A-Level Economics - Evaluation

A comprehensive revision and teaching resource designed to help A-Level Economics students develop stronger evaluation skills and improve their performance in 25-mark essays.

This resource introduces WEESTEPS, a structured evaluation framework that students can use to develop more sophisticated, balanced and context-specific evaluation in both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.

The resource covers eight key evaluation factors:

W – Wider Context: Consider the wider economic conditions and circumstances.
E – Efficiency: Evaluate the impact on allocative, productive and dynamic efficiency.
E – Effectiveness: Assess whether a policy will achieve its intended objectives.
S – Scope: Consider how widely the effects of a policy extend across the economy.
T – Time Period: Distinguish between short-run and long-run consequences.
E – Equity/Equality: Consider how costs and benefits are distributed between different groups.
P – Prioritisation: Evaluate which economic objectives should take priority.
S – Scale: Assess the magnitude of the impact and whether it is sufficient to address the problem.

Each evaluation factor is accompanied by detailed explanations and relevant economic examples, covering topics such as minimum wages, indirect taxation, subsidies, mergers, competition policy, fiscal policy, monetary policy and supply-side policies.

The resource concludes with an AQA-style 25-mark essay question and an exemplar evaluation paragraph, demonstrating how students can apply economic theory, incorporate a diagram (the Laffer Curve), develop chains of reasoning and reach a balanced evaluative judgement.

Ideal for:

• A-Level Economics students studying AQA and other examination boards.
• Developing evaluation skills for 15- and 25-mark essay questions.
• Supporting revision and exam preparation.
• Introducing a consistent evaluation framework across Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.
• Teachers looking for a clear, structured approach to teaching evaluation.