Cambridge International A Level

Economics 9708

Micro- and macroeconomics with data response and essays, adding international economic issues at A Level.

Exam year

Syllabus version: 2026–2028 syllabusChecked against the Cambridge syllabusExam year 2027 is covered by the 2026–2028 syllabus.

Subject review complete (19 Oct 2026). All 36 Economics questions were re-solved and checked against the syllabus and Cambridge mark-scheme conventions, and their auto-marking was tested with correct and incorrect answers: 18 approved as written, 18 corrected.

Paper 1 AS Level Multiple Choice17%
Paper 2 AS Level Data Response and Essays33%
Paper 3 A Level Multiple Choice17%
Paper 4 A Level Data Response and Essays33%

Original questions36

Topics covered11/11

Papers4

Mock papers4

What is assessed

4 components. Question formats: multiple choice, data response, essay.

Paper 1 AS Level Multiple ChoiceAS & A Level

1 h30 marks17% of A Level

30 compulsory four-option multiple-choice questions on the AS Level subject content.

What the paper looks like

30 four-option items in 1 hour (about 2 minutes each), all compulsory. Mix of definitions, diagram interpretation (PPC, demand/supply, AD/AS), short calculations such as elasticity, tax incidence, terms of trade and trade balances, and 'which statement is correct/definitely true' items. Watch for negatives and words in bold. Calculators allowed; no formulae given.

Multiple choiceCalculator permitted

Checked against the Cambridge syllabus

Paper 2 AS Level Data Response and EssaysAS & A Level

2 h60 marks33% of A Level

Section A: one compulsory data response question (about six parts, 20 marks); Sections B (micro) and C (macro): one two-part essay from a choice of two in each (20 marks each).

What the paper looks like

Section A: a compulsory data response (20 marks) built on an unseen article with a table or chart; about six parts rising from 1–2 mark identify/calculate items to 4–6 mark 'consider'/'assess' parts that need evaluation and use of the data. Sections B and C: choose one micro and one macro essay, each split into (a) 8 marks (AO1/AO2 6 + AO3 2) and (b) 12 marks (AO1/AO2 8 + AO3 4), marked with levels. Diagrams are expected where relevant.

Data responseEssayCalculator permitted

Checked against the Cambridge syllabus

Paper 3 A Level Multiple ChoiceA Level only

1 h 15 min30 marks17% of A Level

30 compulsory multiple-choice questions on the A Level content, with AS Level content assumed knowledge.

What the paper looks like

30 multiple-choice items in 1 hour 15 minutes on A Level content (utility, indifference curves, costs and market structures, externalities, labour markets, multiplier, money, Phillips curve, development). More calculation and multi-step reasoning than Paper 1, e.g. MRP, multiplier, concentration ratio, pay-off matrices and Lorenz/Gini interpretation.

Multiple choiceCalculator permitted

Checked against the Cambridge syllabus

Paper 4 A Level Data Response and EssaysA Level only

2 h60 marks33% of A Level

Section A: one compulsory four-part data response question (20 marks); Sections B (micro) and C (macro): one unstructured 20-mark essay from a choice of two in each.

What the paper looks like

Section A: compulsory four-part data response (20 marks), typically 2–3 mark define/describe parts then 6 and 8 mark 'consider'/'assess' parts requiring use of the data and judgement. Sections B and C: one micro and one macro essay, each a single unstructured 20-mark question (AO1/AO2 14 + AO3 6) using 'assess', 'evaluate', 'discuss' or 'to what extent'. Accurate, explained diagrams and a supported conclusion are needed for top levels.

Data responseEssayCalculator permitted

Checked against the Cambridge syllabus

Assessment overview

From the 2026–2028 syllabus. Checked against the Cambridge syllabus

A Level

Paper 1Paper 2Paper 3Paper 4

Either all four papers in one series, or staged: Papers 1 and 2 for AS Level in year 1 (result carried forward), then Papers 3 and 4 in year 2.

Assessment objective	A Level weighting
AO1 Knowledge and understanding	35%
AO2 Analysis	40%
AO3 Evaluation	25%

Changes in this syllabus version

No significant changes affecting teaching compared with the 2023–2025 syllabus; assessment structure, timings and content are unchanged.
Version 2 (December 2025) only updated a weblink; specimen materials were not changed.

Command words used in Economics papers (17)

Analyse: Examine in detail, showing the meaning, identifying the elements and the relationships between them
Assess: Make an informed judgement
Calculate: Work out an answer from the facts, figures or information given
Comment: Give an informed opinion
Compare: Identify or comment on similarities and/or differences
Consider: Review the information given and respond to it
Define: Give the precise meaning
Demonstrate: Show how, or give an example
Describe: State the points of a topic or give its main characteristics and features
Discuss: Write about issues or topics in depth, in a structured way
Evaluate: Judge or calculate the quality, importance, amount or value of something
Explain: Set out purposes or reasons, make relationships clear, say why and/or how, supported by evidence
Give: Produce an answer from a source or from recall
Identify: Name, select or recognise
Justify: Support a case with evidence or argument
Outline: Set out the main points
State: Express in clear terms

Examiner guidance from recent reports (14)

Basic economic ideas and resource allocation (AS Level). A good being supplied free of charge does not make it a free good, and government provision does not make it a public good. Classify using opportunity cost, rivalry and excludability, not price or provider.

