GCSE
ECONOMICS
8136/2
Paper 2 How the economy works
b b b b b
Mark scheme
b
June 2021
b
Version:b1.0bFinalbMarkbScheme
*216G 136/2/MS* b
, MARKb SCHEMEb –b GCSEb –b ECONOMICSb -b 8136/2b –b JUNEb 2021
MarkbschemesbarebpreparedbbybthebLeadbAssessmentbWriterbandbconsidered,btogetherbwithbthebrelevantb
questions,bbybabpanelbofbsubjectbteachers.bThisbmarkbschemebincludesbanybamendmentsbmadebatbthebsta
ndardisationbeventsbwhichballbassociatesbparticipatebinbandbisbthebschemebwhichbwasbusedbbybthembinbthisb
examination.bThebstandardisationbprocessbensuresbthatbthebmarkbschemebcoversbthebstudents’bresponse
sbtobquestionsbandbthatbeverybassociatebunderstandsbandbappliesbitbinbthebsamebcorrectbway.
Asbpreparationbforbstandardisationbeachbassociatebanalysesbabnumberbofbstudents’bscripts.bAlternativebansw
ersbnotbalreadybcoveredbbybthebmarkbschemebarebdiscussedbandblegislatedbfor.bIf,bafterbthebstandardisationbp
rocess,bassociatesbencounterbunusualbanswersbwhichbhavebnotbbeenbraisedbtheybarebrequiredbtobreferbtheseb
tobthebLeadbExaminer.
Itbmustbbebstressedbthatbabmarkbschemebisbabworkingbdocument,binbmanybcasesbfurtherbdevelopedbandbe
xpandedbonbthebbasisbofbstudents’breactionsbtobabparticularbpaper.bAssumptionsbaboutbfuturebmarkbsche
mesbonbthebbasisbofbonebyear’sbdocumentbshouldbbebavoided;bwhilstbthebguidingbprinciplesbofbassessme
ntbremainbconstant,bdetailsbwillbchange,bdependingbonbthebcontentbofbabparticularbexaminationbpaper.
Furtherbcopiesbofbthisbmarkbschemebarebavailablebfrombaqa.org.uk
Copyrightbinformation
AQAbretainsbthebcopyrightbonballbitsbpublications.bHowever,bregisteredbschools/collegesbforbAQAbarebpermittedbtobcopybmaterialbfrombthisbbookletbforbtheirb
ownbinternalbuse,bwithbthebfollowingbimportantbexception:bAQAbcannotbgivebpermissionbtobschools/collegesbtobphotocopybanybmaterialbthatbisbacknowledge
dbtobabthirdbpartybevenbforbinternalbusebwithinbthebcentre.
Copyrightb©b2021bAQAbandbitsblicensors.bAllbrightsbreserved.
2
, MARKb SCHEMEb –b GCSEb –b ECONOMICSb -b 8136/2b –b JUNEb 2021
Level of response marking instructions
b b b b
Levelbofbresponsebmarkbschemesbarebbrokenbdownbintoblevels,beachbofbwhichbhasbabdescriptor.bThebdescript
orbforbtheblevelbshowsbthebaveragebperformancebforbtheblevel.bTherebarebmarksbinbeachblevel.
Beforebyoubapplybthebmarkbschemebtobabstudent’sbanswerbreadbthroughbthebanswerbandbannotatebitb(asbi
nstructed)btobshowbthebqualitiesbthatbarebbeingblookedbfor.bYoubcanbthenbapplybthebmarkbscheme.
Step 1 Determine a level
b b b b
Startbatbtheblowestblevelbofbthebmarkbschemebandbusebitbasbabladderbtobseebwhetherbthebanswerbmeetsbthebd
escriptorbforbthatblevel.bThebdescriptorbforbtheblevelbindicatesbthebdifferentbqualitiesbthatbmightbbebseenbinbth
ebstudent’sbanswerbforbthatblevel.bIfbitbmeetsbtheblowestblevelbthenbgobtobthebnextbonebandbdecidebifbitbmeets
bthisblevel,bandbsobon,buntilbyoubhavebabmatchbbetweenbtheblevelbdescriptorbandbthebanswer.bWithbpracticeb
andbfamiliaritybyoubwillbfindbthatbforbbetterbanswersbyoubwillbbebablebtobquicklybskipbthroughbtheblowerblevels
bof bthebmarkbscheme.
