The Economics department aims to produce students who can develop a sound understanding of economic concepts and theories through a critical consideration of current issues, problems and institutions that affect everyday life. The subject involves the formulation and understanding of theoretical concepts, but the theories are applied to real-world examples to give it a much more applied flavour. Economics is not a discrete subject, since it incorporates elements of Geography, History, Psychology, Sociology, Political Studies and many other related fields of study.
Economics is a dynamic social science, forming part of the study of Individuals and Society, and is essentially about the concept of scarcity and the problem of resource allocation. Economics is a well-established and popular subject in the Sixth Form, with approximately thirty students currently in each year of the course. All students, whether from King’s Ely Senior or new to the school, start the subject from scratch, with no presumption of prior knowledge.
The Economics course covers microeconomics, including a consideration of such basic concepts as scarcity, choice and the operation of simple markets, and how firms operate in markets that are either competitive or monopolistic. Macroeconomics covers economy-wide issues such as economic growth, unemployment, inflation and international trade. The role of the government is a central theme and the A Level course has a strong emphasis on international issues and development economics.
Many of our economists go on to study Economics or Politics, Philosophy and Economics at university or Business and Management courses and the department has a programme of seminars and interviews to support their applications.