Paper 1
Markets and market failure
- Individuals, firms, markets and market failure
- Data response questions
- One essay from a choice of three
2 hours80 marks33.3%
AQA A-Level Economics, memorised fast.
Long notes are boring. Brain-hack the whole 7136 specification with active recall and actually remember it.
- Spec 7136
- 14 topics
- 146 subtopics
AQA A-Level Economics 7136
Economic Methodology and the Economic Problem
Individual Economic Decision Making
Price Determination in a Competitive Market
Topic overviewDemand, the demand curve, income and wealthSubstitutes, complements and consumer preferencesPrice elasticity of demand and total revenueThe determinants of price elasticity of demandIncome and cross elasticity of demandThe determinants of supplyPrice elasticity of supplyEquilibrium, disequilibrium and how a market clearsShifts in demand and supply, and the price mechanismThe interrelationship between markets
Production, Costs and Revenue
Perfect Competition, Imperfectly Competitive Markets and Monopoly
Topic overviewThe characteristics of the four market structuresPrice takers, price makers and non-price competitionCompetitive marketsThe objectives of firmsProfit maximisation and the divorce of ownership from controlProfit maximisation and the shutdown conditionPrice taking, entry and exit, and long-run equilibriumEfficiency in perfect competition and its assumptionsMonopolistic competition in the short runMonopolistic competition in the long runThe characteristics of oligopoly and barriers to entryThe kinked demand curve and price rigidityCollusion, cartels and price leadershipNon-price competition in oligopolyThe advantages and disadvantages of oligopolyMonopoly power and barriers to entryThe monopoly diagram and supernormal profitThe costs and benefits of monopolyPrice discriminationThe dynamics of competitionCreative destruction and the competitive market processContestable and non-contestable marketsStatic and dynamic efficiencyMarket structure and resource allocationConsumer and producer surplus
The Labour Market
The Distribution of Income and Wealth: Poverty and Inequality
Topic overviewIncome, wealth and the causes of their distributionEquality, equity, the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficientThe arguments about inequalityThe problem of povertyProgressive taxation and transfer paymentsMeans-tested benefits, universal benefits and the poverty trapWealth taxes and state provisionEvaluating redistribution
The Market Mechanism, Market Failure and Government Intervention
Topic overviewHow markets and prices allocate resourcesThe meaning of market failurePublic goods, private goods and quasi-public goodsPositive and negative externalitiesMerit and demerit goodsMarket imperfectionsAn inequitable distribution of income and wealthIndirect taxes and subsidiesPrice controls, state provision and regulationPollution permits and the extension of property rightsEvaluating intervention and the mixed economyGovernment failureCompetition policyPublic ownership, privatisation, regulation and deregulation
The Measurement of Macroeconomic Performance
How the Macroeconomy Works
Topic overviewThe circular flow of incomeThe aggregate demand and aggregate supply curvesWhat shifts short-run and long-run aggregate supplyMacroeconomic equilibrium and economic shocksConsumption and investmentGovernment spending and net exportsThe accelerator, saving and investmentAggregate demand and the level of economic activityThe determinants of aggregate supply
Economic Performance
Topic overviewShort-run and long-run economic growthThe economic cycle and output gapsDemand-side and supply-side shocksMeasuring unemployment and the types of unemploymentThe determinants of employment and policies to reduce unemploymentInflation and deflationThe quantity theory of moneyConsequences of inflation and deflationThe balance of payments on current accountOutput gaps and the growth-inflation conflictReconciling policy objectives in the AD/AS model
Financial Markets and Monetary Policy
Topic overviewThe characteristics and functions of moneyFinancial markets and their roleDebt, equity and bond yieldsCommercial banks, investment banks and the balance sheetLiquidity, profitability, security and credit creationThe instruments and institutions of monetary policyHow bank rate changes affect the economyWhat the MPC considers, and the exchange rate channelThe functions of a central bankThe bank rate and the MPC's decisionsExchange rate movements and the macroeconomyThe monetary policy transmission mechanismQuantitative easing and unconventional policyThe regulators and the risks banks faceLiquidity ratios, capital ratios and systemic risk
Fiscal Policy and Supply-Side Policies
Topic overviewFiscal policy and aggregate demandTypes of taxThe budget balance and the national debtThe purposes of public expenditure and taxationThe principles of taxationBudget deficits, surpluses and their effectsThe national debt and fiscal rulesSupply-side policies and how they workMarket-based and interventionist supply-side policies
The International Economy
Topic overviewThe causes and characteristics of globalisationThe impact of globalisation on developed and developing economiesMultinational corporationsComparative and absolute advantageThe effects of trade and changing trade patternsTariffs, quotas and the tariff diagramArguments for and against protectionismTrading blocs and the World Trade OrganisationThe components of the balance of paymentsCauses of current account imbalances and investment flowsCorrecting imbalances and their consequencesHow exchange rates are determined in a floating systemGovernment intervention and fixed exchange ratesFloating rates and currency unionsGrowth, development and less-developed economiesMeasuring development: the HDI and other indicatorsInvestment and education as drivers of developmentCorruption, governance and institutional barriersInfrastructure, human capital and property rightsMarket-based and interventionist development strategiesAid and trade as development strategiesGrowth, globalisation and inequality
What AQA A-Level Economics covers
AQA A-Level Economics (specification 7136) is assessed by three written papers taken at the end of the two-year course, each lasting 2 hours and carrying 80 marks. Paper 1 covers markets and market failure, the microeconomics half of the specification. Paper 2 covers the national and international economy, the macroeconomics half. Paper 3 can draw on any content and is answered with multiple choice questions and a case study. Quantitative skills carry at least a fifth of the marks across the three papers.
