A-level Economics, drawn the way you'll draw it in the exam.
Each lesson takes a diagram and teaches it in drawing order: watch it drawn, try the key steps, build it, then draw it from memory and mark it yourself.
Free. No account needed.
How a lesson works
The same stages in every lesson. If you have already seen the diagram in class, you can jump straight to Try.
- 1GuessPredict the answer before you watch.
- 2WatchClick through it being drawn in exam order, with the reason for each line.
- 3TryClick the key steps yourself. Marked instantly.
- 4BuildPut it together from the pieces.
- 5DrawDraw it from memory, then mark it against the model.
- 6SpotFind the mistake most students make.
- 7ExplainWrite the chain of reasoning and check it.
After the lesson: a retrieval quiz that comes back when it is due, and an exam question you can type or write on paper and mark against the levels yourself.
Lessons
AS micro, AS macro and A2 micro, each in the order it is taught. 50 of 59 lessons are open.
AS micro: markets and government intervention
The nature of economics4 lessons, in this order
- 01The economic problem and PPFsScarcity, choice and opportunity cost, the factors of production, and how a PPF shows efficient, inefficient and unattainable output and rising opportunity cost.
- 02PPF shifts and economic growthWhat shifts a PPF outwards or inwards, biased shifts, actual versus potential growth, and capital goods against consumer goods.
- 03Positive and normative economicsTelling testable statements from value judgements, through the minimum wage debate, and why the difference matters for policy.
- 04Specialisation, the division of labour and moneyWhy splitting production into tasks raises productivity, its costs, how specialisation leads to trade, and the functions of money.
Demand6 lessons, in this order
- 05Demand: movements and shiftsThe demand curve, extensions and contractions along it, and the conditions of demand that shift it: income, substitutes, complements, tastes, population and more.
- 06Price elasticity of demand: calculating and interpretingThe PED formula, percentage changes from the old value, what a figure such as −0.4 means, and using PED to predict sales and spending.
- 07PED on a diagramElastic, inelastic, perfectly elastic, perfectly inelastic and unitary demand curves, and why PED changes along a straight line.
- 08What affects PEDSubstitutes, necessity, addiction, brand loyalty, share of income, time and how widely the good is defined, and how to use them in an answer.
- 09PED and total revenueWhy a price cut raises total revenue when demand is elastic and lowers it when demand is inelastic, with the revenue rectangles. Through Debenhams.
- 10Income and cross elasticity of demandCalculating and interpreting YED (normal, inferior, luxury, necessity) and XED (substitutes and complements), and why firms care.
Supply2 lessons, in this order
- 11Supply: movements and shiftsWhy the supply curve slopes up, extensions and contractions along it, and the conditions of supply that shift it. Through the 2024 cocoa harvest.
- 12Price elasticity of supplyCalculating PES, what elastic and inelastic supply look like, the straight-line rule, and why supply is more elastic in the long run. Through olive oil.
The price mechanism2 lessons, in this order
- 13Price determination and market shiftsHow supply and demand set the equilibrium price, how shortages and surpluses push the price there, what happens when one or both curves shift, and the three functions of price.
- 14Consumer and producer surplusWhat the two surpluses measure, where they are on the diagram, how to calculate them, and how they change when demand or supply shifts. Through the Oasis ticket sale.
Indirect taxes and subsidies4 lessons, in this order
- 15Indirect taxes: specific taxesWhy a specific tax shifts supply up by the tax, why the price rises by less than the tax, and how to show revenue, who pays and the deadweight loss.
- 16Tax incidence and elasticityWho really pays an indirect tax: why the more inelastic side of the market bears more of it, with the extremes and the calculations.
- 17Ad valorem taxesWhy a percentage tax such as VAT pivots supply, with the gap widening as price rises, and how to work VAT out in both directions.
- 18SubsidiesSupply shifts down by the subsidy: who gains, what it costs the government, the welfare loss, and whether a subsidy is worth it.
Market failure7 lessons, in this order
- 19Negative externalitiesExternal costs, MPC and MSC, why the free market over-produces goods that pollute, and the welfare loss triangle. Through Lough Neagh.
- 20Correcting negative externalitiesA tax equal to the external cost, tradable permits, regulation and minimum prices: how each works and how well. Through Northern Ireland’s carrier bag levy.
- 21Positive externalitiesExternal benefits, MPB and MSB, why merit goods such as vaccinations are under-consumed, the welfare loss, and subsidies and state provision. Through measles.
- 22Public goodsNon-rival and non-excludable goods, the free-rider problem, why a market may provide none at all, quasi-public goods, and government provision.
- 23Information gapsImperfect and asymmetric information, over-consumption of demerit goods, under-consumption of merit goods, and how governments respond. Through the ban on disposable vapes.
- 24Maximum and minimum pricesHow a maximum price below equilibrium causes a shortage and a minimum price above it a surplus, who gains and loses, and when they are worth it. Through Scotland’s rent freeze.
- 25Government failureWhen intervention makes things worse: subsidies or taxes set wrongly, distorted price signals, unintended consequences and administrative costs. Through Northern Ireland’s Renewable Heat Incentive.
AS macro: the national economy
How the economy works5 lessons, in this order
- 26The circular flow of incomeHow income flows between households and firms, injections and withdrawals, and why national income changes when they are unequal. Through saving in 2020.
- 27Aggregate demandThe components of AD, C + I + G + (X − M), why the AD curve slopes down and what shifts it. Through the collapse in spending in 2020.
