OxfordAQA International GCSE Economics: Choice, factors, markets, specialisation (9214) – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

These questions cover sections 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 of the OxfordAQA International GCSE Economics (9214) specification, for exams from May/June 2025 onwards. All countries, firms and figures are invented. Read the study guide or the revision notes first. See also the course hub and the checklist.

Questions

1. Distinguish between a need and a want, and give an example of a want that could become a need. [3]

2. A government builds a railway rather than a stadium. Identify which of the three key economic decisions this is mainly about, and state the other two. [3]

3. A shop owner has 30,000 to spend. A new freezer would add 4,000 a year to profit, a poster campaign 3,500 a year, and repaying a loan would save 2,800 a year in interest. She chooses the freezer. Calculate the annual opportunity cost of her choice. [2]

4. A farmer rents a field, drives a tractor bought with a bank loan, hires a worker and organises the whole farm. State the factor of production and its reward in each of these four cases. [4]

5. A dairy has revenue of 8,000 in a month. It pays wages of 3,000, rent of 800, loan interest of 450 and 2,250 for feed and supplies. (a) Calculate its profit. [2] (b) Calculate wages as a percentage of revenue. [1] (c) Explain which factor of production profit rewards. [2]

6. Explain the difference between a factor market and a product market, using a household and a bakery as your example. [4]

7. Explain how a rise in the price of rice may lead to more land being used for rice. [4]

8. Country E: Year 1 has 8.0 million jobs (primary 3.2, secondary 2.4, tertiary 2.4 million). Year 30 has 10.0 million jobs (primary 1.0, secondary 2.5, tertiary 6.5 million). (a) Calculate the tertiary share of jobs in Year 30. [1] (b) Calculate the change in the primary share, in percentage points. [2] (c) Explain one reason why the primary sector may have shrunk. [2]

9. Four workers each make 12 jars of jam a day working alone. After dividing the tasks, the four make 70 jars a day. Daily wages are 240 in total. (a) Find the output per worker before and after the change. [2] (b) Calculate the cost per jar after the change. [1] (c) Explain one benefit and one cost of the division of labour to the workers. [4]

10. Country A exports 800 million in a year, 600 million of it one mineral. The mineral’s price falls by 40% with volumes unchanged. (a) Calculate the percentage fall in total export earnings. [3] (b) Explain one benefit to a country of specialising in a narrow range of goods. [2] (c) Explain one problem it faces. [2]

11. Country G has 500 million to spend. A new school would cost 500 million and bring benefits valued at 650 million. An irrigation and clinic scheme would cost 500 million with benefits of about 600 million, but those benefits are uncertain. Evaluate which scheme the government should choose. [8]

Answers

1. A need is something required to survive or function, such as food [1]. A want is something people would enjoy having but can manage without [1]. Example: a mobile phone, which many people now rely on for work or study [1]. [3] Examiner insight: Define both words in your own sentence, then add the example; an example on its own does not show the contrast.

2. This is mainly about what to produce (a railway rather than a stadium) [1]. The other two decisions are how to produce [1] and who is to benefit [1]. [3] Examiner insight: Give the label in the exact words of the specification, then tie it to the context, not just a list.

3. The next best alternative is the poster campaign, worth 3,500 a year [1]. So the opportunity cost is 3,500 a year [1]. [2] Examiner insight: Adding up 3,500 and 2,800 is a common slip; the opportunity cost is only the single next best option.

4. Field: land, rent [1]. Tractor: capital, interest [1]. Worker: labour, wages [1]. Organiser: enterprise, profit [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Each pairing needs both the factor and its reward; naming only one half earns less.

5. (a) Costs = 3,000 + 800 + 450 + 2,250 = 6,500 [1]. Profit = 8,000 - 6,500 = 1,500 [1]. (b) 3,000 / 8,000 x 100 = 37.5% [1]. (c) Profit rewards enterprise [1], the organising of the other factors and the risk taken if revenue were too low to cover costs [1]. [5] Examiner insight: Show the total cost line; a bare final figure leaves nothing to credit if one input was added wrongly.

