Skills you learn from Economics (Year 11)

Economics builds a mix of analytical and reasoning skills - working with data and evidence, thinking about cause and risk, applying models to real situations, building arguments, and communicating in numbers, words, and diagrams. This lesson plan will help you to show Year 11 students the skills Economics builds and which other subjects build the same ones.

This lesson is designed to be delivered in 30 minutes as a teacher-led classroom activity.

This activity supports the following frameworks:

  • Gatsby Benchmark 4

This activity is suitable for Year 11 and features careers linked to the following subjects:

  • Economics

This is one of three lesson plans for teachers working with Year 11 students considering A-Level Economics - whether they currently study GCSE Economics or not:

These lesson plans will help you show students how Economics connects to their future careers.

We recommend using this lesson plan at the end of the autumn term. By this point Year 11 students are beginning to weigh post-16 options. Recognising the skills Economics builds - and seeing where the same skills are developed in other subjects - helps them choose a complementary set of A-Levels, T-Levels, or training routes, whether or not they currently take GCSE Economics.

Learning objectives

  • Students will name specific skills Economics builds, with examples.
  • Students will recognise other subjects that build the same skills.
  • Students will consider how that shapes their post-16 choices.

Before the lesson

  • You will need a computer connected to the internet and a classroom screen.
  • Open the What can you do with Economics? page and have it ready on the screen.
  • Review the Skills that Economics builds section and think of examples for each one - drawn from GCSE Economics if you teach it, or from the news, careers lessons, and familiar real-world examples if you don't.

During the lesson

1. What does Economics cover? (5 mins)

  • Ask students to call out what they know about how the economy works - from GCSE Economics if they take it, from news stories, from family conversations about money, jobs, and prices, or from their own experience as customers and earners.
  • Write the suggestions on the board and highlight any patterns.

2. Skills that Economics builds (15 mins)

  • Bring up the What can you do with Economics? page on the classroom screen.
  • Review the contents of the page with students so that they understand what it covers.
  • Scroll to the Skills that Economics builds section and work through each skill in turn.
    • Ask students which topic, example, or news story from the board involves that skill.
    • Share your own teaching examples if students are stuck.

3. The same skills in other subjects (10 mins)

  • Ask students to think about where else they've built these same skills.
    • Which subjects ask you to read data, charts, or figures and draw conclusions from them?
    • Which subjects ask you to think about cause and effect, or to weigh competing explanations?
    • Which subjects ask you to build an argument and back it with evidence?
  • Go round the class, asking each student to name one skill and one other subject they've built it in.
  • Close by reminding students that choosing a good set of post-16 subjects isn't just about which ones they enjoy - it's about which ones compound the skills they want to take into work or further study.

After the lesson

  • Share the What can you do with Economics? page with students and their parents/carers:
    • www.coffeewith.xyz/subjects/what-can-you-do-with-economics
  • Encourage parents/carers to explore the page with their child and to discuss the contents.
  • Use the School Tools / Activities feature to record the lesson activity:
    • Activity name: Year 11 - Skills you learn from Economics
    • Activity type: Linking curriculum learning to careers
  • Read the follow-on lesson plan: