Economics has a reputation for being a difficult GCSE, but it’s surprisingly easy to study! Here are a few methods I used to get a 9 on my end-of-year economics exam 🙂
- Summarise your learning
- Know examples
- Read the news
- Use your logic
- Flashcards are super helpful
Summarise your learning
Often, there’s a lot of content taught in most economics courses. It’s important to keep all this knowledge in one place by making notes or summary sheets. Because the mark schemes for economics can be really specific, write the definitions verbatim from your textbook or class notes.
Know examples
In the economics GCSE papers, the answers worth the most marks almost always require you to analyze situations and explain the impacts of economic actions. Because of this, it’s important to know a few examples of consequences of economic events. For example, know a few examples of the impacts of inflation or unemployment.
Read the news
Textbooks can be boring and convoluted, but reading the news can be a lot more interesting. Find some newspapers that you enjoy reading, and check out their economics section. Here, you’ll often find simple explanations for current financial events, and you can use what you’ve learnt in your next economics exam!
Use your logic
Economics is all about consequences and chains of reasoning. You need to be able to think about the impacts of a certain event, and you have to be able to explain this in detail. You don’t need to memorise every effect that inflation has on the economy (though knowing a few can certainly help you out), but you do have to be able to reason your way through the impacts and be able to explain why they happen.
Flashcards are super helpful
I’ve found that flashcards are one of the best ways to study for economics. Not only do they help you memorise very specific definitions and formulas, but they can also help you remember the impacts of certain events. Here’s my quizlet folder of flashcards I made for economics!
