An A in Maths Gets You Into Economics. It Won't Get You Through It.

The uncomfortable truth about A-level exam success

"You got an A. Your university professor does not care how you got it."

Taking microeconomics in your first year is non-negotiable for any economics student. The first two weeks tend to feel manageable with utilities and their axioms. Then, usually around week three, something shifts. The lecturer's board fills up faster, steps get skipped in the name of "more important" results, and if you have not touched mathematics in a while, even the lecture slides start to feel like a different language. You do not just lose the algebra. You lose the thread of the economics argument it was carrying.

The eight skills below are the ones most likely to have quietly faded, and where each one reappears in your first year (and beyond!).

The eight skills most likely to have faded — and why each one matters

Skill (A-level version)	Where it reappears
Equation of a line — finding slope and intercept; writing $y = mx + c$ from two points	Micro. Supply and demand curves are linear functions. The slope is the rate at which price changes with quantity (elasticity in disguise). Budget constraints are lines; their slope is a relative price ratio.
Solving equations with one unknown — isolating a variable using inverse operations; collecting like terms	Micro/Macro. Solving for equilibrium price, break-even output, or the tax rate that raises a given revenue. Every time a model has one free variable and a constraint, you're here.
Quadratic equations — factorising; applying the quadratic formula; interpreting roots	Micro. Profit, revenue, and cost functions are frequently quadratic. The roots are break-even points; the vertex is the profit-maximising or cost-minimising output. Recognising the shape matters as much as the algebra.
Working with fractions — adding, subtracting, multiplying algebraic fractions; simplifying rational expressions	Micro/Macro. Elasticity is a ratio of percentage changes. Average cost is total cost divided by quantity. Index numbers, growth rates, multipliers — fractions are the grammar of quantitative economics.
Systems of equations — solving two simultaneous equations by substitution or elimination	Micro/Macro. Market equilibrium is the intersection of supply and demand: two equations, solved simultaneously. IS-LM, AD-AS, and Cournot duopoly are all systems.
Derivatives — power rule, chain rule; finding and classifying stationary points	Micro/Macro/Econometrics. Marginal cost, marginal revenue, and marginal utility are all derivatives. Profit maximisation requires setting the derivative to zero. The OLS first-order conditions are derived by differentiating the sum of squared residuals.
Logarithms & exponentials — log rules; solving $e^{x} = a$; differentiating $\ln(x)$ and $e^{f(x)}$	Macro/Econometrics. Continuous compounding, GDP growth paths, and present value all use exponentials. Taking logs linearises multiplicative models: the Cobb-Douglas production function becomes a linear regression the moment you log both sides.
Summation notation ($\Sigma$) — reading and evaluating sigma expressions; expanding $\sum x_i$, $\sum x_i^2$, $\sum x_i y_i$	Econometrics/Statistics. The mean, variance, covariance, and every OLS formula are written in sigma notation. A student who can't parse $\sum (x_i - \bar{x})^2$ will lose the thread of regression derivations entirely — not because the maths is hard, but because the notation is unfamiliar.

Ask yourself: "Can I do the A-level version in under two minutes, without notes?" If not, that concept is a gap. Two or more gaps and the first few weeks of term will be harder than they need to be.

This is for you if:

• You are still at A-level: you have the most time and the most to gain.
• You are about to start your first year: the window is narrower but still open.
• You are a second-year student repeating material: the gaps are identifiable and fixable.

Why economics professors take your maths for granted

"They are not being unkind. They genuinely assume you remember."

University teaching assumes prerequisite knowledge is active, not passive. There is no recapping A-level content. Marginal cost is introduced as a derivative. Elasticity appears as a ratio the moment you first encounter it. Budget constraints are solved as systems, without preamble. When you hit those moments unprepared, you do not just lose the algebra — you lose the thread of the economics argument it was carrying.

The difference between executing a technique and understanding it

"Cramming teaches you to pattern-match. Economics requires you to think."

At A-level, questions signal which technique to use. In economics, you have to diagnose the problem yourself. If you drilled the quadratic formula, you may still not recognise that a profit function is a quadratic because the framing is different. The habit of translating every algebraic result back into economic language is what separates strong quantitative economists from those who are merely executing steps.

When the gap feels like a verdict on your ability

Ever had the feeling that everyone else in the lecture theatre already knows this, and you are the only one who does not? You are not the only one. This is called impostor syndrome, first introduced by Clance and Imes (1978). Studies put prevalence among university students anywhere between 9% and 82% (Bravata et al., 2020).

This tends to be more acute with maths. A meta-analysis found maths anxiety is robustly and negatively associated with maths performance (Zhang et al., 2019). It rarely sounds like "I can''t do maths". More often it sounds like "I can''t do maths fast enough, in public, in front of people who seem to find it effortless".

The ones who close the gap fastest are not the ones who feel most confident; they are the ones who stop pretending to be confident and start doing the work.

How to rebuild these skills before the course demands them

1. Run the diagnostic honestly. Do each exercise without notes and under mild time pressure. The goal is not a score; it is an accurate map.
2. Pick your two weakest areas and go deep. Derivatives and systems of equations cause the most compounding damage in Year 1.
3. Introduce summation notation from scratch. It is not difficult, but it is unfamiliar, and unfamiliarity in a lecture theatre compounds quickly.
4. Do one timed, mixed problem set. No topic labels, no hints. Replicate the conditions under which economics will actually test you.

A note on what this isn't

"This is not about making economics easy. It is about making sure maths is never the reason you fall behind."

Your goal is to stay in the room intellectually: to follow what the model is saying, not just what the algebra is doing.

The students who do this work before term starts are not the ones who find economics easy. They are the ones who find it worth the effort.

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References

• Bravata, D. M., et al. (2020). Prevalence, predictors, and treatment of impostor syndrome: A systematic review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 35(4), 1252–1275.
• Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The impostor phenomenon in high achieving women. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 15(3), 241–247.
• Qasem, N., et al. (2025). Imposter syndrome among university students. Journal of American College Health, 31(2), 127–134.
• Zhang, J., Zhao, N., & Kong, Q. P. (2019). The relationship between math anxiety and math performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1613.