Cambridge International AS & A Level Economics (9708) Past Papers: Grade Thresholds and Examiner Report Notes

This page is a guide to past papers for Cambridge International AS & A Level Economics (9708). It covers every series from March 2020 to November 2025: grade thresholds for 17 series and examiner report notes for 15 of them. The thresholds are copied from Cambridge’s grade-threshold documents. The examiner notes are our own summaries of Cambridge’s Principal Examiner Reports for Teachers. We do not host the papers themselves; the links below take you to Cambridge.

Where to get the official papers

• Cambridge International AS & A Level Economics (9708) syllabus page
• 9708 past papers page

Cambridge publishes recent papers, mark schemes, examiner reports and grade thresholds on the syllabus’s past-papers page; older series are available to schools through the School Support Hub.

Use the three documents together. Sit the paper first, under timed conditions. Mark it with the mark scheme, which shows what each level of answer needs. Then read the examiner report for that series, which shows where candidates actually lost marks. Our notes below give you a short version of each report, so you can see the pattern before you read the full document.

Which syllabus were these papers set on? The March 2023 report describes that series as the first sitting of a revised syllabus and paper format. Papers from March 2020 to November 2022 were set on the syllabus before that revision, so their structure and mark totals differ: the A Level maximum in the threshold tables is 200 up to November 2022 and 180 from March 2023. Papers from March 2023 to November 2025 were set on the revised syllabus. The current syllabus is for exams in 2026, 2027 and 2028 (Version 2, published December 2025). For any paper, check the syllabus version on the front cover against the current syllabus before you rely on a question for revision.

Papers ending in 1 to 4 are variants of the same component: Paper 1 (11, 12, 13, 14) and Paper 3 (31 to 34) are multiple choice, and Paper 2 (21 to 24) and Paper 4 (41 to 44) are data response and essays. In the March series covered here, only the second variant was sat (12, 22, 32, 42).

Series index

Series	Papers (components) examined	Examiner report notes	Grade thresholds
March 2019	See Cambridge	Not summarised here	Not summarised here (official page)
June 2019	See Cambridge	Not summarised here	Not summarised here (official page)
November 2019	See Cambridge	Not summarised here	Not summarised here (official page)
March 2020	12, 22, 32, 42	Yes	Yes
June 2020	Cancelled by Cambridge because of COVID-19	Not summarised here	Not summarised here
November 2020	11-13, 21-23, 31-33, 41-43	Yes	Yes
March 2021	12, 22, 32, 42	Yes	Yes
June 2021	11-13, 21-23, 31-33, 41-43	Not summarised here	Yes
November 2021	11-13, 21-23, 31-33, 41-43	Yes	Yes
March 2022	12, 22, 32, 42	Yes	Yes
June 2022	11-14, 21-23, 31-33, 41-43	Yes	Yes
November 2022	11-13, 21-23, 31-33, 41-43	Yes	Yes
March 2023	12, 22, 32, 42	Yes	Yes
June 2023	11-13, 21-23, 31-33, 41-43	Yes	Yes
November 2023	11-13, 21-23, 31-33, 41-43	Not summarised here	Yes
March 2024	12, 22, 32, 42	Yes	Yes
June 2024	11-13, 21-23, 31-33, 41-43	Yes	Yes
November 2024	11-13, 21-23, 31-33, 41-43	Yes	Yes
March 2025	12, 22, 32, 42	Yes	Yes
June 2025	11-14, 21-24, 31-34, 41-44	Yes	Yes
November 2025	11-14, 21-24, 31-34, 41-44	Yes	Yes

For the series marked “not summarised here”, go to the official past-papers page. We have not guessed what those papers or reports contained.

What examiners keep saying

The same mistakes come up series after series. They are grouped here by syllabus topic, with the series where each one was reported.

Basic economic ideas and resource allocation

• PPC diagrams. Axes labelled price and quantity, a curve that stops short of the axes, or unused resources shown as a shift of the curve when a point inside it was needed. March 2021, November 2021, March 2022, June 2022, November 2022, June 2023, March 2024, November 2024.
• Classifying goods. Public goods identified by who provides or pays for them, instead of by non-excludability and non-rivalry, each explained on its own. Merit goods called “good for you” with no mention of information failure. March 2020, November 2021, June 2022, June 2023, June 2024, March 2025, June 2025, November 2025.

