Question bank
Real questions, real marking
3 real questions this paper has actually set, drawn only from genuine Pearson question papers. Each one links to its real mark scheme, its real examiner report where one has been published, and our own level-by-level breakdown of how marks are actually earned — write your own answer first, then compare.
Jun 2023 · Q9
20 marksNationalisation of a profit-maximising monopolist — price, output and efficiency effects
Evaluate the impact of a profit maximising monopolist being nationalised. Illustrate your answer with an appropriate diagram(s).
Our analysis
Evaluate the impact of a profit maximising monopolist being nationalised. Illustrate your answer with an appropriate diagram(s).
20 marks available
Nationalisation is when the government takes over a business. If EDF gets nationalised, this could change how it behaves because it's now owned by the state instead of private shareholders.
States the definition but doesn't connect it to anything specific about EDF, profit-maximising monopolists, or any named economic mechanism (price, output, efficiency) — generic and could be written about nationalising any firm.
Jan 2022 · Q10
20 marksRevenue maximisation as a short-run objective — market entry, barriers to entry, and ownership/control
Evaluate the view that revenue maximisation is always the main objective of a firm. Illustrate your answer with an appropriate diagram(s).
Our analysis
Evaluate the view that revenue maximisation is always the main objective of a firm. Illustrate your answer with an appropriate diagram(s).
20 marks available
A firm's objective is what it is trying to achieve, such as maximising profit or revenue. Revenue maximisation means trying to get as much revenue as possible. This might be JBS's main objective.
States the definition without applying it to JBS's real context (the 60% Q4 2020 rise in revenue from China) or naming the actual MR=0 condition — generic and undeveloped, matching the examiner report's complaint about 'a series of pre-learned arguments... that did not fully address the question asked.'
Oct 2021 · Q9
20 marksMonopoly inefficiency — allocative, productive and X-inefficiency, gated to a named industry
For an industry of your choice, to what extent is a monopoly market structure inefficient? Illustrate your answer with an appropriate diagram(s).
Our analysis
For an industry of your choice, to what extent is a monopoly market structure inefficient? Illustrate your answer with an appropriate diagram(s).
20 marks available
A monopoly is a market where there is one dominant firm supplying the whole market. Because there is no competition, monopolies can be inefficient — they don't have to try as hard as a firm in a competitive market would.
Generic monopoly-inefficiency reasoning with no named industry and no efficiency concept correctly defined (allocative, productive, X- or dynamic) — could be written about any monopoly anywhere, and the mark scheme's own 'Level 4 only if an industry is referred to' rule would already exclude this from Level 4 regardless of anything else it said.