Economics

It’s the world and everything in it


Albert Einstein

Economics is about trying to “square the circle” of unlimited wants and scarce resources.

As a social science, Economics fits neatly between the arts and the sciences and appeals to students from both traditions. There is a strong theoretical component to Economics, but the subject is driven by a need to explain the real world.

Economics splits itself into microeconomics (the study of the individual markets – explaining why oil prices rise or low-cost airlines are so successful) and macroeconomics (the study questions facing the economy as a whole, e.g. Why is unemployment rising?)

Economics Courses

The department offers AQA Economics. This is available as a two- or one-year course.

The nature of the course makes it extremely easy for students to come to us after their first year and complete their A level course, and a number of students do this – encouraged by the quality of teaching and subject expertise we have to offer.

The three exams reflect the natural split in the subject material. Unit 1 focuses on microeconomic elements – how markets work and why they fail, along with a study of different types of market structure. We also consider labour markets to explain, for example, why football stars earn more than nurses and, developing this theme, the distribution of income and wealth and the effects of poverty. A new addition to the micro side of the course is an introduction to Behavioural Economics, explaining why people make bad decisions and how they can be ‘nudged’ into better ones.

In Unit 2 the focus is on macroeconomics studying the National Economy, for example how the government can use different policies to tackle inflation, unemployment or economics shocks and the part it plays within the global economy. A recent addition to the macro course has been an assessment of financial markets and the part they play in the wider economy. Unit 3 has a mixture of questions testing students’ knowledge of both micro and macroeconomic concepts, and their ability to bring these concepts together.

We have the experience to help you achieve a top grade on the one year course even if you have previously studied Edexcel or some other board.

Economics Staff

Ian Parker

Position:
Head of Economics & Business
Qualifications:
BA(Hons), MA(Ed), PGCE

Ian joined Brampton College in 1998, becoming Head of Department a year later. He previously taught as far a-field as Lincolnshire and Lancashire, as well as a ten-year stint at a leading independent school in Hertfordshire. A Coventrian, he is...

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Ruben Torres Guardia

Ruben Torres Guardia
Qualifications:
BSc(Hons), PGCE

Ruben graduated from Warwick University in 2007 and has been teaching Economics since then. He is currently an examiner for AQA, OCR and a team leader for Edexcel.  He is very interested in finding new ways of introducing e-learning when...

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Resham Vadodaria

Photo of Resham Vadodaria
Position:
Economics, Business & Geography
Qualifications:
BA (Hons), PGD, MSc (Econ), PGDE

Born and brought up in Uganda, Resham has a passion for Development Economics in Emerging Economies, one which she pursued at King’s College London gaining a Master’s in Emerging Economies and International Development in 2018. Resham also holds a Postgraduate...

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Niraj Shukla

Photo of Niraj Shukla
Qualifications:
BA(Hons), BSc

Niraj graduated from Nottingham University in 2008, and before joining Brampton, he taught English and Economics at an independent sixth form college in North West London. Throughout his teaching career, he has received consistently excellent feedback, and he aims to...

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A level Results

2017-21

A*/A

A*-B

35% 78%

University Destinations

Economics and business related courses have proved increasingly popular as university choices as the number of students studying them at Brampton College for A level has increased. Students studying Economics A level have, in recent years, gone on to study at some of the country’s most prestigious universities, including Warwick, Manchester, City John Cass Business School, LSE and Cambridge.

Our Students

Josh Shaffer joined as a AS restart student with an E at AS and finished with an A*. He also obtained A*A in Mathematics and Geography. He achieved a place at UCL to study Economics and Geography. Results have been outstanding -for example, over half our entrants gained A*or A in 2019.

Kunjing (Acacia) Zhong achieved A*A*AA Economics, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics and has continued to study Economics at LSE.

Dhiren Savani  joined as a restart student with an E at AS and finished with an A. He continued to The University of Birmingham to study Accounting and Finance.

Economics has become my favourite subject as I feel I can apply what I learn in class to everyday life.

Piers Buckman (A1 student)