Accredited Level 3 Economics Diploma

Introduction

This level 3 diploma in Economics will provide students with an in depth knowledge of the subject areas covered. The modules have been organised to take you a step at a time towards developing a sound knowledge of Economics. At the end of each module there is a section focusing on examination preparation. These will help to prepare you for the 2 assessments. One assessment is at the midpoint of the course. The second is, naturally, at the end of the course and covers the entire syllabus.

Economics gives you the language and techniques to understand the world of money and finance, of employment, economic growth and international trade. You will need to get used to dealing with the specialist language of economics but you also need to be able to apply it to real life events. This course will enable you to do this comprehensively but you will also find it useful to keep up to date by reading newspapers, journals such as “The Economist” and by watching or listening to specialist programmes on radio and television. Your tutor will be able to recommend which sources are of value.

Economics has a large amount of new terminology. You will need to be able to recognise and understand economic terms when you meet them and also to apply them to real life situations. Some of these words are used in ordinary language, but in a quite different way in economics. For example the word “scarce” in general English means there isn’t very much of something available. In Economics the same term means that something is limited in supply. You will also need to remember diagrams such as graphs and Gantt charts that explain economics It is important to label your axes correctly and to be able to explain the diagrams in your own language. You may find it helpful to put your definitions and diagrams on index cards or the clipped together revision cards you can buy in a stationery shop.

The lessons have been arranged to follow ten modules, but to provide for ease of understanding and topic coverage these may be of different length and difficulty. The modules have been organised to provide students with what has been considered the best sequence to develop a sound, progressive knowledge of Economics. At the end of each module there is exam preparation to complete to help prepare the student for the final examination. Some of the modules have references to carefully selected websites to provide you with further practice, summaries and examples of topics covered in the lesson.

The course is accredited by CIE Global and the grade given is either a pass or a fail. The assessments concentrate on 3 areas:

• Theoretical knowledge and understanding
• Practical implications
• Integration of theory and practice

The modules are of different lengths. You will probably find some to be easier than others. Some of them have references to carefully selected and reviewed websites to enable you to have even more practice and to see summaries and examples of topics covered in the lessons.