Econosaurus

Please do fill in this survey from Tutor2U. They're trying to get a better idea of the state of economics teaching in 2026. This will be an important piece of evidence for the impact of the Economics teacher recruitment crisis and will help to determine how to support Economics teachers. Do ensure your colleagues have filled it out too! https://forms.gle/KdQMrgs2HieZuh3R8

In 1964, US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart was asked to decide whether a French film counted as hard-core pornography. He declined to define the term and wrote simply, "I know it when I see it." It's a great line, and as long as he was the only one deciding, it more or less worked. The trouble starts when more than one person is doing the recognising. If the "it" in my head differs from the "it" in yours, we can both be confident, both be internally consistent and still

On Monday 14 September we were lucky enough to have Soumaya Keynes come and talk to us about her book How to Win a Trade War, which I thought was excellent for Year 2 macro. The recording is below: The next EconEdChat is on Tuesday 3 November at 6pm, when Matt Olczak (Aston University) and Chris Wilson (Loughborough University) are joining us to talk about using economics simulations in the classroom, followed by the usual open discussion. It's free, informal and there's no n

*Tier 2 vocabulary is a tricky one for students, and it's something we've talked about a lot (eg here). Tier 2 words are the academic vocabulary that turns up far more in writing than in speech. They aren't subject-specific terms like elasticity or externality, and they aren't the everyday words students pick up in conversation. Students who aren't reading a great deal, therefore, are less likely to have come across them, and that can be a barrier when they are reading, creat

This is a quick "don't say it" style game for the macroeconomic indicators. I posted the paper version several years ago, but I've now updated it with a no-prep version. The aim is to get students defining these terms accurately and concisely, rather than the woolly and vague definitions we sometimes get. What's in it There are 27 target words covering the macroeconomic indicators, from GDP, per capita and real vs nominal through to purchasing power parity, the current accou

I always think there is a lot riding on the first few weeks: getting to know them, helping them transition from GCSE, setting routines and expectations, identifying students who might be on the wrong course, all whilst simultaneously trying to inspire a love of economics and also get on with the course because there's a crazy amount to teach... it's a tall order. I've pulled together the best A-Level Economics resources I can find for those first few weeks of term. I've also

I’m delighted that Soumaya Keynes has agreed to join us for EconEdChat on 14 September, so if you want to ask her about any of this yourself, come along! Before I say anything else: if you teach Year 13 Macro, read this book. That bit isn’t up for debate and I’ll come back to why further down. Everything else in this post is me thinking out loud about whether it could do a bigger job than CPD, namely whether it could work as a class read, and where else it might earn its pla

A warning upfront: this one involves a registration fee. The Harvard International Review runs its writing contest in three cycles a year, and the Fall/Winter round closes on 2 January 2027 with a virtual Defense Day on 5 February. Senior entrants in grades 9 to 12 (UK Years 10 to 13) submit an 800 to 1,200 word article on one of three set themes, currently Global Culture in the Digital Era, Security in a Multipolar World, and Technology, Innovation and Power. The economics r

Immerse Education, best known for its fee-paying Oxford and Cambridge summer schools, runs an annual essay competition open to students aged 13 to 18 worldwide, with a choice of over 20 subject categories including Economics alongside Law, Psychology and others. The question isn't published on the site: students register interest and Immerse emails the full prompt guide directly, so there's no way to preview the Economics question before committing. Entries are short, around