A New Way to Support and Encourage the Most Able Students Taking AQA A-Level Economics

How can we best support our most able AQA A-Level Economics students without creating un-necessary extra teacher workload? The tutor2u Economics team have the answer!

Teaching A-Level Economics is tough. It’s hard enough just getting through the specification content and teaching students for whom Economics feels like a new language in the early stages.

However, some students quickly get to grips with Economics and are capable of moving ahead somewhat quicker than their peers.

So how can we best support the most able A-Level Economics students without creating unnecessary extra teacher workload?

We think we’ve come up with the answer - the AQA A-Level Economics Challenge Books for Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.

GETTING AHEAD IN A-LEVEL ECONOMICS

We all have students who just “get” Economics. They’re quick to pick up concepts, come to terms with specialist terminology and are keen to “get ahead”. They rapidly develop a love for Economics and a curiosity about the subject that takes them beyond what can be taught in the limited classroom time available. In many ways these students are looking ahead to their University studies and may have already decided to take Economics for their degree.

In its new inspection framework Ofsted have identified as a priority the need for “impact”, with learners being encouraged to get ready for the next stage of their education and to “read widely and often”. However, this should probably involve more than just asking our most able Economists to “read-around” the subject. A more structured approach is likely to result in a better impact.

Our AQA A-Level Economics Challenge Books help prepare students for the next steps in their study of Economics by encouraging independent research. For each part of the AQA A-Level Economics specification, students are prompted to access interesting videos and wider reading through activities such as

• Applying theories to the real-world
• Linking to and exploring original Economics research
• Discovering contextual examples that they might not have thought of (and almost certainly won’t have found in their textbook)
• Getting an early introduction to concepts they will cover more formally later in the course

EXTENSION ECONOMICS - WHY RE-INVENT THE WHEEL?

The AQA A-Level Economics Challenge Books are a great example of high-quality teaching resources than can be bought-in so that Economics teachers aren’t overworked by having to re-invent the wheel.

Non-specialist and inexperienced Economics teachers will find the Challenge Books particularly useful. Teaching outside of your main area of expertise is increasingly common and especially demanding in a dynamic and complex subject like Economics. The Challenge Books provide a carefully planned, sequenced and systematic series of activities that can be trusted to support the most able students.