Economics GCSE and IGCSE are both assessed by written exams - no coursework - so either is straightforward from home education. Many have found this subject one that worked well for self-study from a textbook and free online resources, while others prefer to use courses.
Edexcel International GCSE Economics
Edexcel International GCSE Economics page and specification
- Exams from: June 2019
- Available in January and June
- Specification code: 4EC1
Subject Content
Content is broken in to 2 components.
Component 1: Microeconomics and Business Economics
The market system: The economic problem, Economic assumptions, Demand, supply and market equilibrium, Elasticity, The mixed economy, Externalities
Business economics: Production, Productivity and division of labour, Business costs, revenues and profit, Business competition, The labour market, Government intervention
Component 2: Macroeconomics and the Global Economy
Government and the economy: Macroeconomic objectives, Government policies, Relationships between objectives and policies
The global economy: Globalisation, International trade, Exchange rates
Assessment
100% exam based.
- Paper 1 - Investigating Small Businesses - 1hr 30 minutes - 80 marks - 50%
- The examination comprises a mixture of multiple-choice, short- and long-answer questions, and is presented in four sections.
- Covers Component 1: Microeconomics and Business Economics
- Paper 2 - Investigating Large Businesses - 1hr 30 minutes - 80 marks - 50%
- The examination comprises a mixture of multiple-choice, short- and long-answer questions, and is presented in four sections.
- Covers Component 2: Macroeconomics and the Global Economy
Resources
Pearson publish a textbook and a teachers guide for the specification. Details can be found here
Answers can be found here
Pearson have a Qualification Guide on the specification page which is essential for understanding how the exam questions are marked.
Past papers can be accessed through the specification page or here. Papers with an R suffix were available in a different time zone. They are the same specification and can be used as practice.
CAIE IGCSE Economics
Cambridge offer 2 IGCSEs in Economics from 2020. The difference is in the grading, 0987 being 9-1 and 0455 being A*-G, otherwise the syllabus is identical.
CAIE International GCSE Economics (0987) page and specification
CAIE International GCSE Economics (0455) page and specification
0987 was new in 2020, there were changes to 0455 at the same time but lots of overlap so papers from pre-2020 will still be useful.
- Exams from: 2020
- Available in Autumn and Summer series
- Specification code: 0987 (9-1) or 0455 (A*- G)
Subject content
The CAIE IGCSE in Economics comprises six topics:
- The basic economic problem
- The allocation of resources
- Microeconomic decision makers
- Government and the macroeconomy
- Economic development
- International trade and globalisation
Assessment
100% exam based.
- Paper 1 - Multiple Choice - 45 mins - 30 marks - 30%
- 30 multiple choice questions
- Covers full syllabus
- Paper 2 - Structured questions - 2 hr 15 mins - 90 marks - 70%
- One compulsory question and three questions from a choice of four
- Covers full syllabus
Resources
There are several different textbooks, workbooks, teacher books and revision books available for this specification - a list can be found here. Check whether answers to student books are included as for Cambridge they are often in the teacher's guide.
Past papers can be found on the specification pages or sites such as Papacambridge. Each series of 0455 (besides the March series - which is only sat in India) has 3 sets of papers available. These are because they were sat in different time zones. They are the same syllabus and useful for practice. You can use both 0987 and 0455 papers to practice either spec. 0987 was new in 2020, there were changes to 0455 at the same time but lots of overlap so papers from pre-2020 will still be useful.
GCSE Economics
AQA GCSE Economics (9-1)
Syllabus and resources: AQA GCSE Economics
Specification code: 8136
For teaching from 2017, first exams Summer 2019.
2 exams, 1hr 45 minutes each.