AQA A-Level Economics Active Recall Guide (7136)
AQA · A-Level
AQA A-Level Economics Active Recall Guide
Every topic of specification 7136 written as exam-style questions with the answers printed after them. 2,344 questions across 14 topics and 146 subtopics, covering microeconomics, macroeconomics and the synoptic third paper.
- AQA
- A-Level
- Specification 7136
- 2,344 questions
Guide overview All 14 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
What the exam asks of you
AQA A-Level Economics is three written papers of two hours and 80 marks each, weighted equally. Paper 1 is markets and market failure, the microeconomics half. Paper 2 is the national and international economy, the macroeconomics half. Paper 3 can draw on any content and is answered with multiple choice and a case study.
Nothing is optional. Both halves are examined in full on their own paper and again on Paper 3, so no topic is finished with until the last exam is sat.
| Paper | Covers | Length | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paper 1 Markets and market failure |
Individuals, firms, markets and market failure Data response questions One essay from a choice of three |
2 hours | 80 marks | 33.3% |
|
Paper 2 National and international economy |
The national and international economy Data response questions One essay from a choice of three |
2 hours | 80 marks | 33.3% |
|
Paper 3 Economic principles and issues |
Any content from the specification A section of multiple choice questions A case study with extended responses |
2 hours | 80 marks | 33.3% |
What is in the guide
All 14 topics
Every topic has its own page with its subtopics, what it covers and sample questions.
Sample questions
Taken from the guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Economics as a social science, and positive and normative statements
What is a positive statement in economics?
Show the answer
A positive statement is an objective, factual claim that can be tested and verified or refuted with evidence. -
Consumer behaviour and utility
How does diminishing marginal utility explain the downward slope of a demand curve?
Show the answer
Consumers are only willing to pay less for additional units because each successive unit yields progressively smaller increases in satisfaction. -
Demand, the demand curve, income and wealth
Explain the relationship between price and quantity demanded, ceteris paribus.
Show the answer
As price rises, quantity demanded falls, and vice versa, ceteris paribus. This is the inverse relationship shown by the demand curve. -
Production, productivity and specialisation
Define specialisation in an economic context.
Show the answer
Specialisation occurs when individuals, firms or countries concentrate on producing a limited range of goods or services. -
The characteristics of the four market structures
In monopolistic competition, what is meant by there being many firms?
Show the answer
A large number of firms operate in the market, each holding a small market share, so no single firm dominates. -
The demand for labour and marginal productivity theory
Calculate the marginal revenue product of labour when marginal physical product of labour = 30 units, marginal revenue = £24.
Show the answer
Marginal revenue product of labour = 30 × 24 = £720. -
Income, wealth and the causes of their distribution
How do wage and salary differentials influence the distribution of income?
Show the answer
Differences in wages and salaries between workers create variations in income levels, contributing to income inequality. -
How markets and prices allocate resources
What role does the price mechanism play in coordinating economic activity?
Show the answer
The price mechanism coordinates the independent decisions of buyers and sellers in a market economy without the need for central planning.
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Look inside
Questions for a subtopic print together and the answers for that section print after them.
- Economic Methodology and the Economic Problem31
- Individual Economic Decision Making70
- Price Determination in a Competitive Market170
- Production, Costs and Revenue106
- Perfect Competition, Imperfectly Competitive Markets and Monopoly381
- The Labour Market144
- The Distribution of Income and Wealth: Poverty and Inequality128
- The Market Mechanism, Market Failure and Government Intervention249
- The Measurement of Macroeconomic Performance51
- How the Macroeconomy Works176
- Economic Performance222
- Financial Markets and Monetary Policy204
- and 2 more
- What does rational economic decision making assume about how individuals make choices?
- Define economic incentives.
- Give an example of an economic incentive that might discourage a particular behaviour.
- What is total utility?
- Define marginal utility.
- How does marginal utility differ from total utility?
- State the hypothesis of diminishing marginal utility.
- Why does the marginal utility of a good typically decrease as consumption increases?
- How does diminishing marginal utility explain the downward slope of a demand curve?
- It assumes individuals weigh up costs and benefits to maximise their own welfare.
- Economic incentives are factors that motivate individuals to change their behaviour, including financial rewards, penalties, or changes in relative prices.
- A penalty or tax that increases the cost of an activity, making it less attractive to undertake.
- Total utility is the overall satisfaction a consumer derives from consuming a given total quantity of a good or service.
- Marginal utility is the additional satisfaction gained from consuming one more unit of a good or service.
- Marginal utility measures the extra satisfaction from one additional unit, whereas total utility measures the cumulative satisfaction from all units consumed.
- As a consumer consumes additional units of a good, the extra satisfaction from each successive unit tends to fall.
- Because each successive unit provides less additional satisfaction than the previous one, as the consumer's desire for the good becomes increasingly satisfied.
- Consumers are only willing to pay less for additional units because each successive unit yields progressively smaller increases in satisfaction.
questions
Scroll sideways to turn through the pages.
Questions students ask first
Which topics are on which paper?
Paper 1 is the microeconomics: economic methodology, individual decision making, price determination, costs and revenue, market structures, the labour market, income distribution, and market failure and government intervention.
Paper 2 is the macroeconomics. Paper 3 can take anything. The full breakdown is here.
What is on Paper 3?
A section of multiple choice questions and a case study with extended responses, drawing on any content from either half. It rewards being able to connect micro and macro, which cannot be done without recalling both.
Are the diagrams covered?
The guide asks what each diagram shows, what shifts each curve and which way, what the areas mean and what conclusion it supports. Drawing them accurately under time is what past papers are for.
I know the content but my essays score in the middle.
Those are two problems and they need solving in order. Economics essays are marked on precise definitions, correct diagrams and evaluated chains of reasoning. The guide fixes the parts; past papers fix the structure and the timing.
AQA A-Level Economics Active Recall Guide
Every question paired with its answer, grouped by topic and subtopic, ready to work in three passes.