The price system and the microeconomy (AS Level). When a formula is requested, write it out (for example YED = %ΔQd ÷ %ΔY) before substituting. Always state the sign and interpret it: the sign of YED and XED carries the economic meaning.

The price system and the microeconomy (AS Level). When asked to identify a trend in a table, give the overall direction between the first and last dates in one sentence; listing every period wastes time and earns nothing extra.

Government microeconomy intervention (AS Level). Tax and subsidy diagrams must show the vertical distance equal to the per-unit amount and clearly mark the consumer and producer shares. Link the split of incidence explicitly to the relative elasticities of demand and supply.

The macroeconomy (AS Level). GNI differs from GDP by net primary income from abroad, while net measures differ from gross by depreciation; inflation separates nominal from real. Keep these three adjustments distinct.

The macroeconomy (AS Level). If a source says inflation is driven by costs, identify cost-push only and draw an SRAS shift; showing both types or an AD shift loses the mark. Label axes as price level and real output, not price and quantity.

Government macroeconomic intervention (AS Level). For policy questions, trace the full transmission chain (for example interest rate → borrowing and spending → AD → output, prices, jobs) and then evaluate with time lags, size of the output gap and confidence.

International economic issues (AS Level). Terms of trade = (index of export prices ÷ index of import prices) × 100; a fall is a deterioration in the price ratio but is not automatically bad, since it may raise export volumes.

International economic issues (AS Level). Gains from specialisation depend on factors moving easily between industries within a country. Read 'smallest' or 'not' in multiple-choice stems carefully before choosing.

The price system and the microeconomy (A Level). On cost and revenue diagrams, MC must cut AC (and AVC) at its minimum and profit maximisation is where MC = MR. Shade supernormal profit between AR and AC at the profit-maximising output.

The price system and the microeconomy (A Level). With indifference curves, separate the substitution effect (always opposite to the price change) from the income effect; for a Giffen good the perverse income effect outweighs it. Then evaluate how far the outcome depends on the size of each effect.

Government microeconomic intervention (A Level). Evaluation earns higher credit when it is explained: do not just say a tax 'depends on PED' — show how inelastic demand limits the fall in output and why that matters for correcting the externality.

The macroeconomy (A Level). In multiplier questions, write the formula 1 ÷ (mps + mrt + mpm) and show working. Remember the full-employment gap is closed by the change in AD equal to the gap divided by the multiplier.

International economic issues (A Level). Gini runs from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality); do not reverse them. When judging whether data support a claim, look for a consistent pattern across all countries and say so if there is none.

Topic map

Practice types

Free sample questions

A farmer can use a field to grow either 100 tonnes of wheat or 60 tonnes of maize in a season. She decides to…

A farmer can use a field to grow either 100 tonnes of wheat or 60 tonnes of maize in a season. She decides to grow wheat.
What is the opportunity cost of her decision?

100 tonnes of wheat
40 tonnes of maize
60 tonnes of maize
the money spent on wheat seed

Answer: C. 60 tonnes of maize

Opportunity cost is the next best alternative forgone. By growing wheat the farmer gives up the 60 tonnes of maize the field could otherwise have produced. The wheat is what she chooses, not what she gives up, and seed spending is a money cost rather than the forgone alternative.

Which feature means that a good is a free good in the economic sense?

Which feature means that a good is a free good in the economic sense?

It is supplied by the government without charge to users.
Using more of it involves no opportunity cost.
Nobody can be prevented from consuming it once it is provided.
Its consumption creates benefits for third parties.

Answer: B. Using more of it involves no opportunity cost.

A free good is one that is not scarce, so using more of it means no other output is given up: its opportunity cost is zero (for example air in most places). Being free at the point of use (A) does not make a good free in this sense, since resources were still used to supply it; non-excludability (C) is a property of public goods, and external benefits (D) describe merit goods or positive externalities.

FAQs

Are these official 9708 past-paper questions?

No. They are original questions written to match the Economics syllabus topics. Official past papers are available to schools through Cambridge.

Why choose an exam year?

Cambridge updates syllabuses periodically. Your exam year selects the matching configuration so topics and components follow the right version.

How do AS and A Level differ here?

Both pathways share code 9708. AS pages include AS topics and components only; A Level pages add the A Level content and papers.

Is a calculator allowed?

In this configuration a scientific calculator is permitted for the listed papers. Check your syllabus for the exact rule.