- 28The multiplierWhy an injection raises national income by more than itself, calculating the multiplier from the MPC or MPW and what limits it.
- 29Short-run and long-run aggregate supplyWhat SRAS is and why costs shift it, what LRAS shows about productive capacity and the classical and Keynesian views. Through the 2022 energy shock.
- 30Equilibrium and the AD/AS modelMacroeconomic equilibrium, output gaps, demand-pull and cost-push inflation and supply-side growth, with AD and AS together.
Measuring economic performance3 lessons, in this order
- 31Macroeconomic objectives and how they are measuredGrowth, inflation, unemployment and the current account; real GDP, GDP per head and PPP; recessions and output gaps; the HDI and the limits of GDP.
- 32Inflation: measurement, causes and effectsThe CPI and weighted baskets, calculating inflation from index numbers, demand-pull and cost-push causes and who wins and loses. Through 2022’s 11.1%.
- 33Unemployment: measures, types and effectsThe ILO measure and the claimant count, calculating the unemployment rate, cyclical, structural, frictional and seasonal unemployment and its costs.
Macroeconomic policy4 lessons, in this order
- 34Fiscal policyGovernment spending and taxation to manage AD: expansionary and contractionary policy, deficit and debt, automatic stabilisers, the multiplier and the limits of fiscal policy.
- 35Monetary policyThe Bank of England, the MPC and the 2% target; Bank Rate and quantitative easing; the transmission mechanism, real interest rates and the limits of monetary policy.
- 36Supply-side policiesMarket-based and interventionist policies to raise productive capacity and shift LRAS: productivity, incentives, training and infrastructure and their strengths and weaknesses.
- 37Conflicts between macroeconomic objectivesTrade-offs between objectives: inflation and unemployment on the short-run Phillips curve, growth and the current account, the environment, equality and the national debt.
Costs, revenue and profit
- 38Short-run costs: MC, AVC and ATCDraw MC as the Nike tick first, then bring AVC and ATC through its lowest point.
- 39Long-run average cost and economies of scaleThe LRAC curve, minimum efficient scale and why firms grow.
- 40Revenue: AR, MR and TRWhy MR falls twice as fast as AR, and why TR peaks where MR is zero.
- 41Profit maximisation at MC = MRNormal profit, abnormal profit and losses on one diagram.
- 42Shutdown points in the short and long runWhy a firm making a loss can still be right to keep producing.
Efficiency and the growth of firms
- 43Productive, allocative, X- and dynamic efficiencyEach type of efficiency marked on the cost curves.
- 44How and why firms growOrganic growth, integration and demergers, as chains of reasoning.
Market structures
Business objectives
Perfect competition2 lessons, in this order
- 46Perfect competition: abnormal profit to the long runWhy profit cannot last when anyone can enter the market, and how to draw the adjustment without the usual mistakes.
- 47Perfect competition: losses to the long run through exitMarket and firm side by side: losses, firms leaving, and the price rising back to the bottom of ATC.
Monopoly2 lessons, in this order
- 48Monopoly: profit maximisation and deadweight lossPrice and output at MC = MR, the profit box, why a monopoly is inefficient, and the case for natural monopoly.
- 49Monopoly: price discriminationFour buyers and some simple numbers show why charging different prices raises profit, the three conditions it needs, and who wins and loses.
Monopolistic competition
Barriers to entry and contestability2 lessons, in this order
- 51Barriers to entry and contestabilityEconomies of scale as a barrier, limit pricing, structural and strategic barriers, and the threat of entry.
- 52Contestability and hit-and-run entryWhy the threat of entry can keep even a monopolist’s price close to average cost, what makes a market contestable, and why perfect contestability is rare.
Oligopoly5 lessons, in this order
- 53Oligopoly: features and concentration ratiosThe features of an oligopoly first, then concentration ratios from real grocery shares and from sales data, and why a few large firms have to watch each other.
- 54Kinked demand (extension)Why prices in an oligopoly can stay put, and the model’s limits. Not named in the WJEC specification: use it for evaluation.
- 55Oligopoly: game theory and Nash equilibriumOne payoff matrix, read the same way every time, and why two firms end up cutting price when both would earn more by not.
- 56Oligopoly: collusion, price leadership and price warsThe cartel drawn as a joint monopoly, the welfare it costs, and why each member is tempted to cheat.
- 57Oligopoly: price and non-price competitionPrice wars, predatory pricing below a rival’s average variable cost, limit pricing, and why oligopolists often compete on everything but price.
Competition policy and privatisation
- 58Competition policyMergers, cartels and regulation, as chains of reasoning.
- 59Privatisation and regulationThe case for and against private ownership of utilities.
New lessons open as they are taught. Next: costs, efficiency and competition policy to finish A2 micro.
For students
Daily retrieval
Questions come back when you are about to forget them: tomorrow, then in three days, a week, a fortnight. What you know stays secure. What you leave fades, and Review shows you where.
For teachers
A five-question starter in one click
Tick the topics your class has covered and get a retrieval starter that mixes last lesson, last week and older topics. Project it, reveal the answers, or print it.
Built on what the evidence says works
Retrieval before re-reading
Every lesson opens with a question, and the ones you get wrong come back later.
Worked examples that fade
The first time, the diagram is drawn for you. By the end of the lesson you draw it alone.
You do the marking
A model answer and the mark scheme levels, not a score from a machine. No streaks, no leaderboards.