Introductory Economics (Y/651/0293) Assessment Brief 2026 | NCC

• Exam 1; covers Topics 1-6 (50%)
• Exam 2; covers Topics 7-12 (50%)

The Learner will:

The Learner can:

1.2 Explain and illustrate the basic economic problems

1.3 Explain and illustrate how resource allocation is made in an economic by using the Production Possibility Frontier

1.4 Understand how the allocation of scarce resources is made in different economic systems

1.5 Explain and illustrate how consumers and firms maximise their objectives

1.6 Recognise that microeconomics is the study of the allocation of scarce sources

1.7 Assess the different economic systems that are used to allocate scarce resources, considering the strengths and weaknesses of these systems

1.8 Discuss the three key trade-offs the society faces: which goods and services to produce, how to produce them and who gets them

1.9 Appreciate that economists use models to make testable predictions

1.10 Recognise that individuals, governments and firms use microeconomic models and predictions in decision making

1.11 Define, analyse and discuss demand, supply, market equilibrium and elasticities

1.12 Explain what is meant by shocking the equilibrium.

1.13 Discuss the effects of sales taxes

1.14 Identify and explain when the quantity supplied may not need to equal the quantity demanded

1.15 Recognise when to use the Supply-and-Demand model

1.16 Use the consumer theory to derive demand curves

1.17 Describe and analyse the effects of an increase in income and price

1.18 Describe how the substitution and income effect impacts on consumer preferences to maximise utility

1.19 Recognise how changes in price levels lead to inflation

1.20 Recognise the indices used in the UK to measure inflation

1.22 Analyse the importance of elasticity within the market drawing on the concept of time

1.23 Use the demand and supply model to analyse markets for a range of commodities such as primary products, foodstuffs, transport and foreign currency

1.24 Examine the factors of production, their rewards and the advantages and disadvantages of specialisation in the use of resources

2.2 Recognise how the properties of consumer preferences influence the utility

2.3 Recognise how the indifference curve helps to identify the substitution between goods

2.4 Recognise the budget constraints and how consumers have constrained choices

2.5 Recognise how behavioural economics test transitivity, the endowment effect and salience

2.6 Explain how ownership and management differ within private, public and not –for profit organisations

2.7 Explain how economists measure firm’s cost of production

2.8 Explain the relationship between a firm’s labour and output in the short run

2.9 Explain the relationship between a firm’s labour and output in the long run

2.10 Explain how the long run average cost curve is derived

2.11 Analyse how firms use ISO cost and isoquant curves to minimise costs

2.12 Explain how specialisation and minimising production costs lead to learning by doing

2.13 Explain what a perfect competition market is and what its characteristics are

2.14 Explain the process of deriving the demand curve

2.15 Explain the ways in which firms can increase their profits

2.16 Explain how firms encounter competition in the short run

2.17 Explain what a residual supply curve is

2.18 Explain how firms operate and face competition in the long run

2.19 Explain how firms reach long run equilibrium

2.20 Analyse and appraise perfectly competitive and imperfect market structures

2.21 Examine how markets and the price mechanism determine the allocation of resources, with particular emphasis on scarcity, choice, equilibrium and disequilibrium

2.22 Explain how competitive firms reach market equilibrium with zero profits in the long run

2.23 Recognise how producers can either benefit or suffer from a shift in the equilibrium

2.24 Recognise how competition plays a crucial role in maximising the welfare of a society by increasing both

2.26 Recognise how the different government policies such as taxes, price floors, and tariffs create a wedge between the demand and supply curve reducing the equilibrium quantity while increasing the equilibrium price

2.27 Explain how trade policies lead to different welfare effects

2.28 Explain how a shift in the government policy or a shock affects the general equilibrium

2.29 Explain when two parties are unable to produce certain goods or services, they can benefit from mutually agreeable trades

2.30 Define what Pareto- efficient allocation is

2.31 Explain how competition can lead to a Pareto- Efficient allocation with appropriate income distribution

2.32 State the benefits of trade and why it is important to consider how production is affected

2.33 Explain how society should allocate resources among individuals while maintaining equity if Pareto efficient allocation is possible

2.34 Detail market forces and the price mechanism

2.35 Consider the efficiency of markets and their participants, and the market failures that can arise from their activities

2.36 Recognise the significance of consumer surplus and producer surplus, drawing on the concepts of the concepts of efficiency and inefficiency

2.37 Describe the characteristics of a monopoly and market power

2.38 Describe the ways in which firms maximise market power using barriers to entry

2.39 Use monopoly market analysis to determine the equilibrium level of output and price for a monopoly

2.40 Describe the different forms of price discrimination

2.41 Describe the different approaches to regulating a natural monopoly

2.42 Describe the characteristics of a monopsony and market power

2.43 Give examples of benefits and costs of monopsonies to firms

2.44 Define and identify oligopoly

2.45 Use game theory to analyse oligopolies

2.46 Define and identify monopolistic competition

2.47 Explain how a firm in monopolistic competition determines its price and output in the short run and the long run

3.2 Be familiar with the current economic events and policies

3.3 Understand macroeconomic government intervention, measurement of employment and inflation causes and

3.5 Identify and discuss the different types of workers in the labour force

3.6 Define unemployment and understand its calculation

3.7 Define Inflation and understand its calculation

3.8 Use the Consumer Price Index to compare nominal values over time

3.9 Define Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

3.10 Explain how GDP is related to a nation’s total income and spending

3.11 Assess the components of GDP

3.12 Evaluate how GDP is corrected for inflation

3.13 Relate GDP as a measure for society’s well-being

3.14 Explain what economic growth is and its importance for nations

3.15 Analyse growth rates