6. In the factor market firms buy factors of production and households supply them [1], for example the bakery hires a baker and pays wages to the household member [1]. In the product market firms sell goods and services to consumers [1], for example the household buys bread from the bakery [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Say who is the buyer and who is the seller in each market; examples that reverse them lose credit.

7. A higher price raises the revenue for each tonne sold [1]. This makes rice more profitable than other uses of land [1]. Farmers respond by moving land from other crops to rice [1]. So the market allocates scarce land towards the product consumers now value more highly [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Explanations earn most when the steps are linked in order; a list of points with no chain from price to land use does not.

8. (a) 6.5 / 10.0 x 100 = 65% [1]. (b) Year 1 share = 3.2 / 8.0 = 40% [1]. Year 30 share = 1.0 / 10.0 = 10%, so the change is -30 percentage points [1]. (c) Machines now do work once done by many farm workers [1], so fewer primary jobs are needed to produce the same food [1]. [5] Examiner insight: Write “percentage points” for a change in a share; plain per cent is a different measure.

9. (a) Before: 12 per worker [1]. After: 70 / 4 = 17.5 per worker [1]. (b) 240 / 70 = 3.43 per jar [1]. (c) Benefit: each worker repeats one task, so becomes faster and more skilled [1], which may raise pay [1]. Cost: repeating one task can be boring [1] and narrows skills, so a worker may find it harder to change jobs [1]. [7] Examiner insight: Keep your answer on the worker when the question asks about workers; points about the firm’s costs do not answer it.

10. (a) Other exports = 800 - 600 = 200 [1]. New mineral earnings = 600 x 0.6 = 360, so new total = 560 [1]. Fall = (800 - 560) / 800 = 30% [1]. (b) Concentrating resources lets the country raise output of what it makes best [1], so it can export more and buy other goods with the earnings [1]. (c) A fall in the one price cuts earnings sharply, as in part (a) [1], and few other industries are available to replace the lost income and jobs [1]. [7] Examiner insight: Use the part (a) figure in part (c); the question rewards a link back to the numbers.

11. Calculation: school net benefit = 650 - 500 = 150 million [1]. Irrigation and clinic net benefit = 600 - 500 = 100 million [1]. Both options use the same scarce 500 million, so choosing one means giving up the other, which is the opportunity cost [1]. On these figures the school has a higher net benefit [1]. The irrigation and clinic benefits are uncertain, so the true gap could be wider or narrower [1]. The benefits may fall on different groups: children and future workers against farmers and patients [1]. Some benefits, such as health, are hard to value in money [1]. Judgement: choose the school on the numbers, unless the government places heavy weight on the groups who would benefit from irrigation and clinics, and reaches a reasoned conclusion [1]. [8] Examiner insight: End with a clear choice and the reason it wins; a balanced list of points that never picks a scheme leaves the question unanswered.

Where marks are usually lost

• Adding all the alternatives together as the opportunity cost.
• Giving a factor without its reward, or the reward without the factor.
• Mixing up who buys and who sells in factor and product markets.
• Describing a price rise without saying how producers respond.
• Writing “%” when the question asks for percentage points.
• Dividing total wages by the wrong output figure when finding cost per unit.
• Listing benefits and costs of the division of labour with no link to the worker or firm named.
• Stopping an evaluation question at “it depends” with no decision.
• Leaving out working in a calculation.

Next steps

• Re-read the revision notes and the study guide.
• Tick off topics on the checklist and visit the course hub.
• Try all free 10-minute diagnostics.
• Book a free trial class at /trial/.

Official syllabus

OxfordAQA International GCSE Economics (9214), version 1.0, for exams from May/June 2025 onwards, published by OxfordAQA, sections 3.1.1 and 3.1.2.