The price system and the microeconomy

• Elasticity. The wrong elasticity used (PED where cross elasticity or PES was needed), YED and XED formulae written upside down or without percentages, and elasticity described as a “big” or “small” change rather than a proportionate response. Candidates also assumed elasticity is the same all along a straight-line demand curve, and called supply elastic despite long production lags. March 2020, November 2020, November 2021, March 2022, June 2022, June 2023, March 2024, June 2024, November 2024, March 2025, June 2025, November 2025.
• Consumer theory. Income and substitution effects swapped (often for inferior or Giffen goods), indifference curves that cross, a budget-line pivot treated as a shift, and utility answers that stop before deriving the demand curve or leave out the equi-marginal principle. March 2020, November 2020, November 2021, March 2022, June 2022, November 2022, March 2023, November 2024, November 2025.
• Costs and market structures. MC not drawn through the minimum of AC, short-run and long-run shutdown rules mixed up, long-run monopolistic competition misunderstood, and dynamic efficiency confused with productive or allocative efficiency. March 2020, November 2020, March 2022, June 2022, June 2023, June 2024.
• Externalities. Market failure not linked to allocative efficiency, a consumption externality drawn as a production one (or given policies meant for the other kind), and MSC or MSB left undefined or built from only one component. March 2020, November 2020, March 2021, November 2021, March 2023, March 2024, November 2024, June 2025, November 2025.

Government microeconomic intervention

• Price controls, taxes and subsidies. Price floors and ceilings drawn on the wrong side of equilibrium, shortages and surpluses asserted rather than shown, tax and subsidy incidence not linked to elasticity, buffer stocks not explained, and minimum prices confused with minimum wages. March 2020, November 2020, March 2021, November 2021, November 2022, March 2023, June 2023, November 2025.
• Inequality. The Gini coefficient read the wrong way round, and equity confused with equality or efficiency. March 2021, November 2022, June 2023, March 2024, June 2024, November 2025.
• Labour markets. The wrong diagram or market (a competitive labour market where a monopsony was asked, a single firm where the whole market was asked, or the product market where the factor market was asked), wage theory that leaves out labour supply or MPP, and trade union essays that turn into minimum wage essays. March 2021, March 2022, March 2024, November 2024, March 2025, June 2025, November 2025.

The macroeconomy

• AD/AS diagrams. Axes labelled price and quantity, curves labelled D and S, or micro diagrams used for macro questions (and the reverse). Label the axes general price level and real output. March 2020, November 2020, November 2021, March 2022, June 2022, March 2023, June 2023, March 2024, November 2024, March 2025, June 2025, November 2025.
• Inflation and measurement. Deflation confused with disinflation, lower inflation read as falling prices, real confused with nominal, gross versus net mixed up with national versus domestic, and living standards judged from total GDP instead of real, per-head figures. March 2020, March 2021, March 2022, June 2022, November 2022, March 2023, March 2024, June 2024, November 2024, June 2025.
• Growth, unemployment and the circular flow. Actual growth confused with potential growth, cyclical unemployment confused with seasonal, and weak handling of injections, withdrawals and equilibrium in the open-economy circular flow. November 2021, March 2023, June 2023, November 2024, June 2025, November 2025.

Government macroeconomic intervention

• Policy chains. Interest rate changes not traced through borrowing and saving to AD and then to the price level, crowding out stated without its mechanism, supply-side policy not matched to the problem named, and the budget balance confused with the current account. November 2020, March 2021, November 2022, March 2023, November 2024, June 2025.

International economic issues

• Terms of trade. Confused with the balance of trade: candidates wrote about export and import values when the terms of trade are about relative prices. November 2020, March 2022, June 2022, November 2022, June 2024, March 2025, June 2025.
• Balance of payments and trade policy. Items placed in the wrong account (current versus financial, primary versus secondary income), the Marshall-Lerner condition asserted or applied the wrong way, and tariff answers with no world-supply diagram or welfare loss. March 2022, June 2022, March 2024, November 2024, March 2025, November 2025.

