In March 2016, we published a blog post outlining the benefits of studying Economics or Business at A level. The points we made remain relevant, but Economics is a dynamic subject and changes with the times. Five-and-a-half years and one pandemic later, why should you be looking to enrol on an A level Economics course in autumn 2021? 

1. Everything has changed

The recent government report into the impact of Covid-19 on the UK economy identifies the steepest drop in GDP (gross domestic product – a measure of a country’s economic health) since records began in 1948 and possibly even in over three centuries. While things have fared better in 2021 than in 2020, some businesses remain closed while others have moved online, with many people continuing to work from home. School closures may also have negatively impacted productivity as parents, and especially women, have had to divide their attention between paid work and unpaid home education. A level Economics offers the chance to analyse and understand these changes with a view to looking into the future. 

2. We’re living through the syllabus

If you’ve ever looked at an A level Economics course description (find ours here), you’ll notice that many of the modules refer to increasingly familiar concepts. The question of government intervention, for example, has never been more salient, with the furlough scheme continuing to exert a significant presence in many people’s work lives as well as many businesses’ account books. Another big area is that of globalisation: as we watch for the long-term effects of Britain’s exit from the European Union, how exactly will this impact the controversial wider project of global economic integration? 

3. It’s time for clued-up people with big ideas

“Build Back Better” is the British government’s motto for our post-Covid future, but what exactly will that look like? How will we rectify widening inequalities not just on a national but an international scale? How should we be measuring success? What will it take for us to address the monumental task of halting the climate crisis? With an A level in Economics, you’ll be able to study macroeconomics (economy-wide behaviour and performance) and think about finding some answers to those big questions. You might then go on to study Economics or something similar at university and pursue a career in the field. 

4. It puts mathematics into context

If you passed your GCSE Maths qualification but never really had a good idea of how it applied to real life, you’ll find that A level Economics offers many of the explanations you need. Discover the role of numbers in business, policy decision-making and everyday life, whether that’s why things cost the amount they do or how wages relate to employment. You could even take things a step further by combining your Economics A level with an ICB Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping, a CMI Management course or an A level in Business. 

5. Your education is, more than ever, there to serve you

If the past eighteen months have taught us nothing else, it’s that education really needs to fit its learners. With disruptions to the usual school-college-university conveyer belt prompting many of us to rethink our pathways to success, and online learning continuing to offer new possibilities for further study, now is the time to take that year to study for the qualifications you really want and need. NEC’s flexible A level courses can be completed in any length of time, so if you want to take A level Economics in a year and think you’ve got the time to study for it, you can! 

To learn more about NEC and our wide range of flexible distance learning courses: https://www.nec.ac.uk/course-categories/