The Cambridge AS & A Level Economics (9708) May/June 2026 papers and mark schemes are out, and they’re free. All four papers, 9708/12 to 9708/42, can be downloaded and printed on the Tutopiya Learning Portal. Below is a breakdown of what each paper tested and how the mark scheme gave marks, taken from the papers themselves.

Key points from the 2026 9708 papers

• Fiscal policy ran through three papers. Direct tax cuts and a budget surplus on Paper 1, a large rise in Australian government spending and a fiscal policy essay on Paper 2, and the Laffer curve and a World Bank fiscal condition for Angola on Paper 3.
• Public and merit goods came up on both AS papers: a polio vaccine and the problems of providing public goods on Paper 1, then a full essay choice on Paper 2.
• The quantity theory of money appeared twice at A Level: as a multiple choice question on what T stands for, and as a 20-mark essay on Paper 4.
• Measuring living standards linked Papers 3 and 4. Paper 3 compared GNI per capita with the HDI for two countries, and Paper 4 asked whether GNI alone is enough for a high-income country.
• Evaluation is a fixed share of every long answer. Two of every 8 marks, 4 of every 12 and 6 of every 20 were for AO3, and a one-sided answer earns none of them.

All May/June 2026 9708 papers

Paper	Code	Duration	Marks	What it tests
Paper 1 AS Level Multiple Choice	9708/12	1 hour	30	AS content, 30 questions (AS)
Paper 2 AS Level Data Response and Essays	9708/22	2 hours	60	One data response, two essays (AS)
Paper 3 A Level Multiple Choice	9708/32	1 hour 15 minutes	30	A Level content, 30 questions (A Level)
Paper 4 A Level Data Response and Essays	9708/42	2 hours	60	One data response, two essays (A Level)

Timings and marks are taken from the front cover of each 2026 paper; the Paper 2 timing is from the 2026 syllabus. Papers 1 and 3 are answered on a multiple choice answer sheet, and Paper 4 uses an answer booklet. For the full syllabus content, see the Cambridge International AS & A Level Economics 9708 syllabus.

Which variant is this? Cambridge sets different versions of each paper (variants) for different time zones. The papers here are variant 2: 9708/12, /22, /32 and /42. All variants cover the same syllabus at the same difficulty, so variant 2 is just as good for practice as the one your school sat.

Download the 9708 May/June 2026 papers →

What came up in 9708 Paper 2 (AS Data Response and Essays), May/June 2026?

Paper 2 has three sections. You answer all of Section A (20 marks), then one essay from Section B and one from Section C (20 marks each).

Section A: Should Australia support the production of nickel?

Question	Topic	Marks
1(a)	Calculate the PED for nickel from table data	2
1(b)	What the estimate shows, and why it might be “highly unusual”	2
1(c)	Demand and supply diagram for a production subsidy, and whether the effect is always as expected	4
1(d)	Assess the effects of a large rise in government spending on the Australian economy	6
1(e)	Assess whether comparative advantage should be the only factor in supporting nickel	6

Sections B and C: essays (choose one from each)

Question	Part (a), 8 marks	Part (b), 12 marks
2	Public goods compared with merit goods, and whether more information is the best way to raise merit good consumption	Whether the nature of public goods means only a mixed economy can provide them
3	Market equilibrium with a diagram, and how far income changes alter the market price	How far price controls change both quantity demanded and quantity supplied
4	Why growth is measured with real GDP, and whether growth needs more resources	Whether the benefits of growth always outweigh the costs for all economies
5	The circular flow in an open economy with government, and the effect of becoming a closed economy	How far fiscal policy can use leakages and injections to meet two macroeconomic objectives

What made it hard: Question 1(b) needed you to notice that nickel is essential, so its demand should be inelastic. The calculation gave an elastic value.

What came up in 9708 Paper 4 (A Level Data Response and Essays)?

Paper 4 has the same shape: Question 1 (20 marks), one essay from Section B and one from Section C (20 marks each). The essays have no parts.