Exam technique the reports repeat

• Evaluate properly. The reports say again and again that evaluation decides the higher marks. Weigh the arguments, say what the outcome depends on (conditions, size of effect, time frame, who gains and loses) and reach a clear judgement. A summary of what you have already said is not evaluation.
• Obey the command word. “Explain” needs no evaluation; “discuss”, “consider” and “assess” need both sides and a conclusion. November 2020, November 2021, June 2022, November 2022, March 2023, March 2024, June 2024, November 2024.
• Draw the right diagram and use it. Label it fully, show every shift, and refer to it in your writing. A diagram on its own earns little. Reported in almost every series, most recently March 2025, June 2025 and November 2025.
• Use the data. Where the question points to the extract, use it. State the overall trend or the change between two dates instead of describing every year or month. March 2021, March 2022, June 2022, November 2022, March 2024, June 2024, November 2024, June 2025, November 2025.
• Answer the question printed. Prepared answers to a similar question scored poorly. In multiple choice, look for NOT, “most likely” and other steering words. November 2021, March 2022, June 2022, March 2023, June 2024, March 2025, June 2025.
• Match time to marks. Keep one- and two-mark answers short and save your time for the essays. March 2021, November 2021, March 2022, November 2022, March 2023, June 2023, March 2025, November 2025.

November 2025

November 2025’s AS papers covered elasticities, types of goods, price stabilisation, PPCs, unemployment, inflation, protectionism and the current account. At A Level the focus was externalities, barriers to entry, wage determination, utility theory, perfect competition, exchange rates, monetary policy, multinationals and budget deficits. Multiple choice showed gaps on the balance of payments, the demand for money and types of aid. In the written papers, good evaluation looked at conditions, size of effect, time frame and who gains or loses before giving a clear verdict; tacking on one counterpoint was not enough. Generic prepared answers that ignored the context given were the other main weakness.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 21: subsidy diagrams shifted the wrong way or labelled AD/AS; PES used where PED was asked, or PED with no time element; free goods confused with goods the state provides.
• Paper 22: minimum prices confused with minimum wages; buffer stocks asserted rather than explained; the assumption that a depreciation always fixes a deficit, or that higher AD always brings inflation.
• Paper 23 and Paper 24: the Gini coefficient read backwards; the current account confused with the whole balance of payments; cyclical unemployment confused with seasonal; macro diagrams drawn for a single market.
• Papers 41 and 42: Marshall-Lerner applied in the wrong direction; home and host countries of multinationals mixed up; policies for a production externality offered for a consumption one; wage theory without MPP, price or labour supply.
• Paper 44: utility theory without the equi-marginal principle; no distinction between actual and potential growth.

Grade thresholds – November 2025

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AC	14, 24, 34, 44	180	128	111	94	82	70	59
AX	11, 21, 31, 41	180	126	111	96	85	74	63
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	180	124	109	94	83	72	61
AZ	13, 23, 33, 43	180	126	110	94	81	68	55

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SC	14, 24	90	49	44	37	31	25
SX	11, 21	90	50	46	39	33	27
SY	12, 22	90	47	42	36	31	26
SZ	13, 23	90	49	43	36	29	23

Not shown: 9 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

June 2025

At AS, June 2025 covered inflation, monetary policy, PPCs, subsidies, merit and public goods, elasticity, the circular flow and trade. The A Level papers moved on to consumer theory, takeovers, regulating monopoly, wage theory, externalities, stagflation, globalisation and trade blocs. In multiple choice, micro items were usually handled better than macro, except on Paper 14, where macro was stronger. In the written papers, evaluation decided the grade: better scripts weighed the arguments and reached a justified conclusion, while weaker ones summarised. Prepared answers to a different question, and treating the terms of trade as if they were the balance of trade, came up on several papers.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 22: goods the government provides treated as public goods; deflation confused with disinflation; the terms of trade misunderstood.
• Papers 21 and 32: the budget balance confused with the current account or the trade deficit.
• Papers 41 and 43: output gaps drawn the wrong way round; AD/AS diagrams labelled D and S; a takeover confused with a merger; customs unions and free trade areas not told apart.
• Paper 42: MSC, MSB and externalities not defined; the monopoly profit area drawn wrongly; wage answers that ignored labour supply.
• Paper 24: every data change narrated instead of the trend; revenue confused with profit; generic evaluation that ignored the data.
• Paper 44: the income element of HDI missed; average and marginal curves muddled in monopolistic competition.

