How to ace AQA Economics Paper 1: 3 Practice Papers

One of the main tips I give to my tuition students to help them achieve an A or A* is: 

Do lots of practice questions in timed conditions (and get those questions marked if possible)!

Hence I have made a resource with three full AQA Economics paper 1 style practice papers. Click the button below for that resource if you are interested:

AQA Economics Style Practice Papers

Note while this link is for a paid resource, there is a free practice question below this with suggested points.

Example Practice Section B Question

In this blogpost I have posted an example of a practice section B question. I have written this in the style of paper 1 AQA Economics. There is a question and brief suggested points for an answer. Note that this is the kind of question you can expect in the practice papers linked above.

Question

In the UK, the gender pay gap is 7.4% for full-time employees and 15.5% for all employees in 2020. Yet for full-time employees under 40 years, the gender pay gap is about 1% in 2020. For ages 40-49, the gender pay gap is 11.2% in 2020. The gender pay gap is largest among higher earners. For example in the bottom decile of full-time employees, the gender pay gap is 2.3% and in the top decile, the gender pay gap is 16.7%. (Source: Office for National Statistics)

  1. Explain why different professions, for example engineers and teachers, are paid at different wage rates (15 marks).
  2. Evaluate whether the UK Government should intervene in the labour market to reduce the gender pay gap (25 marks).

Suggested Points for Question 1:

  • Definitions of relevant economic terms such as marginal revenue product, supply and/or demand for labour.
  • Education or training differences required to work in different jobs.
  • Discrimination.
  • Non-pecuniary benefits.
  • Varying degrees of market power in different industries.
  • Other factors that influence the supply of or demand for labour in particular professions.
  • Also some examples from own knowledge or from use of short extract.
  • Diagrams can be used to support the answer. For example labour supply and labour demand diagrams to show different equilibrium wages.

Suggested Points for Question 2:

  • Definitions of relevant economic terms, for example gender pay gap, discrimination.
  • Economic theory behind discrimination and the economic or social cost of high-skilled workers having less access to jobs.
  • Explanations of why the gender pay gap changes when considering part-time versus full-time employees or from industry to industry. Idea of more women being in part-time work and the extent to which this represents choice or discrimination.
  • Explanations of why the gender pay gap is higher for higher earners, for example the importance of longer hours and lack of flexibility in some high-paying jobs.
  • The role of the free market.
  • The fact that the gender pay gap is very low for certain groups meaning there could be less market failure.
  • Could companies be part of the solution e.g. promoting flexible working, covering childcare costs, providing on-site childcare?
  • Discussion of possible government policies to tackle the gender pay gap, including:
    • Existence of anti-discrimination legislation.
    • Forcing companies to disclose their gender pay gaps.
    • Quotas for the minimum number of women on company boards.
    • Promoting flexible working e.g. right to request flexible working.
    • Other possible policies for example paternity leave.
  • Graphs showing the effects of interventions or discrimination on labour markets to support the answer.
  • Also some examples or data from the extract or own knowledge to support the answer.
  • Other evaluation points:
    • The possibility of government failure resulting from possible policies.
    • Presence of trade unions may help raise women’s pay without intervention. Depends on the trade union density in the industry or country.
    • Market structure may affect whether discrimination can be corrected through the free market.

Note these are just possible suggestions for answers. Other points may be valid.

Example Graph

The graph below shows discrimination in the labour market. On the lower demand curve D, discrimination means firms perceive workers as having lower productivity and hence marginal revenue product (MRP). This leads to a low wage w being paid. However this is below workers’ true MRP. If firms instead paid workers according to their true MRP on the demand curve D1, then workers would receive a higher wage w1.

Useful further reading on the gender pay gap

Two other links you may find helpful for researching the gender pay gap further:

First a tutor2u article on the gender pay gap here. This is a very good article for giving an overview of the data and key reasons to explain the gender pay gap.

Also an interview with Claudia Goldin, an economist who has researched into gender pay gaps here. The emphasis from Goldin’s research is the importance of workplace flexibility in reducing the gender pay gap.

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