Syllabus: AQA A-level Economics
Module: The National and International Economy
Lesson: 4.2.11 Economic Performance

Introduction

This section expands students’ understanding of macroeconomic performance, building directly on earlier content (Section 3.2.3) and forming part of the broader “national and international economy” theme within the AQA A-level Economics specification. Teachers will recognise this as a pivot point in the curriculum, where learners shift from understanding individual policy aims to analysing how well those aims are achieved in practice. This topic offers high leverage for exam success: it frequently appears in data response questions and evaluative essays, and it gives students the analytical tools to tackle contemporary issues with academic confidence.

Key Concepts

According to the AQA A-level Economics specification, students are expected to:

• Understand and evaluate how economic performance is measured, including:

  • Real GDP and GDP per capita

  • Inflation rates (CPI and RPI)

  • Unemployment figures (ILO and Claimant Count)

  • Balance of payments on current account

• Explore the limitations of these indicators:

  • Accuracy of data

  • Exclusion of informal economy

  • Distributional issues (e.g. GDP vs wellbeing)

• Develop the ability to interpret and compare indicators across time and between countries.

• Analyse the relationships and potential trade-offs between policy objectives, such as:

  • Growth vs inflation

  • Employment vs external balance

• Apply performance metrics to assess the success of government macroeconomic policy.

This builds on foundational understanding in Section 3.2.3, where the focus was on identifying objectives. Here, we ask: how do we know if those objectives are being met?

Real-World Relevance

The UK’s post-COVID recovery, cost-of-living crisis, and response to global supply shocks make this section immediately relatable. For example, the UK’s inflation rate peaked above 11% in 2022, prompting questions about the Bank of England’s interest rate decisions and their impact on growth and employment.

A relevant case study: The UK economy, 2020–2024

• GDP contracted nearly 10% in 2020 due to pandemic restrictions.

• Massive fiscal support and monetary stimulus followed.

• As the economy reopened, demand surged faster than supply, pushing up inflation.

• In 2022–2023, the government faced pressure to balance economic support with inflation control.

Students can use this narrative to explore trade-offs, measurement challenges, and the role of policy decisions in shaping outcomes.

How It’s Assessed

Economic performance is a core component of both Paper 2 and Paper 3 in the AQA A-level Economics exam. Here’s what to expect:

• Data response questions are common, often with time series on GDP, inflation, or unemployment.

• Essay questions may ask students to evaluate the effectiveness of policies in achieving macroeconomic goals.

• Common command words:

  • Analyse – break down cause and effect (e.g. “Analyse why unemployment may fall during a recovery.”)

  • Evaluate – weigh up impacts and offer judgement (e.g. “Evaluate how effective GDP is as a measure of living standards.”)

  • Discuss, Assess, and To what extent are often used for synoptic questions combining theory and real-world examples.

Tip: encourage students to memorise basic indicator formulas (e.g. % change in GDP) and to practise interpreting data sets under time pressure.

Enterprise Skills Integration

This topic is a natural fit for decision-making and problem-solving activities:

• Decision-making: Should a government prioritise growth or inflation control?

• Critical thinking: Does GDP growth actually improve living standards?

• Data literacy: Students interpret, compare, and question economic statistics.

Tools like MarketScope AI can be used here to run macroeconomic simulations, helping students model policy outcomes using real data.

For classroom use, try tasking students with creating a “performance dashboard” for the UK economy, selecting appropriate indicators and explaining what story they tell. This helps turn abstract metrics into something students can own and explain.

Careers Links

This unit supports Gatsby Benchmark 4 (Linking curriculum learning to careers) and Benchmark 5 (Encounters with employers and employees). It links well with careers in:

• Government and Civil Service (e.g. Treasury, Bank of England)

• Data analysis and statistics (ONS, think tanks)

• International organisations (e.g. IMF, OECD)

• Journalism and economic commentary

You could invite a local civil servant or economics graduate to speak about how data informs policy and the challenges of measuring performance in practice.

Teaching Notes

• Common Pitfall: Students often over-rely on GDP without critiquing it. Push them to consider distribution, sustainability, and informal economies.

• Stretch Task: Ask students to compare UK performance with another G7 country using three indicators over the past five years.

• Scaffolding: Use visual organisers (e.g. traffic light systems) to show whether performance against each indicator is “strong”, “mixed”, or “weak”.

• Plug-and-play resource: A classroom debate on “Is GDP growth always good?” brings critical engagement and encourages use of evaluative language.