December 2024 Economics update
Welcome to this December 2024 update!
In this update there is news about source booklets for both Economics A and Economics B exams for the 2025 exam series. Also, the 2025 Economics B pre-release material is now available.
I hope that when the end of term finally arrives, you are able to enjoy the break.
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| 13 December | Last date to use the Access To Scripts service via Script Viewer. |
| 2025 | |
| 16 January | Results day for IAL October 2024 series |
| 23 January | Results day for International GCSE November 2024 series |
| 21 February | Entry deadline for AS/A level for UK centres |
| 21 March | Entry deadline for IAL and International GCSE |
| 14 August | Results day for A level and IAL Economics |
| 21 August | Results day for International GCSE Economics |
Source booklets for Economics A and Economics B
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.
| 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.
The June 2025 pre-release material for A level Economics B is now available to download.
A level Economics A network events
| 29 January | Tackling the 25-mark question |
| 25 February | Tackling the 10- and 12-mark questions |
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 |
There are also some other case studies in the dropbox folder and 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.
ResultsPlus analysis for the 2024 Economics A papers.
ResultsPlus analysis for the 2024 Economics B papers.
May/June 2025 timetable - Economics A
May/June 2025 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 Outstanding Pearson Learner Awards (OPLAs) recognise and celebrate the highest achieving learners at International GCSE and International A level.
International GCSE Economics is in the first group of subjects to make a modular route available to learners from September 2023.
This means that we will have both a modular and a linear route to achieve this qualification.
If you are happy with the linear approach, there is no need to move to the modular route; our linear International GCSEs will continue to be offered and taken widely by learners around the world.
However, if you believe the modular route will be of benefit to your learners, this will be available from September 2023 with the first exams in May/June 2024.
Course planner and schemes of work for Modular International GCSE Economics
To help your planning we now have both a course planner and a scheme of work for the modular International GCSE in Economics.
Onscreen exams rollout
International GCSE Economics started onscreen assessment in 2024.
Make sure you’re signed up for the latest onscreen assessment news to find out how to register your school.
The Pearson onscreen sandbox (test environment) gives students all the practice they need to explore the platform’s functionality and build their confidence before they sit their exams onscreen.
It’s easy to register for an account: just click on Register for an account and enter your email address as your user ID.
The materials are digitised in the same platform as the mock and high-stakes onscreen exams and are a good opportunity for teachers and students to get to know the platform and functionality available.
Whilst the user experience mirrors what can be expected from the mocks and high-stakes assessments, please note that any solutions submitted through the sandbox environment by candidates will not be saved.
The exam materials from the October 2024 IAL and the November 2024 International GCSE exams will be available on the following dates:
| 3 December | International GCSE question papers |
| 17 December | IAL mark schemes |
| 17 December | International GCSE mark schemes |
| 2025 | |
| 21 January | IAL examiners' reports |
| 28 January | International GCSE examiners' reports |
International GCSE Economics
May 2025 timetable
IAL Economics
January 2025 timetable
May/June 2025 timetable
October 2025 timetable
January 2026 provisional timetable
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
We’re excited to announce the launch of our new Pearson Edexcel Facebook page, designed to help and support you with the teaching and delivery of our UK qualifications. We’ll be sharing 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.
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.
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
