetable - Economics B
The June 2025 pre-release material for Paper 3 is now available to download.
Summer 2026 Provisional Timetable
May/June 2025 timetable
October 2025 timetable
In 2023 we received feedback from centres that the timetable for the International A level October series was too condensed, leading to timetable clashes and a poor candidate experience. As a result, we took the decision to extend the timetable in 2024 on the understanding that results would be issued a week later than previously.
Whilst we added and an additional week in the timetable for October 2024 series, we decided to postpone implementation of the later results date.
We can now confirm that from the October 2025 series onwards we intend to issue results one week later than in previous years. Results dates for January 2026 will be
Thursday 22 January 2026.
January 2026 provisional timetable
Summer 2026 Provisional Timetable
May 2025 timetable
Summer 2026 Provisional Timetable
Source booklets are to be added to the AS and A level papers for specification A and to the A level papers for specification B. This change is being made following feedback from teachers and will make it easier for students to refer to the sources when writing their answers. Candidates will receive the source booklet as an insert when they sit the exam.
We have provided revised versions of the 2024 question papers should you want to use these for mocks.
There is a new support page for you to bookmark – General qualifications assessment support. Here we’ll share news information and updates from Ofqual, the Department for Education (DfE), the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and Pearson, relating to the exams and assessments for our GCSE, AS and A level qualifications.
We’ll be updating it regularly so you know you’ve got all the latest announcements, news, support materials and updates to enable you to teach our qualifications, help your students with their assessments and post-results support, to enable them to progress.
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.
If you teach any of our Business, Enterprise or Esports qualifications, you may wish to check out the monthly updates.
Subject advisor
Colin Leith
Economics
Email :
Phone :
+44 (0) 344 463 2535
(Teaching Services team | Mon-Fri, 9am - 5pm GMT)