Whenbassigningbablevelbyoubshouldblookbatbtheboverallbqualitybofbthebanswerbandbnotblookbtobpickbholesbinbs
mallbandbspecificbpartsbofbthebanswerbwherebthebstudentbhasbnotbperformedbquitebasbwellbasbthebrest.bIfbtheb
answerbcoversbdifferentbaspectsbofbdifferentblevelsbofbthebmarkbschemebyoubshouldbusebabbestbfitbapproachb
forbdefiningbtheblevelbandbthenbusebthebvariabilitybofbthebresponsebtobhelpbdecidebthebmarkbwithinbtheblevel,bi
ebifbthebresponsebisbpredominantlyblevelb3bwithbabsmallbamountbofblevelb4bmaterialbitbwouldbbebplacedbinbleve
lb3bbutbbebawardedbabmarkbnearbthebtopbofbtheblevelbbecausebofbtheblevelb4bcontent.
Step 2 Determine a mark
b b b b
Oncebyoubhavebassignedbablevelbyoubneedbtobdecidebonbthebmark.bThebdescriptorsbonbhowbtoballocatebmar
ksbcanbhelpbwithbthis.bThebexemplarbmaterialsbusedbduringbstandardisationbwillbhelp.bTherebwillbbebanbansw
erbinbthebstandardisingbmaterialsbwhichbwillbcorrespondbwithbeachblevelbofbthebmarkbscheme.bThisbanswerb
willbhavebbeenbawardedbabmarkbbybthebLeadbExaminer.bYoubcanbcomparebthebstudent’sbanswerbwithbthebe
xamplebtobdeterminebifbitbisbthebsamebstandard,bbetterborbworsebthanbthebexample.bYoubcanbthenbusebthisbtob
allocatebabmarkbforbthebanswerbbasedbonbthebLeadbExaminer’sbmarkbonbthebexample.
Youbmaybwellbneedbtobreadbbackbthroughbthebanswerbasbyoubapplybthebmarkbschemebtobclarifybpointsbandba
ssurebyourselfbthatbtheblevelbandbthebmarkbarebappropriate.
Indicativebcontentbinbthebmarkbschemebisbprovidedbasbabguidebforbexaminers.bItbisbnotbintendedbtobbeb
exhaustivebandbyoubmustbcreditbotherbvalidbpoints.bStudentsbdobnotbhavebtobcoverballbofbthebpointsbm
entionedbinbthebIndicativebcontentbtobreachbthebhighestblevelbofbthebmarkbscheme.
Anbanswerbwhichbcontainsbnothingbofbrelevancebtobthebquestionbmustbbebawardedbnobmarks.
3
ECONOMICS
8136/2
Paper 2 How the economy works
b b b b b
Mark scheme
b
June 2021
b
Version:b1.0bFinalbMarkbScheme
*216G 136/2/MS* b
, MARKb SCHEMEb –b GCSEb –b ECONOMICSb -b 8136/2b –b JUNEb 2021
MarkbschemesbarebpreparedbbybthebLeadbAssessmentbWriterbandbconsidered,btogetherbwithbthebrelevantb
questions,bbybabpanelbofbsubjectbteachers.bThisbmarkbschemebincludesbanybamendmentsbmadebatbthebsta
ndardisationbeventsbwhichballbassociatesbparticipatebinbandbisbthebschemebwhichbwasbusedbbybthembinbthisb
examination.bThebstandardisationbprocessbensuresbthatbthebmarkbschemebcoversbthebstudents’bresponse
sbtobquestionsbandbthatbeverybassociatebunderstandsbandbappliesbitbinbthebsamebcorrectbway.
Asbpreparationbforbstandardisationbeachbassociatebanalysesbabnumberbofbstudents’bscripts.bAlternativebansw
ersbnotbalreadybcoveredbbybthebmarkbschemebarebdiscussedbandblegislatedbfor.bIf,bafterbthebstandardisationbp
rocess,bassociatesbencounterbunusualbanswersbwhichbhavebnotbbeenbraisedbtheybarebrequiredbtobreferbtheseb
tobthebLeadbExaminer.
Itbmustbbebstressedbthatbabmarkbschemebisbabworkingbdocument,binbmanybcasesbfurtherbdevelopedbandbe
xpandedbonbthebbasisbofbstudents’breactionsbtobabparticularbpaper.bAssumptionsbaboutbfuturebmarkbsche
mesbonbthebbasisbofbonebyear’sbdocumentbshouldbbebavoided;bwhilstbthebguidingbprinciplesbofbassessme
ntbremainbconstant,bdetailsbwillbchange,bdependingbonbthebcontentbofbabparticularbexaminationbpaper.