Section A: US foreign trade and interest rate policy

Question	Topic	Marks
1(a)	Why a balance of trade deficit might be undesirable	2
1(b)	How import tariffs cause expenditure switching, with a diagram	4
1(c)	Whether a high interest rate moves inflation, jobs and growth all in the right direction	7
1(d)	Whether the information shows the Federal Reserve’s policy helped low-income countries	7

Sections B and C: essays (choose one from each)

Question	Section	Essay	Marks
2	B (micro)	Whether marginal utility theory explains market demand for both normal and inferior goods	20
3	B (micro)	Whether governments and trade unions should be kept out of wage negotiations because they raise unemployment, with diagrams	20
4	C (macro)	Whether the quantity theory of money satisfactorily explains inflation	20
5	C (macro)	Whether GNI alone is enough to measure living standards in a high-income country	20

Watch for: Question 1(d) asked whether the information was sufficient. The mark scheme’s conclusion was that the data showed no benefit to low-income countries, so the higher-scoring answers judged the evidence as well as the economics.

What came up in 9708 Paper 1 (AS Multiple Choice)?

Paper 1 has 30 questions on the AS content. The 2026 paper spread them like this:

• The basic economic problem: classifying a free vaccination service, two production possibility curve questions, problems with government provision of public goods, and a statement about economic thinking.
• The price system: a PES calculation, a PED calculation from a pizza price rise, a supply shift for televisions, a housing market diagram, and consumer and producer surplus with perfectly elastic demand.
• Government microeconomic intervention: direct provision, transfer payments, the cost of a subsidy read from a diagram, measures to reduce inequality, and providing health services for everyone.
• The macroeconomy: limits of GDP, GDP at basic prices, injections into the circular flow, falling employment, a shift in AD and AS, supply-side policy, a cut in direct taxes, government spending from a budget surplus, expansionary policy, and why transfer payments aren’t in G.
• International economics: an appreciation of the US dollar, free trade, reducing protectionism, cutting imports, and shifts in demand and supply of the pound.

What came up in 9708 Paper 3 (A Level Multiple Choice)?

Paper 3 also has 30 questions, with AS knowledge assumed:

• Consumer and firm behaviour: the equi-marginal principle, why firms stay small, a cost curve shift from better transport links, price discrimination, a short-run shutdown calculation, and income and substitution effects on an indifference curve diagram.
• Market failure and labour: a table of private and external costs and benefits, property rights for river pollution, a tax on a firm producing toxic fumes, economic rent, trade union bargaining, and measures for a fairer income distribution.
• Money and macroeconomics: broad and narrow money, the quantity theory of money, cyclical unemployment and the output gap, a multiplier with tax, the natural rate of unemployment, the liquidity trap, the Laffer curve, inflation and unemployment data, and a shift in the Phillips curve.
• Open economy and development: the effect of an interest rate cut, falling real GDP, controlling a falling currency, the J-curve effect of depreciation, GNI per capita compared with the HDI, an Angola fiscal policy question, the shift to services as a country develops, and FDI in the balance of payments.

How the 9708 May/June 2026 mark scheme gives marks

The schemes use two systems: point marking for data response questions and the 8-mark essay parts, and level grids for the 12- and 20-mark essays.

1. Multiple choice is one mark per question. Papers 1 and 3 are 30 marks each, and each correct answer scores one mark. Answer every question.

2. Calculations reward the method as well as the answer. Paper 2 Question 1(a) gave 2 marks for a PED between 1.9 and 2.3. If the answer was wrong, 1 mark was still available for the correct formula or the right percentage changes. The minus sign was not needed.

3. Short answers must say what the number means. Paper 2 Question 1(b) gave 1 mark for saying demand is elastic and 1 for linking nickel’s essential nature to an expected inelastic value. Saying the PED is “high”, or repeating the figures, did not score.

4. Data response “assess” questions have a set structure. Paper 2 Questions 1(d) and 1(e) gave up to 4 marks for analysis, with no more than 3 for either side. Up to 2 marks went to evaluation, with 1 reserved for a justified conclusion about Australia. In 1(d), opportunity cost was not accepted as a counterpoint.

5. The 8-mark parts show the AO split clearly. Paper 2 Question 2(a) was point-marked with 3 marks for AO1 (knowledge and understanding), 3 for AO2 (analysis) and 2 for AO3 (evaluation). AO1 needed non-rivalry and non-excludability for public goods, rivalry and excludability for merit goods, and an example of each. Roads and other quasi-public goods were not accepted as public goods. The second AO3 mark was kept for a justified conclusion.