Grade thresholds – June 2025

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AC	14, 24, 34, 44	180	115	103	91	80	69	58
AX	11, 21, 31, 41	180	120	105	90	78	67	56
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	180	120	107	94	82	71	60
AZ	13, 23, 33, 43	180	121	105	89	77	66	55

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SC	14, 24	90	48	41	35	29	23
SX	11, 21	90	48	41	34	27	21
SY	12, 22	90	49	43	36	30	24
SZ	13, 23	90	48	40	33	26	20

Not shown: 11 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

March 2025

March 2025 tested elasticity, consumer surplus, public and merit goods, the terms of trade, and fiscal and supply-side policy at AS. At A Level it moved to oligopoly pricing, monopsony labour markets, population and correcting the balance of payments. In the A Level written paper, the report’s main complaint is that candidates answered a nearby question rather than the one printed. The strongest scripts tied correct, labelled diagrams to their argument and reached a supported judgement. Weaker scripts stated facts without explaining them, argued one side only and left out the conclusion.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 12: a PED value not linked to the slope of the demand curve and to what happens to revenue; division of labour misread.
• Paper 22: PED used where cross elasticity was asked; consumer surplus diagrams without the before-and-after areas; the two public good properties run together; the terms of trade discussed as export and import values.
• Paper 32: revenue maximisation not placed where MR is zero; autonomous consumption dropped when working out an output gap; the roles of the World Bank and the IMF mixed up.
• Paper 42: optimum population described vaguely; size discussed where structure was asked; a competitive labour market diagram used for a monopsony question; tariff analysis with no diagram and no welfare loss.

Grade thresholds – March 2025

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	180	123	110	97	83	70	57

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SY	12, 22	90	52	46	39	33	27

Not shown: 4 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

November 2024

November 2024’s AS papers covered inflation, monetary and fiscal policy, maximum prices, supply elasticity, PPCs, economic systems, unemployment, the current account and protectionism. At A Level the topics were externalities, firm objectives, utility theory, privatisation, monopsony, Dutch disease, living standards, the money supply and tariffs. Multiple choice exposed weak classification of balance of payments items and poor reading of index numbers. Across the written papers the main problem was thin evaluation: one-sided analysis, summaries in place of a judgement, and command words ignored. Better scripts read every part of the question and applied labelled diagrams to the data.

Where marks were lost

• Papers 11, 31 and 33: balance of payments items put in the wrong account, including primary income and income from FDI.
• Papers 21 and 23: PES called elastic even where production takes a long time; PPC axes labelled price and quantity; a current account surplus confused with a budget surplus.
• Paper 22: cyclical confused with seasonal unemployment; marginal and average tax rates mixed up; a balanced budget confused with the balance of payments.
• Paper 41: potential growth confused with actual growth; AD/AS diagrams labelled D and S; the principal-agent problem missed.
• Paper 42: utility theory stopped before the demand curve was derived; living-standards data not adjusted for prices or population.
• Paper 43: predatory and limit pricing not told apart; controlling inflation discussed where preventing it was asked; no world-supply tariff diagram.

Grade thresholds – November 2024

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AX	11, 21, 31, 41	180	125	109	93	82	71	60
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	180	127	110	93	80	67	55
AZ	13, 23, 33, 43	180	126	110	94	81	68	56

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SX	11, 21	90	48	42	36	30	24
SY	12, 22	90	47	42	35	29	23
SZ	13, 23	90	49	43	36	30	24

Not shown: 8 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

June 2024

June 2024 leaned on price, income and cross elasticity, classifying goods, public and merit goods, price controls, inflation and interest rates, the circular flow, the balance of trade and exchange rates, protectionism, income distribution, efficiency across market structures, indifference curves and globalisation. On most multiple choice papers, candidates found the macro items harder. In the written papers evaluation was again the missing skill: many gave little or no evaluation of the arguments they had analysed. Stronger scripts explained every link and applied labelled diagrams to the named economy or firm. Weaker scripts copied data, asserted results and drifted to other policies when one tool was named.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 11: free and public goods identified by who provides them; gross versus net confused with national versus domestic.
• Paper 21: monthly figures listed instead of the overall trend; YED written without percentages and the sign of the coefficient mishandled; only one policy discussed when asked which would work best.
• Paper 22: cost-push inflation in the data identified as demand-pull; protectionism confused with its tools; other policies discussed when one tool was named.
• Paper 23: real interest rates not understood; the terms of trade confused with the balance of trade; the extract copied or paraphrased.
• Papers 41 and 43: Gini values of 0 and 1 reversed; equality confused with equity; indifference curves drawn but the size of the demand change not evaluated.
• Paper 42: MC not drawn through minimum AC; entry eroding supernormal profit not shown; “long run” missing from internal economies of scale.