Furtherbcopiesbofbthisbmarkbschemebarebavailablebfrombaqa.org.uk
Copyrightbinformation
AQAbretainsbthebcopyrightbonballbitsbpublications.bHowever,bregisteredbschools/collegesbforbAQAbarebpermittedbtobcopybmaterialbfrombthisbbookletbforbtheirb
ownbinternalbuse,bwithbthebfollowingbimportantbexception:bAQAbcannotbgivebpermissionbtobschools/collegesbtobphotocopybanybmaterialbthatbisbacknowledge
dbtobabthirdbpartybevenbforbinternalbusebwithinbthebcentre.
Copyrightb©b2021bAQAbandbitsblicensors.bAllbrightsbreserved.
2
, MARKb SCHEMEb –b GCSEb –b ECONOMICSb -b 8136/2b –b JUNEb 2021
Level of response marking instructions
b b b b
Levelbofbresponsebmarkbschemesbarebbrokenbdownbintoblevels,beachbofbwhichbhasbabdescriptor.bThebdescript
orbforbtheblevelbshowsbthebaveragebperformancebforbtheblevel.bTherebarebmarksbinbeachblevel.
Beforebyoubapplybthebmarkbschemebtobabstudent’sbanswerbreadbthroughbthebanswerbandbannotatebitb(asbi
nstructed)btobshowbthebqualitiesbthatbarebbeingblookedbfor.bYoubcanbthenbapplybthebmarkbscheme.
Step 1 Determine a level
b b b b
Startbatbtheblowestblevelbofbthebmarkbschemebandbusebitbasbabladderbtobseebwhetherbthebanswerbmeetsbthebd
escriptorbforbthatblevel.bThebdescriptorbforbtheblevelbindicatesbthebdifferentbqualitiesbthatbmightbbebseenbinbth
ebstudent’sbanswerbforbthatblevel.bIfbitbmeetsbtheblowestblevelbthenbgobtobthebnextbonebandbdecidebifbitbmeets
bthisblevel,bandbsobon,buntilbyoubhavebabmatchbbetweenbtheblevelbdescriptorbandbthebanswer.bWithbpracticeb
andbfamiliaritybyoubwillbfindbthatbforbbetterbanswersbyoubwillbbebablebtobquicklybskipbthroughbtheblowerblevels
bof bthebmarkbscheme.
Whenbassigningbablevelbyoubshouldblookbatbtheboverallbqualitybofbthebanswerbandbnotblookbtobpickbholesbinbs
mallbandbspecificbpartsbofbthebanswerbwherebthebstudentbhasbnotbperformedbquitebasbwellbasbthebrest.bIfbtheb
answerbcoversbdifferentbaspectsbofbdifferentblevelsbofbthebmarkbschemebyoubshouldbusebabbestbfitbapproachb
forbdefiningbtheblevelbandbthenbusebthebvariabilitybofbthebresponsebtobhelpbdecidebthebmarkbwithinbtheblevel,bi
ebifbthebresponsebisbpredominantlyblevelb3bwithbabsmallbamountbofblevelb4bmaterialbitbwouldbbebplacedbinbleve
lb3bbutbbebawardedbabmarkbnearbthebtopbofbtheblevelbbecausebofbtheblevelb4bcontent.
Step 2 Determine a mark
b b b b
Oncebyoubhavebassignedbablevelbyoubneedbtobdecidebonbthebmark.bThebdescriptorsbonbhowbtoballocatebmar
ksbcanbhelpbwithbthis.bThebexemplarbmaterialsbusedbduringbstandardisationbwillbhelp.bTherebwillbbebanbansw
erbinbthebstandardisingbmaterialsbwhichbwillbcorrespondbwithbeachblevelbofbthebmarkbscheme.bThisbanswerb
willbhavebbeenbawardedbabmarkbbybthebLeadbExaminer.bYoubcanbcomparebthebstudent’sbanswerbwithbthebe
xamplebtobdeterminebifbitbisbthebsamebstandard,bbetterborbworsebthanbthebexample.bYoubcanbthenbusebthisbtob
allocatebabmarkbforbthebanswerbbasedbonbthebLeadbExaminer’sbmarkbonbthebexample.
Youbmaybwellbneedbtobreadbbackbthroughbthebanswerbasbyoubapplybthebmarkbschemebtobclarifybpointsbandba
ssurebyourselfbthatbtheblevelbandbthebmarkbarebappropriate.
Indicativebcontentbinbthebmarkbschemebisbprovidedbasbabguidebforbexaminers.bItbisbnotbintendedbtobbeb
exhaustivebandbyoubmustbcreditbotherbvalidbpoints.bStudentsbdobnotbhavebtobcoverballbofbthebpointsbm
entionedbinbthebIndicativebcontentbtobreachbthebhighestblevelbofbthebmarkbscheme.
Anbanswerbwhichbcontainsbnothingbofbrelevancebtobthebquestionbmustbbebawardedbnobmarks.
3
