The 3-step active recall method

Re-reading notes is a futile process when your aim is to remember the information and successfully apply it in exam settings. Active recall is the method you use to ensure the information sticks for a long period of time.

But even active recall can be futile unless you have a structured way of implementing it. This is where the 3-step active recall method comes in, a structured method that is signature to the Levo Learning guides.

1. Step 1

   Answer up to 10 questions cold, closed book, even if you are unsure on the topic.

2. Step 2

   Answer the same questions again, but open book. Write the correct answer down even if it seems pointless.

3. Step 3

   Repeat as step 1 and answer the questions closed book again.

Worked across the OCR A-Level Economics specification, one subtopic at a time.

The subject, and what is assessed

OCR A-Level Economics (specification H460) is assessed by three written components, each lasting 2 hours and carrying 80 marks. Component 01 covers microeconomics and Component 02 covers macroeconomics.

Component 03 covers themes in economics and draws its questions from across the whole course. Quantitative skills are examined in all three components.

Memorisation, then application

Marks are given for applying content to the question that has been set, which cannot happen while the content is still being looked up. Step 1 shows what is actually held.

Step 2 puts the correct wording in front of you while the gap is still fresh. Step 3 repeats the cold test, and the difference between the first and third attempt is the part that has moved.

Every question in the guide is paired with its answer in the same document, so step 2 is done from the guide itself rather than from a separate set of notes.

What is inside the guide

Questions are grouped by topic and then by subtopic, following the OCR specification. Open a topic to see its subtopics.

Sample questions

Taken from the OCR A-Level Economics guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

1. Micro 1: Introduction to Microeconomics

   What is an example of a free good, and why is clean air not always one?

   Show the answer

   Sunlight is a free good; clean air stops being free once pollution makes it scarce, because supplying it then uses up resources that have other uses.

2. Micro 2: The Role of Markets

   What three advantages does the division of labour bring a firm?

   Show the answer

   Workers become faster through repetition, no time is lost switching between tasks, and each worker can be matched to the job they do best.

3. Micro 3: Business Objectives

   What condition must hold at a firm's profit-maximising output?

   Show the answer

   Marginal cost must equal marginal revenue, with marginal cost rising through marginal revenue at that output.

4. Micro 4: Market Structures

   What are the characteristics of perfect competition?

   Show the answer

   Very many buyers and sellers, a homogeneous product, perfect information, freedom of entry and exit, and no firm large enough to influence the market price.

5. Micro 5: The Labour Market

   What does it mean to say that the demand for labour is a derived demand?

   Show the answer

   Firms want workers not for their own sake but for the output they produce, so the demand for labour derives from the demand for the good or service being made.

6. Macro 1: Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply

   What does the circular flow of income model show?

   Show the answer

   It shows how income, output and expenditure move continuously between households and firms, with injections adding to the flow and leakages withdrawing from it.

7. Macro 2: Economic Policy Objectives

   Why do governments pursue economic growth as a policy objective?

   Show the answer

   Sustained growth raises average real incomes and living standards, creates employment and widens the tax base that funds public services.

8. Macro 3: Implementing Policy

   What happens to the average rate of tax as income rises under a progressive tax, and under a proportional tax?

   Show the answer

   Under a progressive tax it rises, so higher earners hand over a larger proportion of their income, whereas under a proportional tax it stays the same at every income level.

Questions about this guide

Other OCR A-Level guides

All OCR A-Level guides · All A-Level guides