Grade thresholds – June 2024

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AW	11, 21, 32, 41	180	127	111	95	82	69	56
AX	11, 21, 31, 41	180	129	112	95	81	68	55
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	180	116	104	92	81	70	59
AZ	13, 23, 33, 43	180	127	110	93	80	68	56

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SX	11, 21	90	50	42	34	26	19
SY	12, 22	90	46	40	34	28	23
SZ	13, 23	90	48	40	33	26	20

Not shown: 10 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

March 2024

March 2024 covered elasticity and how firms use it, indirect taxes and their incidence, demerit goods, the PPC, technology and unemployment, specialisation and trade, exchange rates, fiscal and monetary policy, the current account, externalities, trade unions and globalisation. At A Level the essays were better than the year before, but the data response question was answered poorly. Better scripts followed the command word, explained each step and developed a few arguments in depth. Weaker scripts padded short answers, wrote everything they knew about a concept, drew micro diagrams for macro questions and summarised instead of evaluating.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 12: elasticity assumed constant along a straight-line demand curve; living standards judged from total rather than per-head real GDP; absolute advantage treated as the source of gains from trade.
• Paper 22: the YED formula upside down; PPC and AD/AS diagrams with price and quantity axes; supply shifted the wrong way; depreciation not followed through to net exports and output.
• Paper 32: MSB built from only one of its parts; the wage rate treated as part of MRP; current and financial account items mixed up.
• Paper 42: equity and equality not distinguished; trade union essays drifting into minimum wages or monopsony; micro diagrams where AS/AD was needed.

Grade thresholds – March 2024

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	180	123	110	97	83	70	57

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SY	12, 22	90	53	47	40	34	28

Not shown: 5 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

November 2023

We have not summarised the examiner report for this series. The grade thresholds are below; read the report itself on Cambridge’s past-papers page.

Grade thresholds – November 2023

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AX	11, 21, 31, 41	180	129	112	95	83	71	60
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	180	135	117	99	86	73	61
AZ	13, 23, 33, 43	180	130	113	96	83	70	58

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SX	11, 21	90	51	44	37	30	24
SY	12, 22	90	49	44	37	31	25
SZ	13, 23	90	52	45	38	32	26

Not shown: 8 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

June 2023

June 2023 was the first June series on the revised syllabus. The report stresses that short data-response parts and every essay part now reward explained analysis and evaluation. Topics included price, income and cross elasticity, consumer and producer surplus, price controls and buffer stocks, merit and public goods, types of unemployment and inflation, monetary and supply-side policy, exchange rates, comparative advantage and market structure. Stronger scripts explained each causal link and weighed arguments to a judgement. Weaker ones asserted results, let a diagram stand in for explanation and answered a question other than the one set.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 21: no evaluation after “consider” or “assess”; the XED formula upside down or without percentages; public and merit goods classified by who provides them.
• Paper 22: an inward PPC shift drawn where a point inside the curve was needed; maximum price shortages shown but not explained; short-run AD growth given when long-run growth was asked.
• Paper 23: the open-economy circular flow, new to the syllabus, barely understood; overconsumption not linked to information failure; buffer stocks not understood.
• Papers 31, 32 and 33: short-run and long-run shutdown rules confused.
• Papers 41 and 43: MC not cutting AC at its minimum on monopoly diagrams; externalities not defined as costs to third parties; the belief that governments earn export revenue.
• Paper 42: the direction of change in the Gini coefficient misread; expansionary monetary policy offered where contractionary was needed.

Grade thresholds – June 2023

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AW	12, 21, 31, 42	180	126	110	94	80	67	54
AX	11, 21, 31, 41	180	132	113	94	80	67	54
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	180	124	109	94	81	69	57
AZ	13, 23, 33, 43	180	128	111	94	81	68	55

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SW	12, 21	90	48	40	33	26	20
SX	11, 21	90	49	40	33	26	20
SY	12, 22	90	47	40	33	27	21
SZ	13, 23	90	47	40	33	27	21

Not shown: 11 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

March 2023

March 2023 was the first sitting of the revised syllabus and paper format: longer AS written papers, knowledge and application marks combined, more marks for evaluation, and one micro and one macro essay at each level. Topics included inflation and interest rates, AD/AS, the price mechanism, economic systems, income inequality, the open-economy circular flow, exchange rates, externalities, collusion, expenditure-reducing policy and globalisation. The A Level report says marks were lower than in recent years. Better scripts built full chains of reasoning and questioned the claim in the question before concluding; weaker ones listed points, drew wrong diagrams and summarised.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 12: capital consumption left out when moving from gross to net; the joint effect of supply-side policy on unemployment and prices not worked through.
• Paper 22: interest rates linked to inflation without the borrowing and saving route to consumption and investment; minimum price diagrams without the surplus; a closed economy wrongly defined as one with no government.
• Paper 32: the income effect read from the wrong movement on an indifference diagram; a NOT misread.
• Paper 42: recession defined by its symptoms rather than falling GDP; crowding out stated without bond sales and interest rates; a consumption externality drawn as a production one; globalisation reduced to trade.

