An online economics tutor should make the distance disappear. Every lesson here is one-to-one on a video call with a shared whiteboard, so the diagram you draw is the one I mark, and the question you write between lessons comes back marked before the next one. Students sit AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Cambridge International and Edexcel International A Level from across the UK and abroad. University students come with first-year microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics and maths for economists. The pitch is the same for all of them: focused prep, fewer sessions, exam-ready.
What exam-ready looks like online, paper by paper
Online lessons change nothing about what the examiner wants and one thing about how you learn it: everything is drawn, written and marked on screen, so nothing gets lost. Here is what that means for each paper, and roughly how long it takes from a typical starting point.
| Paper | What the online lesson does | Typical sessions |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (micro) | Every core diagram drawn live on the whiteboard, timed, then saved to your folder so you can redraw it before the exam | 4 to 6 |
| Paper 2 (macro) | AD/AS shifts and the policy chains written out step by step, with the mark scheme open beside them | 4 to 6 |
| Paper 3 (synoptic and data) | The extract on screen, the data pulled into the answer, a timing plan rehearsed on a real past paper | 3 to 4 |
| University modules | Problem sets worked line by line on the whiteboard; the working is yours to keep | As needed |
A Level lessons are £60 an hour and university lessons £75 to £100 an hour, one-to-one, with no package to buy. Plan on 10 to 15 sessions for a full A Level run from autumn mocks to the summer exams.
Drawing diagrams under time pressure: the five conventions examiners reward
Every board gives marks for diagrams, and every board takes them away for the same five mistakes. The rules are simple. The problem is doing all five in sixty seconds with the clock running. Here is a demand shift drawn the way the mark scheme wants it, with each convention pinned.
Take the ice cream market. Before the heatwave demand is P = 12 − Q and supply is P = 2 + Q, so the market clears at 5 hundred tubs a day at £7. The heatwave shifts demand right by 4 at every price, to P = 16 − Q. The new equilibrium is 7 hundred tubs at £9. Price and quantity both rise. That is the whole story, and it earns full marks only if the five conventions are on the page.
| Rule | What the mark scheme actually says | What it costs to miss |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Label both axes | OCR: “correct labelling of axes” is the first item in the diagram marks | The first diagram mark, on every board |
| 2. Name every curve | OCR: the curves and the equilibrium earn the labelling mark; AQA’s report says “inaccurately-labelled curves” usually lead to “a confused explanation” | The labelling mark, and often the analysis that follows |
| 3. Show the shift with an arrow | Edexcel’s 2023 report: a 4-mark AD/AS question scored 1 out of 4 when the curve moved the wrong way | Up to 3 of 4 marks |
| 4. Mark both equilibria | OCR: “equilibrium wage rate and equilibrium quantity” are named in the diagram marks; the same wording appears for price and quantity | The second diagram mark |
| 5. Read off P and Q with dashed lines | Without them there is nothing to write “price rises from £7 to £9” about, and that sentence is the application mark | The application mark |
Draw in this order, every time. Axes and labels first, because they are the marks you cannot lose. Then the original curves and E₁. Then the shift, with the arrow, and E₂. Then the dashed lines and the values. Then, and only then, write about it.
Mark scheme: OCR’s June 2023 Component 01 mark scheme awarded “up to 2 marks for a diagram”: one for correctly labelled axes, curves and equilibrium, one for the area shaded or labelled. AQA’s June 2023 report says an unused diagram counts as application, and an explained one becomes part of the analysis. The diagram gets you in. The sentence that refers to it gets you up a level.
Exam tip: Practise every core diagram from memory, in sixty seconds, on blank paper, once a day for two weeks. The five conventions become a reflex, which is the only way they survive a two-hour paper. On the whiteboard the timer runs in the corner, so the habit is built in every lesson.
Common mistake: Drawing a beautiful diagram and never mentioning it. Write “as the diagram shows, the shift from D₁ to D₂ raises price from P₁ to P₂” in the first sentence after the drawing. Examiners cannot give analysis marks for a picture they have to interpret themselves.
Which curve shifts, and which way, is the other half of the skill. A change in the price of the good itself moves you along the curve. Anything else that changes demand, income, tastes, the price of a substitute or a complement, the weather, shifts the whole curve. A change in costs, technology, taxes or the number of firms shifts supply. Say which in your first line, then draw it. The full set of diagrams, with the marks each earns, is on the A Level economics diagrams page.
How online economics tuition works
Lessons run on a video call with a shared whiteboard. That is not a compromise. It is better than a kitchen table for this subject, because everything drawn or written in the hour is saved and yours to keep.
| Tool | What it is used for |
|---|---|
| Video call | The lesson itself, one-to-one, with your camera on or off as you prefer |
| Shared whiteboard | Every diagram drawn live, by you and by me, with a timer for the exam-speed runs; saved as a PDF after each session |
| Past papers on screen | Your board’s real questions and mark schemes, open beside the whiteboard |
| One marked question a week | You write one exam question between lessons; it comes back marked, against your board’s mark scheme, before the next session |
| A shared folder | Every whiteboard, every marked answer and your running error list, in one place for revision |
A typical hour has three parts: ten minutes on last week’s marked question, thirty-five on one topic or one skill taught the way it is examined, and fifteen on a timed question. Online, the timed question is drawn or written on the whiteboard, so the feedback is immediate.
What an online lesson gives you that a classroom cannot
- You deal with the tutor directly: no marketplace in between; whoever answers your first message teaches the last lesson before your paper.
- Your board’s material: students on AQA 7136, Edexcel 9EC0, OCR H460, Cambridge International 9708, Edexcel International A Level and Oxford AQA each work from their own board’s papers and mark schemes.
- Nothing gets lost: every diagram and every marked answer is saved to your folder, which no in-person lesson can promise.
- Anywhere, any time zone: students in the UK, and international-board students abroad, get the same lesson at a time that suits them.
- Stop whenever you like: lessons are booked one at a time.
FAQ
Q: Is an online A Level economics tutor as good as one in person?
A: For economics, yes, and often better. The subject is diagrams, chains of reasoning and timed writing. All three work on a shared whiteboard, and online every one of them is saved. What you lose is the drive to someone’s house.
Q: What do I need for online tuition in economics?
A: A laptop or tablet with a camera and a stable connection, and a pen and paper beside you. A tablet with a stylus is useful for drawing on the whiteboard, but a mouse works. Everything else is provided in the call.
Q: Which boards and levels do you teach online?
A: All of them: AQA 7136, Edexcel 9EC0, OCR H460, Cambridge International, Edexcel International A Level and Oxford AQA at A Level, and first-year and second-year university modules. The A Level offer is set out on the A Level economics tutor page.
Q: How does an online A Level economics tutor mark my work?
A: You send one written question a week. It comes back annotated against your board’s mark scheme, with the level you reached and the sentence that would have moved you up one. The first ten minutes of the next lesson go through it.
Q: How much does an online economics tutor cost?
A: The rates are in the table above. One price per level, no packages, pay per lesson.
Q: Can university students use online economics tuition too?
A: Yes. Microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics and maths for economists are taught separately at university level, on the same whiteboard. Problem sets are worked line by line and the working is saved for you.
Book your first online economics lesson
Tell me your board or your module, your year and what you are stuck on. You will hear back within 24 hours with a slot.
Book a lesson
Book your first one-to-one lesson
Tell me your exam board, your year and what you are stuck on. I reply within 24 hours to set up a first session. Every lesson is online, one-to-one, and built around your next paper.
- +44 7441 440060
- economics@econtutor.com