AQA AS and A-level Economics, specification 7136. Read the AQA specification at a glance ↗
How it is assessed
Paper 2
National and international economy
- The national and international economy
- Data response questions
- One essay from a choice of three
2 hours80 marks33.3%
Paper 3
Economic principles and issues
- Any content from the specification
- A section of multiple choice questions
- A case study with extended responses
2 hours80 marks33.3%
The full specification
14 topics, 146 subtopics. Open any topic to see what is inside it.
01Economic Methodology and the Economic Problem3 subtopicsOpen topic
02Individual Economic Decision Making4 subtopicsOpen topic
03Price Determination in a Competitive Market10 subtopicsOpen topic
- Demand, the demand curve, income and wealth
- Substitutes, complements and consumer preferences
- Price elasticity of demand and total revenue
- The determinants of price elasticity of demand
- Income and cross elasticity of demand
- The determinants of supply
- Price elasticity of supply
- Equilibrium, disequilibrium and how a market clears
- Shifts in demand and supply, and the price mechanism
- The interrelationship between markets
04Production, Costs and Revenue6 subtopicsOpen topic
05Perfect Competition, Imperfectly Competitive Markets and Monopoly25 subtopicsOpen topic
- The characteristics of the four market structures
- Price takers, price makers and non-price competition
- Competitive markets
- The objectives of firms
- Profit maximisation and the divorce of ownership from control
- Profit maximisation and the shutdown condition
- Price taking, entry and exit, and long-run equilibrium
- Efficiency in perfect competition and its assumptions
- Monopolistic competition in the short run
- Monopolistic competition in the long run
- The characteristics of oligopoly and barriers to entry
- The kinked demand curve and price rigidity
- Collusion, cartels and price leadership
- Non-price competition in oligopoly
- The advantages and disadvantages of oligopoly
- Monopoly power and barriers to entry
- The monopoly diagram and supernormal profit
- The costs and benefits of monopoly
- Price discrimination
- The dynamics of competition
- Creative destruction and the competitive market process
- Contestable and non-contestable markets
- Static and dynamic efficiency
- Market structure and resource allocation
- Consumer and producer surplus
06The Labour Market7 subtopicsOpen topic
07The Distribution of Income and Wealth: Poverty and Inequality8 subtopicsOpen topic
- Income, wealth and the causes of their distribution
- Equality, equity, the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient
- The arguments about inequality
- The problem of poverty
- Progressive taxation and transfer payments
- Means-tested benefits, universal benefits and the poverty trap
- Wealth taxes and state provision
- Evaluating redistribution
08The Market Mechanism, Market Failure and Government Intervention14 subtopicsOpen topic
- How markets and prices allocate resources
- The meaning of market failure
- Public goods, private goods and quasi-public goods
- Positive and negative externalities
- Merit and demerit goods
- Market imperfections
- An inequitable distribution of income and wealth
- Indirect taxes and subsidies
- Price controls, state provision and regulation
- Pollution permits and the extension of property rights
- Evaluating intervention and the mixed economy
- Government failure
- Competition policy
- Public ownership, privatisation, regulation and deregulation
09The Measurement of Macroeconomic Performance3 subtopicsOpen topic
10How the Macroeconomy Works9 subtopicsOpen topic
- The circular flow of income
- The aggregate demand and aggregate supply curves
- What shifts short-run and long-run aggregate supply
- Macroeconomic equilibrium and economic shocks
- Consumption and investment
- Government spending and net exports
- The accelerator, saving and investment
- Aggregate demand and the level of economic activity
- The determinants of aggregate supply
11Economic Performance11 subtopicsOpen topic
- Short-run and long-run economic growth
- The economic cycle and output gaps
- Demand-side and supply-side shocks
- Measuring unemployment and the types of unemployment
- The determinants of employment and policies to reduce unemployment
- Inflation and deflation
- The quantity theory of money
- Consequences of inflation and deflation
- The balance of payments on current account
- Output gaps and the growth-inflation conflict
- Reconciling policy objectives in the AD/AS model
12Financial Markets and Monetary Policy15 subtopicsOpen topic
- The characteristics and functions of money
- Financial markets and their role
- Debt, equity and bond yields
- Commercial banks, investment banks and the balance sheet
- Liquidity, profitability, security and credit creation
- The instruments and institutions of monetary policy
- How bank rate changes affect the economy
- What the MPC considers, and the exchange rate channel
- The functions of a central bank
- The bank rate and the MPC's decisions
- Exchange rate movements and the macroeconomy
- The monetary policy transmission mechanism
- Quantitative easing and unconventional policy
- The regulators and the risks banks face