Grade thresholds – March 2023

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	180	114	102	90	76	62	49

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SY	12, 22	90	46	40	33	27	21

Not shown: 4 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

November 2022

November 2022 leaned heavily on government intervention in markets: minimum and maximum prices, buffer stocks, subsidies and sales taxes. Elasticity, the PPC, exchange rates and the terms of trade, supply-side and monetary policy, labour markets and market structure also featured. Across the written papers the report draws the same line between explaining and asserting. Better scripts built full chains of reasoning, applied theory to the context and reached a justified judgement. Weaker ones misread which policy or direction was named, drew wrong or unlabelled diagrams, added policies nobody asked about and gave one-sided answers to “discuss” questions.

Where marks were lost

• Papers 21 and 22: price floors and ceilings drawn on the wrong side of equilibrium, or a new control drawn when the data described a change to an existing one; PPCs not touching the axes.
• Paper 22: subsidy incidence not shown; functions of money confused with its characteristics; monetary policy not carried through to the price level.
• Paper 23: the terms of trade confused with the balance of trade (on Paper 22 only a few scripts did this).
• Paper 41: “real” and “per capita” ignored; output gaps not marked on otherwise correct diagrams.
• Paper 42: answers that stopped at the motives for liquidity preference; the externality answer from part (a) repeated when other market failures were asked for.
• Paper 43: cost-benefit analysis not linked to providing public goods; equity not separated from efficiency.

Grade thresholds – November 2022

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AX	11, 21, 31, 41	200	138	122	106	92	78	65
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	200	145	128	111	96	82	68
AZ	13, 23, 33, 43	200	143	126	109	95	81	67

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SX	11, 21	100	58	49	41	33	25
SY	12, 22	100	64	56	47	39	31
SZ	13, 23	100	62	54	46	38	30

Not shown: 17 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

June 2022

At AS, June 2022 covered inflation and real versus nominal values, public, private and merit goods, elasticities and tax incidence, the PPC, the Marshall-Lerner condition, exchange rates and current account policy. At A Level it covered productivity, public goods and barriers to entry, oligopoly, labour markets and minimum wages, the demand for money, development and living standards. Strong scripts used precise definitions, explained each link and weighed arguments to a verdict. Weaker scripts treated anything the government provides as a public good, recited notes, asserted outcomes and did little evaluation.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 21: year-by-year description instead of a trend; micro diagrams or P/Q labels for AD/AS.
• Paper 22: falling inflation read as falling prices; real wages confused with disposable income; excludability and rivalry run together; Marshall-Lerner outcomes asserted.
• Paper 23: public goods identified by provider; merit goods called “good for you” rather than explained through information failure; no alternative policy compared in a “best way” question.
• Paper 14: the terms of trade confused with the balance of trade; proportional and progressive taxes mixed up.
• Papers 41 and 43: productivity treated as production; public goods not linked to allocative inefficiency; kinked demand and game theory not applied to the question.
• Paper 42: speculative demand for money not linked inversely to interest rates; monetary policy judged against one aim only.

Grade thresholds – June 2022

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AO	14, 22, 32, 42	200	139	124	109	94	79	64
AX	11, 21, 31, 41	200	141	124	107	90	74	58
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	200	137	122	107	93	79	66
AZ	13, 23, 33, 43	200	141	124	107	90	74	58

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SO	14, 22	100	58	51	42	33	25
SX	11, 21	100	61	52	43	34	25
SY	12, 22	100	56	49	41	34	27
SZ	13, 23	100	61	52	43	34	25