6. The 12-mark parts use two grids. Paper 2 Question 3(b) on price controls used Table A for AO1 and AO2 (8 marks) and Table B for AO3 (4 marks). Table A has Level 3 (6–8), Level 2 (3–5) and Level 1 (1–2). Level 3 needs detailed, fully developed analysis with diagrams that are accurate and fully explained; Level 2 analysis has “little detail” and diagrams only partly accurate. Table B has Level 2 (3–4), for developed evaluation and a justified conclusion, and Level 1 (1–2), for simple comments and a vague conclusion. The scheme also said an answer covering only demand or only supply could not go above mid Level 2.

7. One-sided answers get no evaluation marks. Every 12-mark scheme on Paper 2 stated this. Level 3 answers were described as balanced, considering alternative arguments.

8. The Paper 4 essays use bigger grids. Each 20-mark essay gave 14 marks for AO1 and AO2 and 6 for AO3. Table A runs Level 3 (11–14), Level 2 (6–10) and Level 1 (1–5); Table B runs Level 2 (4–6) and Level 1 (1–3). For Question 4 on the quantity theory, the indicative content for AO1 and AO2 was MV = PQ, the meaning of each term and why P moves with M. Evaluation questioned whether V and Q stay constant, exchange rate effects, other causes of inflation, and the point that the theory is an identity.

Spelling: spelling isn’t marked, but a syllabus term must be clear enough not to be confused with a different term.

Which papers should you sit?

• AS Level: Paper 1 and Paper 2.
• Full A Level: Papers 1, 2, 3 and 4.

On Papers 2 and 4, read all the essay questions in each section before you choose. Pick the one where you can argue both sides and reach a conclusion, because that is where the evaluation marks are.

How to use the 2026 papers as a mock

1. Keep them for last. Use older 9708 papers for topic practice and save May/June 2026 for a timed mock close to your exam.
2. Do the multiple choice paper in one sitting. Note every question you guessed, even if you got it right, and revise those topics.
3. Plan each essay for five minutes. Write down your knowledge points, your chains of analysis, the counter-argument and your conclusion before you start.
4. Mark your essays with both grids. Give yourself a Table A level and a Table B level separately, then check the scheme’s indicative content for what you missed.
5. Draw every diagram the questions mention. Label the axes and curves fully; the 2026 schemes gave marks for accurate, labelled diagrams.

More A Level Economics resources

• A Level Economics past papers (Cambridge 9708 and Edexcel)
• A Level past papers 2026: all subjects

🔍 Looking for a specific past paper? Use our free Past Paper Finder to search by subject, year and exam board.

Need help with a 9708 topic? Book a free trial lesson with an A Level Economics tutor →

Frequently asked questions

Are the 9708 May/June 2026 past papers free? +

Yes. All four question papers (9708/12, 9708/22, 9708/32 and 9708/42) and their official mark schemes are free to download and print on the Tutopiya Learning Portal.

What came up in 9708 Paper 2 May/June 2026? +

The data response was on whether Australia should support nickel production, with a PED calculation, a subsidy diagram, government spending and comparative advantage. The essays offered public and merit goods, market equilibrium and price controls, economic growth, and the circular flow with fiscal policy.

What came up in 9708 Paper 4 May/June 2026? +

The data response covered the US trade deficit, import tariffs, high interest rates and their effect on low-income countries. The essays were on marginal utility theory, trade unions and government in wage setting, the quantity theory of money, and GNI as a measure of living standards.

How are the 9708 essays marked? +

On Paper 2 the 8-mark parts are point-marked (3 AO1, 3 AO2, 2 AO3) and the 12-mark parts use two level grids: 8 marks for knowledge and analysis and 4 for evaluation. On Paper 4 each 20-mark essay gets 14 marks for knowledge and analysis and 6 for evaluation. A one-sided answer earns no evaluation marks.

Why can't I find 9708/21 or 9708/23 for 2026? +

Only variant 2 of the May/June 2026 papers is on the portal at the moment. Cambridge sets different variants for different time zones; variants 1 and 3 test the same syllabus in the same format, so variant 2 prepares you just as well.

When will the October/November 2026 9708 papers be available? +

Cambridge usually releases the October/November papers in the new year. We add them to the Learning Portal once they are published.

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