- Liquidity ratios, capital ratios and systemic risk
13Fiscal Policy and Supply-Side Policies9 subtopicsOpen topic
- Fiscal policy and aggregate demand
- Types of tax
- The budget balance and the national debt
- The purposes of public expenditure and taxation
- The principles of taxation
- Budget deficits, surpluses and their effects
- The national debt and fiscal rules
- Supply-side policies and how they work
- Market-based and interventionist supply-side policies
14The International Economy22 subtopicsOpen topic
- The causes and characteristics of globalisation
- The impact of globalisation on developed and developing economies
- Multinational corporations
- Comparative and absolute advantage
- The effects of trade and changing trade patterns
- Tariffs, quotas and the tariff diagram
- Arguments for and against protectionism
- Trading blocs and the World Trade Organisation
- The components of the balance of payments
- Causes of current account imbalances and investment flows
- Correcting imbalances and their consequences
- How exchange rates are determined in a floating system
- Government intervention and fixed exchange rates
- Floating rates and currency unions
- Growth, development and less-developed economies
- Measuring development: the HDI and other indicators
- Investment and education as drivers of development
- Corruption, governance and institutional barriers
- Infrastructure, human capital and property rights
- Market-based and interventionist development strategies
- Aid and trade as development strategies
- Growth, globalisation and inequality
How you work through it
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Try three questions
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Evaluation
What shapes views on the best economic decisions, and what is economic activity for?
Numbers
What is a normative statement, and how does it differ from a positive one?
Evaluation
What economic decisions must every society make, and what resources does it use?
Spaced Repetition Schedule
How reviews are timed
Levo will automatically distribute all of your progress into a spaced repetition calendar. Once you’ve answered, it’s scheduled for you on the next day in the spaced repetition schedule. Over time, the gaps between your recall get bigger, from a day to three years, reinforcing memorisation over a long period of time.
Interval sequence
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What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material
Economics revision questions
Common questions about revising AQA A-Level Economics. Tap any to open it.
How do you memorise AQA A-Level Economics?
By testing yourself, not rereading. Active recall, pulling each answer from memory then checking it, builds far stronger memory than highlighting notes. Levo runs the method for you across all 14 Economics topics and brings each one back on a spaced schedule so it stays memorised.
What is the fastest way to revise Economics for AQA?
Skip the long notes and go straight to retrieval. Levo turns the 7136 specification into short questions you drill with rapid recall, cram whole papers in one sitting, and a readiness score tells you exactly what is left to learn.
What topics are on AQA A-Level Economics (7136)?
There are 14 topics, split across 146 subtopics, from Economic Methodology and the Economic Problem, Individual Economic Decision Making, Price Determination in a Competitive Market and more. Every topic is listed above, and each one opens to the subtopics inside it.
What do you get inside Levo for Economics?
Six ways to work the same material. The 3-step method for learning a set, Cram for sorting a whole paper into what you know and what you do not, Blank Blitz for making key facts automatic, Build It for assembling full-mark answers, Test It for catching misconceptions, and Brain Breaks between sessions. A readiness score tracks how much of the subject you have memorised.
Is active recall better than rereading your notes for Economics?
Consistently, yes. Rereading feels productive but fades quickly. Retrieving an answer from memory, the way Levo tests you, is what actually forms durable memory, and it shows you honestly what you do and do not know.
Does Levo cover the whole AQA Economics specification?
Every topic on the 7136 specification is covered, written from the published subject content. The full list is above, and each topic opens to its subtopics so you can see exactly what is there before you subscribe.
How can you encourage your teenager to revise?
Make it short, structured and low-pressure. Levo gives a clear daily plan, quick sessions rather than marathon ones, streaks that reward showing up, and an honest readiness score, so revision feels like progress instead of a chore. Parents can add an account and follow along.
Can you revise Economics the night before an exam?
Yes. Cram mode is built for exactly that: fly through a whole paper, sort every topic into red, amber and green, then drill just the reds and ambers you do not know yet. It is the honest version of a last-minute session.
Every question in Economics, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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