Not shown: 14 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

March 2022

March 2022 tested the current account, terms of trade, PED and the Marshall-Lerner condition, functions of money, AD/AS, the PPC, PES, fiscal policy and aggregate supply, and protectionism at AS. The A Level paper covered costs, market structures and barriers to entry, dynamic and allocative efficiency, indifference curves, labour markets, minimum wages, development, unemployment and exchange rate policy. Strong scripts combined precise terms and accurate diagrams with reasoning that led to a weighed conclusion. Weaker ones reproduced prepared answers to a differently worded question, mixed up similar terms and spent too long on low-mark parts.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 12: a productivity gain shown as a movement along supply rather than a shift of the curve.
• Paper 22: “positive” and “negative” used instead of surplus and deficit; the terms of trade confused with the balance of trade; lower inflation taken to mean falling prices; elasticity described as big or small changes, with import spending and Marshall-Lerner left out.
• Paper 22: store of value mixed up with unit of account; P/Q labels on AD/AS; AD discussed when the question asked about fiscal policy and aggregate supply.
• Paper 32: the output gap measured from the wrong AD curve; people not seeking work counted as available labour; signs of running short of time on the last items.
• Paper 42: dynamic efficiency confused with productive or allocative efficiency; income and substitution effects mixed up; product-market answers when the question was about the wage-taking firm.

Grade thresholds – March 2022

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	200	142	126	110	93	77	61

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SY	12, 22	–	59	51	43	35	27

Not shown: 3 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

November 2021

November 2021’s AS papers covered inflation and money, the PPC, comparative advantage, elasticities, consumer surplus, price controls and subsidies, public and merit goods, exchange rate intervention and balance of payments policy. At A Level: market failure, consumer theory, costs, oligopoly and price discrimination, labour markets, the multiplier, the quantity theory of money, unemployment and growth. Strong scripts read the exact wording, defined terms precisely and compared arguments to a conclusion. Weaker scripts reused prepared answers, listed knowledge in part (b) where only analysis and evaluation score, mislabelled diagrams and ignored qualifying words.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 21: characteristics of money given instead of functions; a minimum price drawn below equilibrium; expenditure-switching offered when expenditure-reducing policy was asked.
• Paper 22: saving treated as investment and FDI as hot money; all infrastructure called a public good; comparative advantage described but not used.
• Paper 23: long answers to one- and two-mark parts; direct and indirect taxes confused; evaluation given when the question only said explain.
• Paper 41: market failure not linked to inefficiency; no reason given why the quantity theory might fail; actual and potential growth not separated.
• Papers 42 and 43: LRAC mislabelled; one-sided price discrimination answers; the word “alone” ignored; crossing indifference curves; labour demand shifted when it was supply that had risen.

Grade thresholds – November 2021

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AX	11, 21, 31, 41	200	128	113	98	84	70	57
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	200	142	126	110	93	76	60
AZ	13, 23, 33, 43	200	137	121	105	92	79	66

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SX	11, 21	–	54	48	40	32	24
SY	12, 22	–	62	54	45	36	28
SZ	13, 23	–	59	52	45	38	31

Not shown: 9 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

June 2021

We have not summarised the examiner report for this series. The grade thresholds are below; read the report itself on Cambridge’s past-papers page.

Grade thresholds – June 2021

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AX	11, 21, 31, 41	200	143	125	107	89	71	54
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	200	146	129	112	96	80	65
AZ	13, 23, 33, 43	200	143	125	107	89	71	54

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SX	11, 21	–	58	48	39	31	23
SY	12, 22	–	61	53	44	36	28
SZ	13, 23	–	58	48	39	31	23

Not shown: 5 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

March 2021

March 2021 covered inflation, deflation and the value of money, exchange rates, fiscal and monetary policy, cross elasticity, protection, public goods and subsidies at AS. At A Level it covered free and imperfect markets, externalities, perfect competition and efficiency, economic rent, trade unions, productivity, population and conflicts between macro aims. AS macro multiple choice items were answered noticeably less well than micro ones. Strong written answers explained each step, applied theory to the exact question and weighed arguments to a justified conclusion. Weaker ones asserted, described how a policy works without assessing it, or wrote a general essay on the topic.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 12: subsidy size read as the change in price rather than the vertical gap between the supply curves; a falling price level confused with a lower inflation rate.
• Paper 22: percentage change found by simple subtraction; deflation confused with disinflation; exchange rate diagrams that did not show the currency moving; monetary policy traced only through consumption.
• Paper 32: cost relationships misread from a total cost curve; diminishing returns placed at the wrong point.
• Paper 42: general theory instead of the extract; negative externality essays drifting to positive externalities; trade union answers becoming minimum wage essays; productivity defined with no time period.

