Economics

The Business and Economics department at Sheffield Girls’ is a fantastic environment in which we care about making Economics engaging and relevant to today. Economics A-Level is a fantastic course that incorporates real-life situations to help you understand how Economics underpins society as a whole.

Any questions? Please contact Mr Spick, Economics teacher, on c.spick@she.gdst.net

A Level Economics Course

Economics is a respected social science which opens the door to a vast range of university courses and careers.

It is one of the most relevant and interesting courses on offer to students at Advanced Level. Economics determines our pay, the jobs we do, the industries we work in, how we travel, where we live, the goods we buy, where we buy them and the price we pay! An understanding of this subject is an essential life skill.

The department consists of specialist economics teachers and examiners with many years’ combined experience. Our work as external examiners for the current examination specification allows us to deliver the material with examination technique in mind throughout the course. This, in turn, helps us to achieve outstanding academic results and support students of all abilities. Many of our students go on to study Economics at top universities such as London School of Economics and University College London (UCL).

What is Economics?

Standard Definition: Economics is the study of how our scarce resources are allocated to meet our unlimited wants as a society.

In our opinion, however, this definition does little to help people understand the subject! It is far more useful to outline the major topic areas and issues that you will address during your time as an economist at Sheffield Girls'.

The A-Level Economics course is made up of three components, microeconomics and macroeconomics which are taught over both years, alongside an investigation of economic themes which draws together both Micro and Macro Economics.

Microeconomics

From a base of microeconomic theory, this component will enable students to discuss and evaluate how well this theory explains our observations of economic agents in the real world.

The theoretical workings of the free market provide a useful starting point for explanation and analysis. Imperfections and market failures provide a lead into discussing the merits and drawbacks of government intervention and the usefulness of theory in explaining observations taken from the real world of economics.

Macroeconomics

This component will provide students with the technical and analytical tools required to understand how the macroeconomy functions on both the domestic and global levels. The course encourages students to adopt a critical approach to their study of policy through understanding the limitations and conflicts that they present. Policy approaches are also considered in a historical context to understand how macroeconomics has changed over time.

Themes in Economics

The third component of the A-Level Economics course focuses on themes in economics. This is synoptic in nature and draws on content from both the microeconomics and macroeconomics components.

The Business & Economics Department

All the staff in the Business and Economics department are experienced teachers and are also examiners for the examination boards of the specifications that are delivered to you in school. This ensures that you’re getting not only the highest quality teaching, but also that which will best help you achieve quality A-Level results.

Mr S Coote (Head of Department)

Mr Coote is the Head of Department for Business and Economics. He has a track record of delivering outstanding results throughout his years at Sheffield Girls’. As a specialist in MicroEconomics and Finance, he has previously worked for several years with businesses. This real-world experience helps him to deliver practical and applicable lessons in Business and Economics.

Mr C Spick

Mr Spick is an experienced teacher and a specialist in the social science of Economics. He has been at Sheffield Girls’ for over ten years, but previously taught at Tapton School in Sheffield and Durham High School for Girls. Mr Spick is a current examiner and team leader for OCR A-Level Economics, which enables him to help our girls achieve their best in their A-level Economics exams. He is also currently Head of Year 12, responsible for monitoring the progress of students in this year group.

Extra-Curricular Opportunities

All students are entered into the Royal Economics Society essay writing competition in Year 12 and produce a piece of extended writing on a current economic issue. It’s a fantastic opportunity to engage with Economics in society right now. Students can also become Economics prefects and contribute to the department magazine.

We also have links with The Adam Smith Institute and we hosted a conference in June 2015 with lectures on topics such as the future of the NHS, gender pay gaps and the impact of technology of different groups within society.

Educational Visits

Students take a trip to London for the day, visiting places such as the Bank of England, Canary Wharf, Bloomberg and the London Stock Exchange.

During their time in the Sixth Form, they are also given the opportunity to go on a foreign residential visit. Past destinations have included Paris, New York and China.