The H1 economics syllabus, mapped.

H1 economics carries a reputation as the easy version, the contrasting subject you can coast through. The syllabus tells a more honest story. Code 8843, set by SEAB, it covers a genuine core of microeconomics and macroeconomics, narrower and less deep than H2, but real economics all the same, and marked to the same writing standard. This guide maps what is actually in the H1 syllabus, how it is examined, and how it differs from H2, so you can see clearly what you are taking on. For the exact wording and the full list of topics, always read the official SEAB document for the year you are sitting, since syllabuses are revised periodically.

The simplest way to understand H1 is by what it is for. In the structure of the A levels it is a contrasting subject, designed to sit alongside a heavier combination as a third or fourth subject. So it gives you the core of how an economist thinks, the essential micro and macro, without the full depth and the extra theory that H2 adds. It is the same discipline, in a smaller serving.

What the H1 syllabus covers

On the microeconomics side, H1 covers the foundations of how markets work: demand and supply, the price mechanism that allocates resources, and the elasticities that measure responsiveness. It covers market failure, the cases where the free market does not deliver an efficient outcome, such as externalities and other failures, and the government intervention used to address them. This is the core micro reasoning every economics student needs, taught at a level suited to a contrasting subject.

On the macroeconomics side, H1 covers national income and the aggregate demand and aggregate supply model, the central tool for thinking about the economy as a whole. It covers the major macroeconomic aims and the problems of inflation, unemployment and economic growth, and the main policies governments use to pursue those aims. It includes elements of international trade and the global economy, and, as throughout A level economics, it leans on the Singapore context as its recurring real world application. What it does in less depth than H2, and this is the key difference, is the more advanced theory: in particular, H1 treats the detailed theory of firms and market structures much more lightly than H2, or leaves it out. Confirm exactly what is and is not included against the official 8843 syllabus for your year.

How H1 economics is examined

H1 economics is examined in a single paper, rather than the two papers of H2. That paper combines case study and essay style writing: you work with given data and extracts, and you construct economic arguments in prose, so both core skills are tested in one sitting. Because there is one paper rather than two, the content load and the writing volume are lighter than H2, which is the practical sense in which H1 is the smaller subject. For the exact structure, the sections, the timing and the mark allocations, check the official SEAB syllabus document for your year, since these specifics are set by the board and can change.

Whatever the precise structure, H1 is marked against the same kind of assessment objectives as H2: knowledge and understanding, application to context, analysis through clear economic reasoning, and evaluation. And here is the point students most often miss. The writing standard does not drop just because the content is lighter. You still have to explain economic reasoning clearly, apply it to the question, and evaluate, all in good written English under time pressure. Less to learn is not the same as easy to write, which is exactly why a student who treats H1 as a coast tends to underperform.

H1 is less to learn than H2. It is not less to write.

How to use the syllabus to revise

As with H2, the most useful thing you can do with the H1 syllabus is turn it into a checklist. Download it from SEAB, print it, and grade yourself line by line: A if you could explain a point from memory with a diagram, B if you would need a recap, C if you would struggle to start. Then revise your weak topics first. The narrower H1 content actually makes this audit faster and more achievable, so there is little excuse not to cover it thoroughly. The full method is in how to use the SEAB syllabus as a checklist, and the broader approach is the study system. And because H1 is so often a decision as much as a subject, if you are still weighing it against H2, the full comparison is in H1 vs H2 economics.

Want this on paper? Grab the free 112 page Summary and Diagrams pack.