AQA As Economics Paper 1 2025 Mark Scheme Pdf

Download the official AQA AS Economics Paper 1 mark scheme for the June 2025 exam (7135/1). This **final version (v1.0)** contains full answers, mark allocations, and examiner guidance used during standardisation.

The mark scheme provides complete solutions for **The Operation of Markets and Market Failure** paper:

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### **Section A: Multiple-choice answers (page 3)**
The full answer key is provided for all 20 questions. For example:
- Q1: **B** (Money in a firm’s bank account)
- Q3: **C** (marketing campaign shifts demand)
- Q5: **D (£12.50)** average cost calculation
- Q7: **A** (negative externality → overproduction)
- Q10: **C** (rise of 4 percentage points)
- Q15: **C (+0.5)** cross elasticity of demand
- Q19: **D (£23,250)** profit calculation
- Q20: **D** (government failure via unintended consequences)

The distribution of answers is also shown: **A = 4, B = 7, C = 4, D = 5** (page 3).

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### **Section B: Context 1 – Flood Defences**

- **Q21 (page 6): Opportunity cost definition**
- Full marks: *“the next best alternative forgone”*

- **Q22 (page 7): Calculation**
- Mean = £22.8m, Median = £19m
- Difference = **£3.8m**

- **Q23 (page 8): Data comparison**
- Examples include:
- Levy highest in South East (£53m) vs other sources highest in Yorkshire (£500m)
- Levy always lower than other funding in all regions

- **Q24 (page 9): Diagram**
- Correct answer: **rightward shift of supply (S)**
- Results in **lower price and higher quantity**

- **Q25 (pages 10–11): 10-mark explanation**
- Key reasons for rising house prices:
- Demand increasing faster than supply
- Low interest rates and mortgage availability
- Population growth and housing shortages
- Supply constraints (land limits, planning restrictions)

- **Q26 (page 12): 25-mark essay**
- Evaluation includes:
- Flood defences as a **public good**
- Externalities and cost-sharing
- Role of government vs private sector
- Equity vs efficiency
- Importance of the word *“solely”* in evaluation

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### **Section B: Context 2 – Coffee Markets**

- **Q27 (page 13): Productivity definition**
- Full marks: *“output per unit of input per period of time”*

- **Q28 (page 14): Calculation**
- Coffee consumed at work = **24 million cups (daily)**

- **Q29 (page 15): Data comparison**
- Examples include:
- Forecast prices fall steadily while actual prices fluctuate and rise
- Largest gap in 2022 ($2.07/kg difference)

- **Q30 (page 16): Diagram**
- Inelastic demand:
- Price ↑ → Quantity ↓ → **Total revenue increases**

- **Q31 (page 17): 10-mark explanation**
- Coffee capsules and machines are **complements**
- Price increase in capsules → **fall in demand for machines**

- **Q32 (page 18): 25-mark essay**
- Evaluation includes:
- Market failures (e.g. pollution, low wages, sustainability issues)
- Government policies (taxes, regulation, fair trade)
- Global vs local market considerations
- Trade-offs between intervention and free market

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### **Examiner Guidance (pages 2–5)**
- Uses **level-of-response marking** for essays (up to 25 marks)
- Key principles:
- “Best-fit” marking approach
- Credit valid alternative answers
- Emphasis on **analysis + evaluation**
- Top-band answers require:
- Strong application to context
- Logical chains of reasoning
- Supported evaluation and conclusion

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This mark scheme is essential for understanding exactly how marks are awarded, improving data response answers, and mastering evaluation techniques required for top grades in AS Economics.

Fully updated for the 2025/2026 academic year and optimised for instant download on markscheme.net.

This mark scheme is ideal for Year 12 students preparing for AQA AS Economics exams and Year 13 students refining microeconomic exam technique.

Teachers and tutors use this resource to standardise marking, provide accurate feedback, and model high-level responses. It is also perfect for independent learners who want to understand examiner expectations and maximise marks.