Grade thresholds – March 2021

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	200	143	125	107	88	70	52

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SY	12, 22	–	59	51	42	33	24

Not shown: 3 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

November 2020

November 2020’s AS papers covered elasticities, consumer and producer surplus, subsidies and tax incidence, merit goods, exchange rates, the terms of trade and the balance of payments. A Level covered externalities and efficiency, consumer theory, oligopoly and mergers, labour markets, unemployment, supply-side and Keynesian policy, and development. Strong scripts followed the command word, used the extract when told to, drew labelled diagrams and weighed both sides to a conclusion. Weaker scripts confused similar terms, asserted rather than explained, answered only part of the question or reproduced essays learned in advance.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 21: customs union and free trade area confused; a budget deficit read as a current account deficit; fiscal measures confused with monetary ones.
• Paper 22: the wrong curve shifted; PED named where cross elasticity was needed; the terms of trade confused with the balance of trade.
• Paper 23: tax incidence not linked to elasticities; an exchange rate graph misread as an appreciation.
• Paper 41: productivity with no time period; demand curve derivation stopping at one point; a budget-line pivot confused with a shift.
• Paper 42: supply-side policies not matched to the type of unemployment; generic policy answers instead of the text.
• Paper 43: marginal social cost left out of allocative efficiency; Giffen good effects confused.

Grade thresholds – November 2020

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AX	11, 21, 31, 41	200	136	122	108	93	79	65
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	200	142	127	112	96	80	65
AZ	13, 23, 33, 43	200	140	123	106	92	78	64

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SX	11, 21	–	59	51	42	33	24
SY	12, 22	–	64	55	45	36	27
SZ	13, 23	–	62	51	43	35	27

Not shown: 10 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

March 2020

March 2020 tested the balance of trade and exchange rates, comparative advantage, income elasticity, public goods, taxation, inflation and monetary policy at AS. The A Level paper covered externalities, marginal utility and indifference curves, monopoly pricing, labour markets and the Laffer curve. Strong scripts answered every part, used named theory when asked and reached a clear judgement. Weaker scripts explained a policy well but did not assess how effective it would be, left out the conclusion, or put micro labels on macro diagrams. In A Level multiple choice, micro items were generally answered better than macro ones.

Where marks were lost

• Paper 12: opportunity cost worked out from the wrong alternative; a normative statement taken as positive; elasticity along a straight-line demand curve.
• Paper 22: a trade balance calculated without a currency or without saying it was a deficit; comparative advantage not used when the question asked for theory; anything paid for from taxes called a public good; AD/AS axes labelled price and quantity.
• Paper 32: excess capacity missed as the long-run difference between monopolistic and perfect competition; the wrong demand-side remedy for cyclical unemployment.
• Paper 42: well-being judged from total GDP instead of HDI or per-head figures; externalities not linked to market failure; consumer equilibrium for one good only, with no demand curve derived.

Grade thresholds – March 2020

Full A Level, all papers in this series

Option	Components	Max	A*	A	B	C	D	E
AY	12, 22, 32, 42	200	151	136	121	104	87	71

AS Level only

Option	Components	Max	a	b	c	d	e
SY	12, 22	–	65	56	48	40	32

Not shown: 3 further route(s) in the official table (staged entries that carry AS marks from an earlier series, or other special routes). See the official document.

Official documents: past papers, mark schemes and examiner report

How to use this page

1. Find your gaps first. Take the free A Level diagnostic or AS diagnostic to see which topics need work. All our free diagnostics are listed on the diagnostics page.
2. Sit a paper timed. Download a recent paper from Cambridge and sit it in full, in exam time. Check the exam calendar so you know how long you have before your own series.
3. Mark it honestly. Use the mark scheme and note every mark you dropped. Check your answers against the command words guide: did you explain, analyse or evaluate as asked?
4. Read the notes for that series. Compare your lost marks with the “Where marks were lost” list above and with What examiners keep saying.
5. Fix the topic. Work through the weak topics using the 9708 Economics subject hub and tick them off on the 9708 checklist. Test yourself with the 9708 self-check question bank.
6. Re-test. Sit a different series on the same component a week later and see whether the same errors come back.
7. Get help if you are stuck. Our grade thresholds page has the June 2026 thresholds for our flagship syllabuses, and you can book a free trial lesson.

About these notes

The grade thresholds come from Cambridge’s grade-threshold tables and the examiner notes from Cambridge’s Principal Examiner Reports for Teachers, for the series listed above; the notes are written in our own words. Thresholds change every series and must never be used to predict future ones. If you spot a mistake, please report a correction.