Economics

The intent of the Economics curriculum at La Retraite is to develop students’ understanding of how the national and international economy works through analysing economic issues, problems and institutions that affect everyday life. According to the JCQ, the uptake of Economics for females at A-Level has risen over the last 10 years, however the gender ratio still appears to be constant with only 40% of females taking the subject.    

We are delivering this curriculum to help our female students to gain confidence and the skills needed to be able to take their place in different spheres in world of work ranging from the financial sector to influencing policies. We aim to do this by following the GCSE and A Level specification, which will give the students the necessary technical skills to achieve strong grades and progress to university or employment.

As part of this curriculum, we aim to instil our students with a passion for Economics though bringing real world economic issues into our lessons, encouraging students to conduct regular outside research and providing them with curriculum enhancement opportunities such as educational trips to the Bank of England and outside speakers from various financial and governmental institutions. This will also give them transferrable skills like problem solving, team working, making judgements; this will be achieved in the delivery of lessons and getting students to think critically about the subject.

Key Stage 4

We follow the OCR specification for GCSE Economics. This course steadily introduces students into Economic terminology, principles, and the key economic agents in the national economy. The course naturally progresses to deepen understanding of government policies and macro objectives. Students eventually apply their knowledge from the national economy to the international economy and gain insight into the interdependence of economies on a global scale. The OCR GCSE Economics exam involves various methods of assessment such as MCQs, short and extended answer questions, and calculations.

Year 10 and 11 Curriculum Map