Higher Economics Tuition
SQA Higher and Advanced Higher, one-to-one and online. £80 per hour.
Higher Economics has a problem the English A-Level does not: it is a full qualification taught in a single year, usually alongside four or five others, and often in a school where Economics is a small department with one teacher. There is no second year to catch up in. That makes the autumn term matter more here than anywhere else in the UK.
Where the year goes wrong
Three things account for most of the damage, and all three are timing problems rather than ability problems.
- The assignment gets left. It is coursework, it has a deadline months before the exam, and it competes with every other subject’s deadline. Students who start it late write it badly and lose marks that were sitting there for the taking.
- The prelim arrives too early to be a wake-up call. By the time a disappointing prelim result comes back, a large part of the year has gone. Waiting for it before acting is the most common and most expensive decision in the Higher calendar.
- Extended answers are undercooked. Students arrive from National 5 used to writing in short bursts, and the longer Higher questions want a developed chain of reasoning with a judgement at the end. That is a new skill, not a longer version of an old one.
How I work with Higher students
The plan is built backwards from two dates, the assignment deadline and the prelim, rather than forwards through the syllabus. That usually means front-loading the assignment work in the autumn while the class is still covering content, then switching to exam technique once it is submitted.
The economics itself is the same subject taught south of the border, so the analysis and evaluation work carries across directly. What changes is the shape of the assessment and the calendar, and lessons are planned to the SQA course specification and marked against SQA marking instructions.
Advanced Higher is a different proposition again, with a substantial independent project at its centre. If that is what you need, say so when you get in touch and we will talk about the project first.
Frequently asked questions
Can you help with the assignment?
With choosing the topic, with whether your sources can actually support the argument you want to make, and with structure and technique. The work itself has to be yours, and your school will hold you to that. Choosing a workable topic early is where most of the value is anyway.
My school does not offer Higher Economics.
This is fairly common, since it is a small subject in Scotland. Sitting it outside school is possible but needs organising well in advance, particularly around finding a presenting centre. Get in touch early in the year rather than late.
I am doing Higher Economics and Higher Business. Is there overlap?
Some vocabulary, not much method. Business rewards applied description of how firms operate. Economics rewards a model, a diagram and a judgement. Students who write Economics answers in a Business style are the ones who find the grade lower than they expected, and it is usually an easy fix once it is named.
Start with a conversation
Bring your assignment deadline and your prelim date. Thirty minutes, no charge.