EdExcel Unit 1 Exam Advice on Structured MC Questions

Some advice notes from the online EdExcel session that I tuned into this afternoon

Supported Multiple Choice Questions

1. Be prepared to reject incorrect options when it is easy to do so
2. Add value to an answer by annotating a diagram or drawing your own if there is none in the actual question
3. Be prepared to annotate tables of data too - complete them or make some simple calculations
   
4. A suitable diagram can score two marks out of three - Be prepared to offer simple diagrammatic analysis - this unit credits the application of demand and supply diagrams to economic issues.
   
5. Explaining the purpose of an intervention e.g. an indirect tax also scores a mark
6. Be prepared to define key economic concepts in the question, for example, the meaning of a specific tax or the meaning of market failure
7. Good definitions make a difference - A definition of the price mechanism should refer to how resources are allocated through price responding to changes in demand or supply of a good
8. Always apply the economic concept(s) to the context of the question. There is usually at least one application mark
9. Be prepared to offer economic analysis, for example, explaining how the free rider problem occurs in the provision of public goods. This will always be credited with marks. There is no guarantee that future mark schemes will automatically credit answers which give examples of public goods unless accompanied with a suitable explanation - a clear message here - develop the explanation, dont leave it to chance
10. Offer real world examples as a way of applying theory - for example causes of geographical immobility, causes of imperfect information